
The watchOS 26 operating system permits your Apple Watch to use Control Center toggles from its paired iPhone for the first time.

Aside from a new look with Apple’s Liquid Glass design language, watchOS 26 enables developers to create custom controls for the built-in Control Center. As an example, an app like Dark Noise could bring a custom toggle to enable Apple Watch owners to turn a sleep soundscape on or off in the watchOS Control Center.
As noted in our WWDC25 roundup, watchOS 26 also enables Apple Watch owners to add almost any control from the Control Center gallery on the paired iPhone to the Control Center on their wrist, assign it to the Action button on the Apple Watch Ultra or have it surface automatically when needed in the Smart Stack widget.
watchOS 26: Control Center toggles from your iPhone
“People can add the controls from your iPhone app to system spaces on Apple Watch, even if you don’t have a Watch app,” explains Apple in a WWDC25 season video, titled “What’s new in watchOS 26.” These controls are automatically available on your Apple Watch. What’s best, developers don’t need to rebuild their existing iPhone controls for the Apple Watch, they just work.

iPhone controls engaged on the Apple Watch perform underlying actions on the phone rather than the watch. You can use iPhone controls on your Apple Watch even without a native watchOS app installed. Apple notes some iPhone controls are unavailable on the watch. “Since the action is performed on iPhone, controls whose actions foreground the iPhone app will not appear on Apple Watch,” says Apple.
And if a developer already has a native Apple Watch app, they can build native controls using the same API for building iPhone and iPad controls. Such native Apple Watch controls perform assigned actions directly on the watch.
To test these features in action, follow the steps in our tutorials to install the iOS 26 developer beta on your iPhone and the watchOS 26 developer beta on your Apple Watch. You must be a paid member of the Apple Developer Program to install developer betas. The general public can take Apple’s upcoming operating systems for a spin in July via the Apple Beta Software Program at beta.apple.com.
watchOS 26: Controls, widgets and live activities
Summing up, watchOS 26 brings a customizable Control Center with iPhone controls, native controls from compatible third-party Apple Watch apps and configurable widgets. Like on an iPhone, you can hold a widget such as Weather to reveal hidden options, like chaining the current city.
The Smart Stack on watchOS 26 supports controls (from the paired iPhone and native watch apps), as well as widgets and live activities. Also, watchOS 26 surfaces workout suggestions in the Smart Stack widget based on your fitness routine, and you can touch it to quickly get your workout started.
The difference between controls, widgets and live activities
What’s the difference between controls, widgets and live activities? They all perform quick actions without opening an app, so how do they differ from one another?

Controls are meant to perform a single action like toggling Wi-Fi or changing a setting in an app. Widgets, on the other hand, display information throughout the day, such as the weather forecast. And last but not least, live activities bring real-time updates for events with a clear start and end, like delivery updates or the progress of a sports event or an airline flight.