Version RecordIndependent release archive
Menu

Release appearance

watchOS 4.0 Public

Full article
Public release

Recorded context

About this appearance

watchOS 4 reached the public channel on September 19, 2017 with new faces, Activity coaching, workout and heart-rate capabilities, music changes, built-in app refinements, and security repairs.

Date
Sep 19, 2017
Availability
available
Revision
No

Release notes

What changed

Original editorial synthesis. Linked references appear with the claims they support and in the source ledger.

Public release

Apple released watchOS 4 on September 19, 2017 for all Apple Watch models. The final consumer notes provide the shipped feature set, while Apple's earlier preview supplies context without overriding later version boundaries.[1][2][3]

Documented scope

The structured changes follow Apple's final watchOS 4 section and current security record. Region, model, and subscription qualifications are retained, and features first assigned to 4.1 or 4.2 are excluded.[4][5][6]

Source ledger

References

Sources are linked to the claims they support. Publication and access dates are shown when available.

  1. About the security content of watchOS 4

    Apple Support · Apple · 2017-09-19T00:00:00.000Z · Released September 19, 2017

    Back to text ↑
  2. Apple security updates (2016 to 2017)

    Apple Support · Apple · 2023-11-06T00:00:00.000Z · watchOS 4 — 19 Sep 2017

    Back to text ↑
  3. About watchOS 4 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4

    Back to text ↑
  4. watchOS 4 brings more intelligence and fitness features to Apple Watch

    Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2017-06-05T00:00:00.000Z · Pricing and Availability

    Back to text ↑
  5. About the security content of watchOS 4

    Apple Support · Apple · 2017-09-19T00:00:00.000Z · watchOS 4 security content

    Back to text ↑
  6. About watchOS 4 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4 through watchOS 4.2

    Back to text ↑
  7. About the security content of watchOS 4

    Apple Support · Apple · 2017-09-19T00:00:00.000Z · 802.1X; CFNetwork; CoreAudio; CoreText; HFS; ImageIO; Kernel; libarchive; libxml2; Security; SQLite; WebKit

  8. watchOS 4 brings more intelligence and fitness features to Apple Watch

    Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2017-06-05T00:00:00.000Z · Fitness

  9. watchOS 4 brings more intelligence and fitness features to Apple Watch

    Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2017-06-05T00:00:00.000Z · Intelligence — Music

  10. watchOS 4 brings more intelligence and fitness features to Apple Watch

    Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2017-06-05T00:00:00.000Z · Intelligence; Watch Faces and Bands

  11. watchOS 4 brings more intelligence and fitness features to Apple Watch

    Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2017-06-05T00:00:00.000Z · Intelligence

  12. About watchOS 4 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4 — Activity

  13. About watchOS 4 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4 — Heart Rate

  14. About watchOS 4 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4 — Music

  15. About watchOS 4 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4 — Other features and improvements

  16. About watchOS 4 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4 — Watch Faces

  17. About watchOS 4 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4 — Workout

  18. watchOS 4 brings more intelligence and fitness features to Apple Watch

    Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2017-06-05T00:00:00.000Z · watchOS 4 preview

Release changes

Changed in this release

Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.

feature · introduced

News and flashlight tools

documentedconfirmed

The update brought headline summaries to the wrist and added quick full-screen illumination controls.

  1. [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4 — Other features and improvements

feature · introduced

Expanded heart-rate graphs, measurements, and alerts

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 4 substantially broadened current and historical cardiovascular metrics, with some measurements and inactive high-rate notifications limited to Series 1 and later.

  1. [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4 — Heart Rate

enhancement · changed

Mail, Phone, Calendar, Scribble, timer, Maps, and reply refinements

documentedconfirmed

A collection of smaller additions improved communication, scheduling, text entry, timing, navigation, and suggested responses.

  1. [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4 — Other features and improvements

feature · introduced

Workout music controls and automatic Do Not Disturb

documentedconfirmed

The release reduced interruptions and made audio control more immediate during exercise, with automatic playlist startup limited to Apple Watch Series 1 and later.

  1. [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4 — Workout

enhancement · changed

Vertical Dock and alphabetical app list

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 4 added two more linear navigation options for switching among recent apps and finding installed software.

  1. [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4 — Other features and improvements

security · fixed

watchOS 4 security baseline

documentedconfirmed

Apple's living advisory records a broad set of repairs, including newer TLS enablement, memory-safety and information-disclosure fixes, certificate validation, and malicious web-content handling.

  1. [1] About the security content of watchOS 4 · 802.1X; CFNetwork; CoreAudio; CoreText; HFS; ImageIO; Kernel; libarchive; libxml2; Security; SQLite; WebKit