watchOS 26: Liquid Glass Design, Workout Buddy, Smart Stack, and Wrist Flick Gesture
While the main higlight of Apple WWDC 2025 was undoubtedly iOS 26, the new watchOS 26 also received some noteworthy improvements.
Since Apple aims to maintain consistency in its design language across platforms, watchOS 26 adopts the sleek new Liquid Glass aesthetic. This will be most noticeable on widgets and the watch face.
More than just a design facelift, Apple is introducing a new Workout Buddy that gives users personalized pep talks based on their exercise history. It’s similar to the nudges you get on the Nike Run Club app, but Apple’s version offers encouragement based on previous workouts—such as fastest times, pace, and more.
There’s also a Custom Workout feature, allowing users to customize workouts with work and rest intervals, as well as set race routes.
watchOS 26 also brings an improved Smart Stack algorithm that fuses on-device data to detect routines at specific locations. It can now create a Smart Stack with widgets relevant to what you typically use at that time and place. For example, when you walk into the gym, it may suggest a stack of widgets like workout modes and music that you can access instantly.
Apple has also introduced a new wrist flick gesture that can dismiss notifications, mute incoming calls, and silence timers and alarms. Other additions include Live Translation for Messages and a new Notes app on Apple Watch.
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