Apple on Tuesday seeded the watchOS 9.4 Release Candidate to developers for testing purposes. The RC comes one week after the launch of the third beta.
The watchOS 9.4 RC 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 RC. The Watch should have at least 50% battery life, be connected to a charger, and be within range of the iPhone.
watchOS 9.4 adds support for new emoji characters, including a donkey, goose, blackbird, shaking head, hyacinth, pea pod, and more, with 31 new characters available in total.
Through iOS 16.4, the update also adds support for Web Push notifications that are sent to an iPhone, with the notifications able to be set up for a website that is added to the iPhone’s Home Screen.
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.