Release appearance
watchOS 4.2 Public
Recorded context
About this appearance
watchOS 4.2 reached the public channel on December 5, 2017 with US Apple Pay Cash, HomeKit and snow-sports support, Siri, Heart Rate, timer and alarm corrections, and security repairs.
- Date
- Dec 5, 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 4.2 on December 5, 2017 for all Apple Watch models. The consumer notes qualify some additions by country, hardware generation, or third-party app support.[1][2]
Documented scope
Source ledger
References
Sources are linked to the claims they support. Publication and access dates are shown when available.
- About the security content of watchOS 4.2
Apple Support · Apple · 2017-12-05T00:00:00.000Z · Released December 5, 2017
- About the security content of watchOS 4.2
Apple Support · Apple · 2017-12-05T00:00:00.000Z · Auto Unlock through Wi-Fi; No impact
- About the security content of watchOS 4.2
Apple Support · Apple · 2017-12-05T00:00:00.000Z · Auto Unlock; CFNetwork Session; CoreAnimation; CoreFoundation; IOKit; IOSurface; Kernel; WebKit; Wi-Fi
- Apple security updates (2016 to 2017)
Apple Support · Apple · 2023-11-06T00:00:00.000Z · watchOS 4.2 — 5 Dec 2017
- About watchOS 4 Updates
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4.2 — Apple Pay Cash
- About watchOS 4 Updates
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4.2 — downhill snow sports
- About watchOS 4 Updates
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4.2 — Heart Rate, timers, and alarms
- About watchOS 4 Updates
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4.2 — HomeKit
- About watchOS 4 Updates
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 4.2 — Siri weather
Release changes
Changed in this release
Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.
bugFix · fixed
Heart Rate scrolling and timer or alarm dismissal fixes
Two targeted corrections repaired navigation within Heart Rate and independent handling of concurrently active timing alerts.
- [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4.2 — Heart Rate, timers, and alarms
feature · introduced
Apple Pay Cash in Messages and Siri
The release activated person-to-person payments on Apple Watch in the United States, subject to Apple's regional service availability.
- [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4.2 — Apple Pay Cash
security · fixed
Privilege, kernel, WebKit, and scoped Wi-Fi repairs
Apple's advisory documents code-execution, privilege, information-disclosure, and web-spoofing risks, while distinguishing which Apple Watch generations received the multicast Wi-Fi correction in 4.2.
- [1] About the security content of watchOS 4.2 · Auto Unlock; CFNetwork Session; CoreAnimation; CoreFoundation; IOKit; IOSurface; Kernel; WebKit; Wi-Fi
bugFix · fixed
Siri weather restart correction
The update addressed a reliability failure triggered by a specific voice-assistant weather request.
- [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4.2 — Siri weather
developerApi · introduced
Downhill snow-sports workout metrics
The new workout type exposed a hardware-specific metric set for skiing and snowboarding applications.
- [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4.2 — downhill snow sports
feature · introduced
HomeKit sprinkler and faucet support
watchOS extended its smart-home control surface to two additional accessory categories.
- [1] About watchOS 4 Updates · watchOS 4.2 — HomeKit