‘Snoopy’ Is the Most Whimsical New Face to Come to the Apple Watch in Years

Now that Apple TV+ is the official home for all things Peanuts, Apple is bringing two of the franchise’s most beloved characters to your wrist in watchOS 10 with what is easily the most fun new watch face to grace the wearable since the Toy Story crew showed up in watchOS 4.

Highlighted during last week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, watchOS 10 brings a significant redesign, plus two new watch faces that include Palette, a minimalist artistic face, and Snoopy, a fun artist face that features the iconic beagle and his feathered friend, Woodstock.

While Palette is an attractive new face in its own right, it’s not a huge departure from the new faces we typically see each year. As Apple describes it, Palette “uses dynamic color to highlight different elements of the watch face,” with gradients that “follow the hands and change as the second-hand sweeps around the face.” It has room for four complications — one in each corner — and a huge assortment of color combinations.

However, Snoopy is where the fun begins. It’s a whimsical animated face that goes well beyond just showing Snoopy and Woodstock, offering unique animations that change every time you raise your wrist and even vary based on the weather. Here’s how Apple describes it in iOS 17 and watchOS 10:

Featuring the famous beagle of the Peanuts crew, this face showcases Snoopy’s playful spirit. Snoopy interacts with both Woodstock and the hands of the watch to bring information to life, depending on the weather, time of day, day of the year, and more. On Sundays, the color of the background changes on the hour, paying homage to Sunday comic strips. This face is available in three different styles, each using lettering from the Peanuts comics.

It’s clear Apple’s designers had a great time designing this one. Even the background color options are playfully named, including Sunday Surprise, Violet Gray, Doghouse Red, Great Pumpkin, Woodstock Yellow, Peppermint Patty, Blanket Blue, and Lucy Blue, among others.

Those with an Apple Watch that has an Always On Display (Series 5 or later, excluding the Apple Watch SE) will see Snoopy and Woodstock snoozing atop the iconic doghouse in various positions throughout the day.

It’s when you raise your wrist that the fun begins, as Snoopy and/or Woodstock show up on the screen for a 2-5 second animated short that will often interact with the hands of the watch face or even reflect current weather conditions such as a rainy day.

The downside to the new Snoopy watch face is that there’s no room for any complications. While several other Apple Watch faces have styles that lack space for complications, most at least offer style variants that do. For example, Color and Gradient let you choose between a complication-less full-face view or a more traditional rounded face where you can drop complications in the corners. However, Snoopy isn’t the first to eschew complications entirely; Artistic, Playtime, Nike Bounce, and Unity Mosaic also lack complication support.

However, the introduction of widgets in watchOS 10 may eliminate some of the need for complications. Turning the Digital Crown or swiping up from any watch face will offer up a customizable collection of widgets that can show much of the same information. While not quite as glanceable as a complication, these widgets provide room for more detail.