watchOS 6 is the sixth release of watchOS, shipped September 19, 2019. The watch gained its own App Store — browse, search by voice or Scribble, and install without touching the iPhone — plus independent apps that no longer required a phone-side sibling, completing the autonomy arc cellular began. Health additions kept pace: the Noise app warned of hearing-damaging environments in real time, and Cycle Tracking arrived on both watch and phone.

On-watch App Store and independent apps; Noise; Cycle Tracking; Activity Trends' long-term charts; Voice Memos, Audiobooks, and Calculator (with tip splitting); the Meridian and Solar Dial faces; and streaming for third-party audio apps.

The self-contained app economy readied the platform for Family Setup's phone-less users a year later, and Noise/Cycle Tracking widened "health" beyond the heart — the quiet expansion that became hearing, medication, and mental-health features in later releases.