Apple Watch owners report green display tint issue after watchOS 9.5 update

uLast week, Apple issued watchOS 9.5, one of several OS updates that it released. While there do not appear to be any notable issues with iOS 16.5, macOS Ventura 13.4 and others, Apple Watch owners have started complaining about a bug that has shipped in watchOS 9.5. The update, which was relatively minor compared to iOS 16.5 and macOS Ventura 13.4, contains an issue that induces a strong green display tint under certain conditions.

Anecdotally, we have noticed the issue affecting a Watch Series 8. However, most reports concern Watch SE and Watch Ultra models. The green tint appears limited to a few parts of watchOS, such as in the Notification Center, Quick Settings or when inputting a passcode. In our experience, the green tint is only visible when looking at the watch straight on. For some reason, looking at the display off-axis eliminates the tint.

Additionally, a restart seems to fix the problem in most cases. Experiences vary though, with the green tint remaining after multiple restarts for some people. Apple has not commented on the issue yet, although we would not be surprised to see the company issue watchOS 9.5.1 to rectify the problem.

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