Apple has just released watchOS 26 developer beta 5 for the Apple Watch and you should download it right away.
watchOS 26 Beta 5 Now Available for Download on Apple Watch with Bug Fixes and Other Improvements
Apple Watch betas are the riskiest to test out since you cannot downgrade them back to the public channel. If you are testing out watchOS 26 right now, then you will be pleased to learn that developer beta 5 is now available for download.
Assuming you have nothing else to do, then place your Apple Watch on its charger and follow the steps below in order to download the latest beta:
- Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on General.
- Open Software Update.
- Download watchOS 26 beta 5 by tapping on Update Now.
The new update has the following build number: 23R5328g
The update will definitely take a while to install and that’s how watchOS updates work. Once done, you’ll notice that your Apple Watch is showing the charging screen. When you see it, take your Apple Watch off its charger and put it back on your wrist.
Hopefully, Apple hasn’t made any sort of Liquid Glass changes in this update and is keeping things how they were during the WWDC 2025 keynote. But, there are definitely going to be some visual changes in this update anyway, which I will point out as I come across them.
If you are up for it, and already have iOS 26 installed on your iPhone, you can download watchOS 26 beta on your Apple Watch too. You can either download the developer beta or the public beta, it’s entirely up to you.
The final version of watchOS 26 will become available to download in September, if past releases are anything to go by. Once the update has been released, make sure you disable new updates from downloading on your Apple Watch.
Though beta updates are always fun to test out, things can go south really fast. On Apple Watch, when you do run into an issue or two, you don’t have the option to downgrade at all, which means you have to wait for the next update to arrive to fix the issue.
Honestly, that’s the fun part about testing beta software too. You never know what you’re going to get. Either it will be a super-polished update, or a complete disaster with hilarious bugs.
