watchOS 3.2 Beta Download Out for Developers with Theater Mode, SiriKit

Apple has released watchOS 3.2 beta for developers to download, build 14V5205d. The release comes one week after new betas of iOS 10.3, tvOS 10.2 and macOS 10.12.4 debuted.

The new release brings new features such as Theater Mode and SiriKit support to Apple Watch, which many were expecting from last week.

Theater Mode, according to Apple, “lets users quickly mute the sound on their Apple Watch and avoid waking the screen on wrist raise.” You’ll still receive notifications and haptics, by tapping the screen or pressing the Digital Crown. Essentially the feature disables “raise to wake”, which is annoying in movie theatres.

But there are also other important situations where Theater Mode will come in very handy. If you have a newborn or toddler, a bright Apple Watch screen turning on can cause issues at bedtime (believe me). For those that wear their Apple Watch to sleep at night, rolling in bed can cause the screen to illuminate as well.

As for SiriKit, this will introduce support for Siri on Apple Watch to perform actions with apps, such as booking an Uber or sending a payment to a friend, for example.

Stay tuned as we see hands-on videos of the new Theatre Mode feature in action. News of the feature was first leaked by Sonny Dickson, late last month.

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