Apple watchOS 10 might be all about widgets

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference is looming over us. On Monday, Apple will hold a keynote event introducing all the new hardware and software folks have been speculating about for weeks — and it looks like wearables just might be front and center.

Apple's mixed-reality headsets will undoubtedly take up plenty of space at the WWDC, but it's the beloved Apple Watch (yes, I am biased) that I'm looking at. It could get a brand new look, courtesy of watchOS 10. 

Right now, the Apple Watch is built around watch faces (which I think of as my homepage) — a scrolling screen with all the apps you have access to — and notifications similar to its other OS products.

But that might change next week. Rumors have been swirling that after many long years, the Apple Watch will be getting a significant refresh — perhaps its biggest software update since the original Apple Watch launched. These are the companies most personal wearables and, as MacWorld reports, Apple now has nearly a decade of data about how people use their smartwatches.

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Streamlining the Apple Watch experience

Folks are thinking the watchOS 10 will make the watch more focused on widgets. According to Bloomberg, the new widgets system will combine Glances — a widget system on watchOS from years ago — and the widgets you see on your iPhone and iPad. So instead of scrolling through your watch face or a long, long list of apps, launch one, and use it, users will scroll through a series of widgets  — without having to launch the apps at all.

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Personally, I love this rumor. I only use a few apps on my Apple Watch — workout, calculator, Latch, activity, and, occasionally, Spotify. The idea that this could be more streamlined, like it is on my iPhone, is delightful.

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Bloomberg also reports that Apple might change the function of the watch's buttons, which sounds truly terrible to me. Right now, the Digital Crown launches the home stream — that might launch widgets instead. I'm sure this change would be fine and I would get used to it, but I don't love the idea of it yet.

Nothing is written in stone until Monday's keynote event, though. You can tune in yourselfif you're curious.