Users say that watchOS 9.5.1 fixes the green tint issue on Apple Watch

Apple has released a new update for its Watch series. The latest version, watchOS 9.5.1 ships with some bug fixes.

Unfortunately, the release notes for the new firmware does not mention what it changes. According to the company's security updates page, watchOS 9.5.1 does not contain any published CVE entries, i.e. it does not fix any security issues. The update is available for Apple Watch series 4 and later. So what does it fix then?

Does watchOS 9.5.1 fix the green tint issue?

Here's a brief description of the issue for those who are unaware of it. A couple of weeks ago, Apple released watchOS 9.5 to the stable channel. It fixed a bug that had prevented users from unlocking their Mac with their wearable. However, it introduced a new bug. Soon after installing the update, a number of users began complaining that they were experiencing a green tint issue on their Apple Watch.

The reports said that the screen on the wearable, which usually displayed content on a solid black background, now had a green background (gray for some) that appear to be washed out and looked rather ugly. Here are a couple of photos courtesy of reddit users (1, 2 and 3), that highlight the issue that affected the wearables. The problem seemed to be particularly noticeable in the control center, notification panel, and the lock screen. Some users also shared images comparing the screen with other Apple Watches to show the difference between the colors.

Based on reports from users, the issue seemed to affected nearly all models of the wearable including the Apple Watch Series 4, 5, 6, 7, etc., as well as newer devices such as the Apple Watch 8 and the Ultra. Regardless of that, users were unhappy about the issue, and were hoping that this was not a hardware issue, and just a software bug that Apple could fix with an update.

Fast-forward to today, and users who were impacted by the bug claim that installing the watchOS 9.5.1 update has resolved the green tint issue on their Apple Watch. Other users say that the bug still exists on their watches. Some users say that the problem never existed on their wearable in the first place.

The Cupertino company did not acknowledge the green tint issue publicly, and this actually led some users to believe that this change was intended, "a feature" and not a bug. One user had stated that they had reached out to Apple Support for help, and they had informed them that the company's engineers were aware of the issue and are working on a fix for it.  Given the nature of the bug, and the rather unusual timeline for the update, not to mention the version number, I think it's safe to assume that the new software update was meant to fix the annoyance. The build number for watchOS 9.5.1 is 20T570, and it weighs about 92 MB to download.

Apple is set to announce watchOS 10 next week at WWDC 2023. The next-gen operating system will focus on a new widgets experience.

Did you experience the green tint bug on your Apple Watch?

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