Cycle Tracking for Apple Watch Series 12 is set up in the Health app on iPhone: tap Search, then Cycle Tracking, then Get Started. Once it is on, you log a period from the Cycle Tracking app on the watch, and the perimenopause and menopause notifications Apple added for watchOS 27 arrive with the free update on Monday, September 14.
Apple has not yet published a support guide for the perimenopause notifications, so this article follows Apple Support’s current Cycle Tracking steps, which are written for watchOS 26, plus the watchOS 27 description in Apple’s press release. The steps may differ slightly once iOS 27 and watchOS 27 ship. For the wider feature list on Apple Watch Series 12, see our launch coverage.
Key facts
| Detail | What Apple says |
|---|---|
| Setup location | Health app on iPhone, Search, Cycle Tracking, Get Started |
| Later changes | Tap Options next to Cycle Log in the Health app |
| Log on the watch | Cycle Tracking app, Log, Period, choose a flow level, Done |
| Notification types | Period Predictions and Period Notifications; Fertile Window Estimates and Fertility Notifications; Cycle Deviation Detection |
| Wrist temperature | Series 8 or later and all Ultra models, when worn to sleep |
| Perimenopause notifications | iOS 27 and watchOS 27; users 40 and over |
| Postmenopausal bleeding notifications | watchOS 27; not available in all regions |
| Apple’s caution | Cycle Tracking should not be used as a form of birth control |
How to set up Cycle Tracking and log a period on Series 12
Everything starts on the iPhone. Apple Support’s guide places the setup and every later option inside the Health app rather than the Watch app.
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- Open the Health app on your iPhone.
- Tap Search, then tap Cycle Tracking.
- Tap Get Started and follow the onscreen instructions. Apple asks about your cycle so it can begin predictions.
- To change anything later, return to Cycle Tracking and tap Options next to Cycle Log.
- Pair your Series 12 if you have not already. Apple says the watch needs iPhone 11 or later with iOS 27 or later.
Logging then moves to the watch. Apple Support’s steps for the Cycle Tracking app on Apple Watch are short.
- Open the Cycle Tracking app on the watch.
- Tap Log, then select Period.
- Choose a flow level, then confirm by tapping Done.
- Add symptoms or spotting through the same Log button.
- On iPhone, you can instead tap the oval on the relevant day in the Health app, or select several days at once.
Wearing the watch to sleep matters here. Apple says wrist temperature data from Apple Watch Series 8 or later, and every Apple Watch Ultra, improves period predictions and provides retrospective ovulation estimates. Series 12 lists a temperature sensor in its Health Sensing System, so that capability carries forward.
Which notifications to turn on
Apple Support names three groups of notifications in the current guide. Apple’s watchOS 27 press release adds two more, which do not yet have a documented switch.
| Notification | What it does | Where Apple documents it |
|---|---|---|
| Period Predictions and Period Notifications | Alerts ahead of a predicted period | Health app Cycle Tracking options |
| Fertile Window Estimates and Fertility Notifications | Estimates and alerts for the fertile window | Health app Cycle Tracking options |
| Cycle Deviation Detection | Flags logged patterns that deviate from your history | Health app on iPhone |
| Perimenopause notifications | Notifies users 40 and over when logged cycle changes suggest perimenopause | watchOS 27 press release; no setup steps yet |
| Postmenopausal bleeding notifications | Alerts for bleeding after menopause | watchOS 27 press release; not in all regions |
Perimenopause and menopause notifications in watchOS 27
Apple’s iOS 27 page says Cycle Tracking “can provide notifications when your logged cycle patterns are suggestive of perimenopause.” The press release narrows the audience to users 40 and over and adds notifications for postmenopausal bleeding, with the caveat that the feature is not available in all regions.
Because the feature keys off logged cycle patterns, the practical preparation is to keep logging consistently in the Cycle Tracking app before and after the September 14 update. Apple has not said how many logged cycles it needs, which regions are excluded, or whether the notifications have their own toggle in Options. Apple’s pre-event Series 12 expectations did not cover this feature, so it is new information from the launch.
If it does not work
- Check the date. The perimenopause and postmenopausal bleeding notifications require iOS 27 and watchOS 27, so they cannot appear before September 14.
- Check your age setting. Apple limits perimenopause notifications to users 40 and over, using the age in your Health profile.
- Check the region. Apple says the notifications are not available in all regions but has not published the list.
- Check the logs. Predictions and deviation detection depend on logged periods. If nothing has been logged, there is no pattern to analyze.
- Check sleep wear. Retrospective ovulation estimates need wrist temperature, which only comes from nights with the watch on.
What Apple has not said
- Step-by-step instructions for enabling or disabling the perimenopause notifications.
- The list of regions where the watchOS 27 notifications are unavailable.
- How many logged cycles the perimenopause detection needs before it can notify.
- Whether Series 12’s new Health Sensing System changes the temperature data used for ovulation estimates.
Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399, opened for pre-order on September 9, and reaches stores on Friday, September 18. The Cycle Tracking additions arrive with watchOS 27 on Monday, September 14, which runs on Series 9 and later, SE 3, and Ultra 2 and later, paired with an iPhone on iOS 27.
