Leaked watchOS 4.1 GM Release Notes Confirm Streaming Music Support and More

BY Evan Selleck

Published 25 Oct 2017

Apple is currently seeding beta releases of watchOS 4.1, which is the next big update for the wearable’s platform.

And while we’ve already seen that watchOS 4.1 includes the ability to stream Apple Music and content from a user’s iCloud Music Library, a leaked image appears to show the watchOS 4.1 Golden Master release notes, confirming that the feature will indeed make its public debut with the forthcoming arrival of watchOS 4.1.

The leaked GM release notes found their way to Twitter by developer Guilherme Rambo (@_inside). While most of the information is known at this point, it also confirms that GymKit is supported, too, which is another major feature that was introduced with the Apple Watch Series 3 earlier this year.

Here’s the full changelog:

  • Stream music on Apple Watch Series 3 with Apple Music or iCloud Music Library
  • Listen to live radio on Beats 1, custom stations, and expert-curated stations with the new Radio app on Apple Watch Series 3
  • Use Siri to find, discover, and play songs, playlists, or albums
  • Sync fitness data with GymKit-enabled treadmills, ellipticals, stair steppers, and indoor bikes for more accurate distance, pace, and energy burn metrics
  • Ability to disconnect from a Wi-Fi network in Control Center for Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular)
  • Fixes an issue for Apple Watch Series 1 and later where Heart Rate notifications were delivered when the feature was not enabled
  • Fixes an issue where some users did not receive Stand Reminders
  • Resolves an issue where the current Stand hour indicator did not appear for some users
  • Resolves an issue that [was] caused haptics to not be delivered for silent alarms
  • Addresses an issue that prevented Apple Watch (1st generation) from charging for some users
  • Resolves an issue where the Sunrise / Sunset complication would sometimes not appear
  • Restores Mandarin as the default dictation language for China

While the Golden Master is meant to reflect a public-ready launch, things could still be changed, tweaked, removed, and other changes/fixes added before the public arrival of watchOS 4.1 at some point in the (near) future. These GM release notes do show us that while there are new features being added to the mix, the primary goal is to address and resolve quite a few issues that have cropped up since the launch of watchOS 4.

What’s also worth noting is what isn’t part of the leaked GM release notes: Apple Pay Cash. While rumors had suggested that the feature may arrive before the end of October, and that it could launch with watchOS 4.1, that is apparently not going to be the case. At least, based on these leaked release notes, anyway. Apple Pay Cash would more than likely have a name drop in the watchOS 4.1 release notes if it were being released with iOS 11.1 (which should launch at the same time), so it looks like the feature won’t be launching with the next major update to either platform.

If you have an Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE, are you looking forward to the ability to stream music?

[via @_inside]