Apple on Tuesday pulled the first watchOS 5 beta seed, amid reports of “bricked” Apple Watch devices. Apple would only say the OS would be temporarily unavailable while it investigates an issue that may occur during the update process.
Details of the issue were not made public, though AppleInsider readers have reported inordinately long wait times when attempting to install the first watchOS 5 beta seed that saw release shortly after its unveiling onstage at Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.
In addition to first-hand reports, beta update troubles were also detailed in online forums posts by members of Apple’s developer program. In some cases, the 646MB over-the-air download failed to complete, while others ran into errors during the update process.
AppleInsider reports the most frequently reported issue was where the Apple Watch seems to complete the watchOS 5 installation procedure, only to see the Watch to reboot into watchOS 4. Some users reported that re-pairing the device with an iPhone running iOS 12 beta worked, but only a small number of users reported the procedure as being successful.
Apple has pulled the watchOS 5 beta, and the seed’s release notes on the company’s developer website now shows the software as “Coming Soon.”
In an update, the company says the following:
“Seed 1 of watchOS 5 is temporarily unavailable. We are investigating an issue that may occur while updating. If you’ve experienced any issues, please contact AppleCare.”
Bugs such as this are the reason company’s offer beta programs, so they can shake the bugs out before the public release. That’s why only developers should be downloading these early betas. Don’t try this at home kids!