Apple on Tuesday seeded the fifth beta of watchOS 8.5 to developers for testing purposes. The new beta comes one week after the release of the fourth beta.
The watchOS 8.5 beta can be installed on an Apple Watch with the proper configuration profile installed, via the Watch app on the device’s attached iPhone. Go to “General” -> “Software Update” to install the new software. The Watch should have at least 50% battery life, be connected to a charger, and be in the range of the iPhone.
So far, the only reported new feature in watchOS 8.5 is support for Emoji 14 characters, with new additions including melting face, biting lip, heart hands, bubbles, beans, eggs, troll, low battery, lotus, and many more.
As usual, MacTrast and Apple both warn users to not install any betas on their daily driver Apple Watch, especially early versions of new operating systems. Instead, only install betas on a device set aside for testing purposes.
