Apple released the third developer betas of watchOS 11.4 and tvOS 18.4 on March 10, 2025. Beta 3 was primarily a testing and stability release rather than a major feature update. The “new emojis” were part of the wider 18.4 software cycle, while the most useful watchOS features arrived in the final release: alarms that can sound through Silent Mode and support for Matter-compatible robot vacuums.
This is historical coverage of the March–April 2025 releases, not a report on Apple’s latest software in 2026.
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What Apple released
The March 10 release covered the third developer betas of watchOS 11.4 and tvOS 18.4, alongside visionOS 2.4 beta 3. Apple distributed the builds through its Apple Developer beta program. The first developer betas of the 18.4 family had arrived on February 21, 2025.
Contemporary beta documentation identified tvOS 18.4 beta 3 as build 22L5240e. Developers testing the release cycle were also advised to use Xcode 16.3. Developer and public beta channels should not be treated as identical: a developer build can appear before a corresponding public beta, and availability can vary by platform and enrollment status.
#1 Best Overall
![Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Starlight Aluminum Case with Starlight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31YiTby0pOL._SL160_.jpg)
- GET SMARTER HEALTH INSIGHTS—Apple Watch SE 3 is an advanced health tracker that helps you better understand your body. The smartwatch sends alerts for an irregular heart rhythm, or an unusually high or low heart rate.* You can view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app,* track your sleep score, and get sleep apnea notifications.*
- A GREAT FITNESS TRACKER—SE 3 can track your workouts in a healthy number of ways—from running and strength training to simply achieving your 10K steps a day. With real-time metrics and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone,* you’ll hit your goals like never before.
- KEEP HELP CLOSE AT HAND—SE 3 is a smartwatch that can detect a hard fall or severe car crash and automatically help connect you to emergency services and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- WOMEN’S HEALTH INSIGHTS—SE 3 has advanced sensors that track your wrist temperature while you sleep. With this smartwatch, you can log your periods and symptoms, get period predictions, and get notified of cycle deviations.*
- GREAT BATTERY LIFE AND FASTER CHARGING—Enjoy a smartwatch with all-day, 18-hour battery life* from sunup to sundown. Then charge up to twice as fast as SE 2* and get up to 8 hours of battery in just 15 minutes.*
Did Beta 3 add major features?
No major watchOS or tvOS feature was identified specifically in beta 3. The build was chiefly useful for developers and testers checking compatibility, resolving bugs, and preparing for the final releases.
During the tvOS 18.4 beta cycle, reporting also described Apple TV app refinements, including a plus button for quickly adding a title to the Watchlist, clearer indicators for upcoming episodes, and updated iconography. These were interface changes reported during the cycle, not evidence that beta 3 introduced a major new operating-system capability.
tvOS 18.4 did not bring Apple Intelligence to Apple TV. Apple’s prominent Apple Intelligence announcements for the 18.4 family concerned other platforms, particularly iPhone and iPad.
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Rank #2
![Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 42mm] Smartwatch with Rose Gold Aluminum Case with Light Blush Sport Band - S/M. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31caPPnRysL._SL160_.jpg)
- A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
- KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
- GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
- SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.
What “new emojis” means on each platform
The broader Apple 18.4 software family added support for Unicode Emoji 16.0. The eight additions documented for Apple’s ecosystem were:
- Face with Bags Under Eyes:
- Fingerprint:
- Splatter:
- Root Vegetable:
- Leafless Tree:
- Harp:
- Shovel:
- Flag of Sark: 🇨🇶
Emojipedia’s Apple emoji changelog records these designs across iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, tvOS 18.4, watchOS 11.4, macOS 15.4, and visionOS 2.4. Designs can differ on other platforms, including Android, Windows, Samsung devices, and Google services.
Why watchOS coverage said seven
Coverage of the final watchOS 11.4 release described seven new emoji in the Apple Watch emoji keyboard. The broader Apple count was eight, with the Flag of Sark apparently representing the difference in the watchOS keyboard presentation. It is therefore safer to distinguish the eight-character Apple ecosystem list from the seven emoji listed for the watchOS keyboard than to claim that every Apple platform exposes all eight in exactly the same way.
Rank #3
![Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/416RQ0rtsUL._SL160_.jpg)
- A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
- KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
- GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
- SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.
What Apple TV users will notice
On tvOS, the practical change is updated emoji glyph support and improved compatibility when newer emoji appear in supported apps or communications. Apple TV does not offer the same user-facing emoji keyboard experience as an iPhone or Apple Watch, so “new emojis on tvOS” should not be read as a new Apple TV emoji picker.
