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Release record

watchOS 8.5

Full article
Public release
Recorded milestones
7
Beta cycle
46d
Average interval
8d
Public release
Mar 14, 2022

Release notes

Overview

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

Release overview

watchOS 8.5 was released on March 14, 2022. It added Apple TV purchase authorization from Apple Watch, EU Digital COVID Certificate support for vaccination cards in Wallet, updated irregular-rhythm notifications in supported regions, and Fitness+ Audio Hints.[1][2]

Security and source boundary

Apple's advisory also records fixes affecting document and image parsing, kernel privileges, privacy controls, Siri, and WebKit. The available first-party notes do not support a separate undocumented-change list, so this archive does not infer one.[3][2]

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 8.5

    Apple Support · Apple · 2022-03-14T00:00:00.000Z · watchOS 8.5 — Released March 14, 2022

    Back to text ↑
  2. About watchOS 8 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-29 · watchOS 8.5

    Back to text ↑
  3. About the security content of watchOS 8.5

    Apple Support · Apple · 2022-03-14T00:00:00.000Z · Accelerate Framework; ImageIO; Kernel; LaunchServices; Siri; WebKit

    Back to text ↑
  4. About the security content of watchOS 8.5

    Apple Support · Apple · 2022-03-14T00:00:00.000Z · Released March 14, 2022

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.

feature · introduced

Apple TV purchase authorization

documentedconfirmed

The update enabled Apple Watch to approve purchase and subscription prompts initiated on Apple TV.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 8 Updates · watchOS 8.5

enhancement · changed

Updated irregular-rhythm notifications

documentedconfirmed

Apple updated the irregular-rhythm notification system to improve AFib identification, with availability limited by region.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 8 Updates · watchOS 8.5

feature · introduced

Fitness+ Audio Hints

documentedconfirmed

The release added Audio Hints to describe movements shown during Fitness+ workouts for users who benefit from spoken visual guidance.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 8 Updates · watchOS 8.5

compatibility · introduced

EU Digital COVID Certificate support in Wallet

documentedconfirmed

watchOS 8.5 expanded vaccination-card compatibility in Wallet to include the EU Digital COVID Certificate.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About watchOS 8 Updates · watchOS 8.5

security · fixed

watchOS 8.5 security repairs

documentedconfirmed

Apple's advisory documents fixes spanning Accelerate and ImageIO parsing, kernel privileges, privacy restrictions, Siri lock-screen access, Sandbox, and multiple WebKit paths.

Recorded at Public

  1. [1] About the security content of watchOS 8.5 · Accelerate Framework; ImageIO; Kernel; LaunchServices; Siri; Sandbox; WebKit

Milestones

Release history

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

  2. +12 days
  3. +7 days
  4. +7 days
  5. +7 days
  6. +7 days
  7. +6 days

    Public release

    Public

    Full articleEditorially verified

    watchOS 8.5 reached the public channel on March 14, 2022 with Apple TV purchase approval, expanded health-document and notification support, Fitness+ accessibility guidance, and security fixes.

    Availability
    available
    Sources
    4 linked
    Open this appearance

Historical context

Cycle comparison

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

Historical avg for .5 releases

37 days, 5.5 milestones

Based on 2 previous watchOS .5 releases

Cycle vs. platform average

46d (avg: 58d)

12 days shorter than the watchOS average

Duration ranking

#26 of 49

Middle of the pack watchOS beta cycles

Longest gap in this cycle

12 days

Between Beta 1 and Beta 2

Previous .5 releases (watchOS)

Previous comparable watchOS releases
VersionYearCycleMilestonesAvg. Interval
watchOS 26.5202642d68d
watchOS 7.5202132d58d

Scroll horizontally to compare every historical field.

Official release notes