Apple today released iOS 26 Beta 7 and watchOS 26 Beta 7 to developers. The most notable updates include the redesigned blood oxygen feature that Apple announced last week for Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 users in the United States.
Apple last week released a redesigned blood oxygen feature as part of iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1. It’s been 18 months since the Apple Watch began selling in the U.S. without blood oxygen functionality due to a patent dispute with health technology company Masimo.
The same redesigned blood oxygen feature is now available to enthusiast Apple Watch and iPhone users running iOS 26 and watchOS 26 beta.
In case you missed it last week, here’s how the new blood oxygen function works.
When you start a session with the Blood Oxygen app on Apple Watch, the sensors on your Apple Watch collect the necessary data. Your iPhone uses that data to calculate your blood oxygen readings. You can see your results in the Respiratory section of the Health app on your iPhone. You can’t view results on your Apple Watch itself.
The redesigned version of this feature also supports background blood oxygen measurements. This means your Apple Watch can collect data in the background and pass it to your iPhone for calculations.
“Previously purchased Apple Watch units that include the original blood oxygen feature or Apple Watch units purchased outside the United States are not affected,” Apple said in a statement.
The seventh beta of iOS 26 and watchOS 26 is now available to developers. A new public beta version is expected to be released as early as later this week.
Is there anything else new in iOS 26 Beta 7? Let us know in the comments.
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