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The final public watchOS 11.4 release contained more useful changes than the beta 3 headline suggested.
Sleep Wake Up alarms can sound through Silent Mode
A Sleep Wake Up alarm can make an audible sound even when the Apple Watch is in Silent Mode, in addition to providing haptic feedback. That addresses a practical problem for people who want ordinary notifications muted but still need a dependable audible morning alarm.
Rank #4
![Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31Gq8SToFJL._SL160_.jpg)
- GET SMARTER HEALTH INSIGHTS—Apple Watch SE 3 is an advanced health tracker that helps you better understand your body. The smartwatch sends alerts for an irregular heart rhythm, or an unusually high or low heart rate.* You can view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app,* track your sleep score, and get sleep apnea notifications.*
- A GREAT FITNESS TRACKER—SE 3 can track your workouts in a healthy number of ways—from running and strength training to simply achieving your 10K steps a day. With real-time metrics and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone,* you’ll hit your goals like never before.
- KEEP HELP CLOSE AT HAND—SE 3 is a smartwatch that can detect a hard fall or severe car crash and automatically help connect you to emergency services and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- WOMEN’S HEALTH INSIGHTS—SE 3 has advanced sensors that track your wrist temperature while you sleep. With this smartwatch, you can log your periods and symptoms, get period predictions, and get notified of cycle deviations.*
- GREAT BATTERY LIFE AND FASTER CHARGING—Enjoy a smartwatch with all-day, 18-hour battery life* from sunup to sundown. Then charge up to twice as fast as SE 2* and get up to 8 hours of battery in just 15 minutes.*
Matter robot vacuums in Apple Home
watchOS 11.4 added support for adding Matter-compatible robot vacuums to the Home app, using them in scenes and automations, and controlling them with Siri. The feature depends on the exact vacuum, its firmware, and the rest of the Apple Home setup.
“Matter-compatible” does not guarantee that every advanced function will be available in Apple Home. Room selection, mapping, mop controls, cleaning modes, and other capabilities may remain dependent on the manufacturer’s app. Some accessories may also require a compatible home hub or a firmware update.
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- A fix for an issue that could make face selection unresponsive when switching watch faces.
- The new emoji characters in the Apple Watch emoji keyboard.
Should you install the developer beta?
| Reader | Recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| App developer | Consider it on a test device | Useful for compatibility testing, especially with the release SDK and Xcode 16.3. |
| Enthusiast | Only if you accept instability | Beta software can cause battery drain, bugs, pairing problems, notification issues, or app incompatibilities. |
| Everyday Apple Watch owner | Wait for the final release | The emoji additions alone do not justify beta risk, and Apple Watch rollback is more limited and cumbersome than ordinary iPhone recovery. |
| Apple TV owner | Usually wait | A tvOS beta can affect streaming apps, audio and video output, Home control, or the Siri Remote, while beta 3 offered no major headline feature. |
For watchOS, installation generally requires the watch to be charging and sufficiently charged, while the paired iPhone must run compatible software. Beta software is best installed on equipment reserved for testing rather than a primary watch used for alarms, workouts, or daily notifications.
Best Value
![Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 42mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - S/M. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41s72HIk5TL._SL160_.jpg)
- A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
- KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
- GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
- SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.
Compatibility
The eventual public watchOS 11.4 release supported Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and Apple Watch SE 2. Older Apple Watch models were not supported. tvOS 18.4 was available for Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K models that supported the update.
As with any beta, having a current backup and a recovery plan matters. An update profile or enrollment setting can also determine which beta channel appears in Settings, and developer and public beta availability may not arrive at the same time.
watchOS 11.4 and tvOS 18.4 timeline
- February 21, 2025: Apple released the first developer betas in the 18.4 software family.
- March 3, 2025: The second beta round was released.
- March 10, 2025: watchOS 11.4 and tvOS 18.4 beta 3 arrived.
- March 24, 2025: Apple issued release-candidate builds.
- March 31, 2025: tvOS 18.4 shipped publicly as build 22L255.
- April 1, 2025: watchOS 11.4 shipped publicly as build 22T251.
Apple’s security-release archive records the final release dates. The Apple Developer release archive lists the final build information.
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Bottom line
watchOS 11.4 and tvOS 18.4 beta 3 were real developer releases, but they were not major feature drops. Emoji support was part of the broader 18.4 platform update, with eight characters documented across Apple’s ecosystem and seven highlighted for the watchOS keyboard. For Apple Watch owners, the final release’s Silent Mode alarm behavior and Matter robot-vacuum support mattered more than the emoji additions. For Apple TV owners, the update was mainly about refinement and compatibility rather than a new interface or Apple Intelligence feature.
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