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Apple releases watchOS 5.1 with updated emoji and watchfaces

Apple releases watchOS 5.1 with updated emoji and watchfaces

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Update October 31th, 1:14PM ET: Apple has pulled the watchOS update, at least temporarily, after reports of bricked Apple Watch devices.

Apple released watchOS 5.1 today and with it comes support for new emoji, updated watchfaces, and group FaceTime audio. One new watchface includes a “color” face that’ll give users a choice between different shades that take up the whole face.

The update also supports more than 70 new emoji that were released with iOS 12.1, including the controversial bagel. Some minor bugs are fixed, too, like an issue that prevented some users from being able to send or receive invitations on Walkie Talkie and another that caused an incomplete installation of the Walkie Talkie app for some users. 

As usual, you can update by going through your Apple Watch iPhone app.

Update October 30th, 2:08PM ET: A prior version of this article stated that watchOS 5.1 enabled the electrocardiogram app on Apple Watch Series 4 devices. That was incorrect; Apple has said the functionality is coming this year, but it is not part of today’s update. We regret the error.