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With watchOS 10, Apple is introducing the biggest changes to watchOS ever. This includes a new widget-based system, as well as moving the control center, among other features. But a feature that might have gone unnoticed is, the fact that you can now add cards to Apple Pay directly on the watch. Previously, you needed to use the Watch app on your iPhone to do this.
There is now an “Add Card” button in the Wallet app on the Apple Watch. So you can easily add a new card directly on your wrist, which is really nice to have. This means that the setup process for Apple Pay can be done entirely on the watch.
The process is basically the same as before. Where you’ll enter the credit card number, expiration date and security code right on your watch. Now, since the watch doesn’t have a camera, it can’t scan your card and auto-fill these fields for you. So it does take a bit more work to add a card.
watchOS 10 is stealing the show
Ahead of WWDC, we knew that iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 was not going to be a huge update. It was mostly going to be a bug fixing update, with some quality of life features being added. And watchOS was set to be the biggest upgrade ever for the watch. Which did end up happening.
watchOS 10 got a nice redesign, which looks a whole lot better. And Apple even got rid of the terrible honeycomb app drawer, well sort of. It’s now a scrollable list of apps in a honeycomb pattern. Instead of expanding left, right, up and down when you add more apps. So it’s a lot better to find the app you’re looking for.
It also added widgets, though it’s mostly only for first-party apps right now. Which means that you now don’t need to stick with an information-dense watch face on the Apple Watch.