Apple Delays Release Of watchOS 2 Due To Bug

Apple has delayed the release of watchOS 2, which was expected to be available today to owners of the Apple Watch.

“We have discovered a bug in development of watchOS 2 that is taking a bit longer to fix than we expected,” an Apple spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We will not release watchOS 2 today but will shortly.”

Given that watchOS 2 is a high profile release for Apple, a relatively important system must have been affected. That said, it takes some guts to holdĀ a widely publicized release to get it right, so good for them. Apple did not give any indications on release timeline beyond ‘shortly’.

The new operating system adds a handful of new features, but most importantly gives developers building apps the ability to directly access its sensors and stream data more efficiently between the iPhone and the watch. Other marquee features of watchOS 2 include expanded Siri support, transit directions, photo watch faces, the ability to travel through a timeline to check weather and appointments and expanded WiFi support when out of range of an iPhone.

Apple’s iOS 9 releases today and is expected to arrive on schedule. We’ll have coverage of that shortly and of watchOS 2 when it’s ready for prime time.