Battery management in watchOS 26 has improved with a new Apple Watch notification that alerts you if battery drain is faster than normal.
9to5Mac spotted the new notification on their Apple Watch running the watchOS 26 beta. “You’ve used more battery than usual for this time of day,” the alert reads.
It suggests turning on Low Power Mode to extend battery life until you can put your watch on a charger. Also included is a shortcut to turn Lower Power Mode on.
watchOS 26 adds a battery drain notification to your wrist
Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:
In the example screenshot above, the watch prompted me that my remaining battery life had already dropped to 50% at 7 PM. This is about 25% lower than where I would expect it to be on typical day that includes no workouts (hence, no active heart rate tracking.)
And:
In this case, the cause of the battery drain is the fact I was running the beta. This is completely expected as system efficiency and performance can vary dramatically during the cycle of developer seeds, which often means battery life takes a hit.
As Benjamin wrote, the new notification is more timely than the existing notification which pops up when the battery drops to ten percent. “In these cases, the alert gives me a chance to top up the battery at my convenience, rather than being surprised when the low battery alert fires when the battery is almost empty.”
Other changes in watchOS 26
As noted in our WWDC25 roundup, watchOS 26 brings several new features and improvements to the Apple Watch like Workout Buddy, an AI-powered personalized motivation spoken aloud. The update brings changes to the Smart Stack feature, the Control Center, the Photos watch face, the built-in Messages app, navigation within apps and more. watchOS 26 also introduces a new wrist flick gesture for quickly dismissing notifications without using the other hand.
Apple is currently testing watchOS 26 with its developers, but will permit the general public to take its upcoming “26” operating systems for a spin in July. The company will release watchOS 26 publicly alongside iOS 26 in the fall, likely in September ahead of new iPhones.
Low Power Mode on the Apple Watch
You can enter Low Power Mode on your Apple Watch manually in several ways, including the Control Center and the Settings app. Like with the previous watchOS versions, the latest software automatically shows a prompt to turn on Low Power Mode when the battery falls to ten percent.
When active, Low Power Mode temporarily disables certain features like workout reminders that offer to start a session in the Workout app if you forgot to do it, as well as Time in Daylight, which measures the time spent in sunlight every day.
Certain background tasks are temporarily suspended to conserve power, including automatic heart rate and blood oxygen measurements, as well as heart rate notifications for irregular, high and low heart rate. The always-on display and the double-tap gesture also don’t work when Low Power Mode is active. Low Power Mode is also available on the iPhone, iPad and Mac laptops.