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Release record

watchOS 7.0

Full article
Public release
Recorded milestones
10
Beta cycle
86d
Average interval
10d
Public release
Sep 16, 2020

Release notes

Overview

Editorial synthesis with inline references and a source ledger when citations are available.

Release overview

watchOS 7.0 launched publicly on September 16, 2020 with shareable watch faces, sleep tracking, handwashing detection, Family Setup, new fitness and health tools, richer communication and navigation, and a broad security baseline.[1][2][3]

Evidence boundary

The page attributes only features Apple lists under the watchOS 7 launch section. Changes first documented in 7.0.1 or later are not moved into 7.0, and regional or hardware restrictions remain part of each claim.[4][5]

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 7.0

    Apple Support · Apple · 2020-09-16T00:00:00.000Z · Released September 16, 2020

    Back to text ↑
  2. Apple Watch Series 6 delivers breakthrough wellness and fitness capabilities

    Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2020-09-15T00:00:00.000Z · watchOS 7 available September 16

    Back to text ↑
  3. About watchOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 7

    Back to text ↑
  4. About watchOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · watchOS 7 through watchOS 7.2

    Back to text ↑
  5. About the security content of watchOS 7.0

    Apple Support · Apple · 2020-09-16T00:00:00.000Z · watchOS 7.0 security content

    Back to text ↑
  6. Apple Watch Series 6 delivers breakthrough wellness and fitness capabilities

    Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2020-09-15T00:00:00.000Z · Pricing and Availability — watchOS 7

Documented & observed

Changes in this version

Source-linked features, fixes, known issues, removals, and community-observed behavior recorded across this version’s appearances and verified builds.

Release changes

Changed in this release

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

enhancement · changed

Siri translation, on-device dictation, and announcements

documentedconfirmed

The update expanded wrist-based language help and message access while moving supported dictation processing onto the watch.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Siri

enhancement · changed

New faces, face sharing, and discovery

documentedconfirmed

The launch expanded face design choices and turned configured faces into portable items that could be shared or installed from curated sources.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Watch Faces

feature · introduced

Automatic handwashing detection

documentedconfirmed

Motion and microphone signals were combined to recognize washing activity and encourage the recommended duration, with history visible in Health.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Handwashing

enhancement · changed

Health metrics and heart-feature availability

documentedconfirmed

The launch added low-range cardio and mobility context in Health, centralized safety setup, and broadened regulated heart-feature access.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Other features and improvements

feature · introduced

Cycling directions in Maps

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 7 introduced wrist-based cycling navigation in selected cities, including route context tailored to riders.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Maps

enhancement · changed

Messages threads and Shortcuts

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 7 made group communication easier to follow and provided direct wrist access to supported personal automations.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Other features and improvements

enhancement · changed

Wallet, media, and utility updates

documentedconfirmed

Related system updates expanded what users could access without waking the display and improved management of keys, audio, weather, and time information.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Other features and improvements

feature · introduced

Sleep tracking and schedules

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 7 introduced an overnight workflow for setting sleep goals, preparing for bed, detecting sleep, waking, and monitoring charging readiness.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Sleep

security · fixed

watchOS 7.0 security repairs

documentedconfirmed

Apple's advisory documents fixes across Audio, CoreAudio, CoreCapture, CoreText, Disk Images, FontParser, HomeKit, ImageIO, the kernel, Sandbox, SQLite, and WebKit.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About the security content of watchOS 7.0 · Audio; CoreAudio; CoreCapture; CoreText; Disk Images; FontParser; HomeKit; ImageIO; Kernel; Sandbox; SQLite; WebKit

enhancement · changed

New workouts and adjustable Activity goals

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 7 broadened movement tracking and let users customize exercise and stand or roll targets in addition to the Move goal.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Other features and improvements

feature · introduced

Memoji app and watch face

documentedconfirmed

The release brought Memoji creation and editing to the wrist and integrated the results into Messages and face personalization.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 7 Updates · watchOS 7 — Memoji

Milestones

Release history

Every recorded channel appearance in chronological order. Open an appearance for any available build, scope, notes, and sources.

  2. +15 days
  3. +15 days
  4. +13 days
  5. +14 days
  6. +7 days
  7. +7 days
  8. +8 days
  9. +6 days
  10. +1 day

    Public release

    Public

    Full articleEditorially verified

    watchOS 7.0 reached the public channel on September 16, 2020 with face sharing, sleep and handwashing tools, Family Setup, fitness, health, communication, navigation, and security changes.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    16 linked
    Open this appearance

Historical context

Cycle comparison

Pace, intervals, and duration compared with earlier releases on the same platform.

Historical avg for major releases

102 days, 9.8 milestones

Based on 10 previous watchOS .0 releases

Cycle vs. platform average

86d (avg: 57d)

29 days longer than the watchOS average

Longest gap in this cycle

15 days

Between Beta 1 and Beta 2

Previous .0 releases (watchOS)

Previous comparable watchOS releases
VersionYearCycleMilestonesAvg. Interval
watchOS 26.0202598d1110d
watchOS 11.0202498d912d
watchOS 10.02023105d1012d
watchOS 9.0202298d912d
watchOS 8.02021105d1012d
watchOS 6.02019108d1210d

Scroll horizontally to compare every historical field.

Official release notes