Apple pulls watchOS 5 beta, as reports suggest it's bricking smartwatches

You'll have to hold out a little longer to play around with those new features
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Bad news if you're thinking of trying out the watchOS 5 beta on your Apple Watch, as Apple has temporarily pulled the update due to multiple reports of the new operating system bricking devices.

Like all betas, watchOS 5 Beta 1 is designed for developers, although anyone can technically give it a try if they want. But it can be a buggy experience, and that's clearly what a lot of people have experienced with the latest watchOS beta.

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Reports of those issues began cropping up on Reddit and the MacRumors' forum, where those eager to test out the new features were commenting that the update would freeze during installation. There have also been reports of failing internet connections and many of the reports appear to be happening with the Watch Series 2, as opposed to the Watch Series 3. Evidently, there were enough complaints for Apple to act on the problem.

Now, if anyone tries to download the beta from Apple, they'll be met by the following message: "Seed 1 of watchOS 5 is temporarily unavailable. We are investigating an issue that occurs while updating. If you've experienced any issues, please contact AppleCare".

Apple unveiled watchOS 5 at its WWDC 2018 keynote, where it revealed that it was bringing a host of new features to its smartwatches (Series 1 to Series 3), including improved sports tracking, a Walkie Talkie mode, a podcast app and an enhancements to the Siri watch face.

There's no update yet when the beta will be available to download again, but we'll let you know when do have more information.

Source: MacRumors

Apple pulls watchOS 5 beta, as reports suggest it's bricking smartwatches



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Michael Sawh

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Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.

He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.

Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech. 

Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.


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