Apple Also Released tvOS 18.2 and watchOS 11.2 Today
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With all the hype around Apple Intelligence in the latest iOS/iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia updates, it’s easy to forget that Apple is also still releasing software updates for its other devices like the Apple TV, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.
None of those devices are on the AI bandwagon, and likely won’t be anytime soon, but they’ve still received new updates today in the form of tvOS 18.2, watchOS 11.2, and visionOS 2.2, each with some useful enhancements.
What’s new in tvOS 18.2
The Apple TV gets an update that brings the long-awaited (by some of us) Snoopy screensavers. Apple showed these off during its June Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), but the beagle and his feather friend were missing in action when tvOS 18.0 arrived, with a note on Apple’s website that said they’d make their debut later this year.
Snoopy and Woodstock first appeared in the third tvOS 18.2 beta last month, providing a fourth alternative to the longstanding aerial and photo slideshows and the portraits screensaver that arrived in tvOS 18.0 in September.
The new screensaver works like you’d expect, showing animated clips of Snoopy, and sometimes Woodstock, up to various antics, eventually transitioning to Snoopy sleeping on his doghouse. It’s essentially a big-screen version of the Snoopy Apple Watch face.
Sadly, a third new tvOS 18 screensaver, TV and Movies, has yet to appear and may, in fact, have been cancelled. This screensaver promised to show “stunning visuals” from popular Apple TV+ originals. However, Apple quietly scrubbed all mentions of it from its website last month, leaving it with an uncertain future.
Like the Portraits screensaver that arrived in September, Snoopy is only available on the 2021 Apple TV 4K (second-generation) and later models. Users of the latest Apple TV model — the third-generation 2022 Apple TV 4K — can also take advantage of new ultra-widescreen aspect ratios suitable for cinematic home theatre projectors. These include 21:9, 2.37:1, 2.39:1, and 2.40:1 settings, plus an even crazier 32:9 panoramic view. There’s also support for the DCI 4K format used by the movie projection industry, which works out to a 1.9:1 aspect ratio with its 4096 x 2160 resolution.
What’s New in watchOS 11.2
While the watchOS 11.2 update is a little less exciting, it brings two new features that can be useful for both videography and motivating you to stay in shape.
The official release notes indicate that the “Camera Remote app can pause recording of iPhone video,” which is precisely what it sounds like. Apple added a pause feature to the iPhone as a last-minute addition to iOS 18. Now watchOS 11.2 brings the same capability to the Apple Watch app for controlling the iPhone camera.
While it sounds like a small thing, we’ve already found it to be a big help on our iPhones, as it lets us record multiple shots in a single video rather than filling up our camera roll with short clips. Sadly, it doesn’t work with the iPhone 16 Camera Control, but at least Apple Watch support will help for those situations where you’re mounting your iPhone on a tripod — and it’s here just in time for family holiday events. 
For fitness enthusiasts — even casual ones — Apple is giving you another reason to keep closing your rings every day. watchOS 11.2 adds a new set of All Rings Closed awards, and the best part of these is that they’re retroactive.
As the name suggests, these will provide badges as you hit certain milestones in closing all three of your rings — Move, Exercise, and Stand. However, unlike perfect week and month awards, these commemorate the total number of times you’ve closed all your rings, whether as part of a streak or not. They start at 100 and then go up to 365, 500, 1000, and then in increments of 250 beyond that.
There doesn’t seem to be an upper limit, although the Apple Watch has only been on the market since April 24, 2015, which 3,500 is the highest badge anyone should be able to legitimately earn right now, even if they bought it on launch day with a 100% perfect record of closing their rings every single day since then. One person showed off a 3,250 award that was dated May 30, 2024, which is pretty impressive as the Apple Watch had only been around for 3,325 days at that point. A perfect 3,750 award won’t be achievable until July 29, 2025.
