Apple has delayed the launch of an important upgrade to its smartwatch operating system. Due to the discovery of a bug in the software, watchOS2 didn’t launch along with the much-anticipating iOS 9 for iPhone and iPad, as was previously planned.
Apple hasn’t provided any details about the software bug in question, but through a spokesperson has said that the software update will be released “shortly”. The delay echoes the troubled rollout of the device, which was unusually bumpy due to the novel nature of the smartwatch as an Apple device, and also possibly due to a hardware defect. On the topic of defects, there have also been recent complaints about the Apple logo and related text scratching off of some devices, though that has only affected some units of the space grey version of the Apple Watch Sport model, and in those cases Apple has replaced users’ devices.
Despite these issues, the watchOS2 is hotly anticipated. When it arrives, it will offer at least one significant improvement over the previous version in that it will let apps run directly on the Apple Watch, rather than having them routed through a user’s synced iPhone. It’s indicative of a larger push to decouple the devices going forward, with the next version of the Apple Watch anticipating to not require iPhone pairing at all. The move will be necessary in order to compete against other smartwatches, such as Samsung’s Gear S2, that are expected to eschew smartphone pairing.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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