Apple’s upcoming watchOS 26 will add a bunch of fun new features to your Apple Watch. For example, the Notes app is finally coming to Apple's wearable, and notifications are about to get way less annoying. After about six weeks of beta testing the developer beta, Apple dropped the watchOS 26 public beta last week. While the public beta release means you can try out all these new features right now, though, here’s my advice: wait.To beta, or not to beta?All betas come with risks. When you install beta software on your device—whether that be a smartphone, laptop, or smartwatch—you’re installing software that isn’t finished yet. It’s your experience with that software that helps developers catch any bugs or issues that they can fix before they release the software to the general public. Sometimes, the bugs are just minor annoyances. Other times, however, they’re terrible, and make your device unusable. Apps crash, animations are sluggish, the whole system freezes or reboots unexpectedly...anything can happen. Usually, there’s a way out of this beta trap—you need to restore your device to factory settings to return to a stable, non-beta version of that software. The drawback there is that you will lose any data you didn’t back up before installing the beta in the first place, but hey, at least you got that beta off your device. But that’s not the way watchOS does things.Why installing a watchOS beta is differentWith watchOS, however, it’s a completely different story. Apple doesn’t let you downgrade to an earlier version of watchOS after installing new software. Once you install the watchOS beta, that’s it; you’re stuck with that potentially buggy, unstable OS until Apple’s next update. If you try factory resetting your Apple Watch, you'll simply end up with an empty Apple Watch running watchOS 26.That’s not to say that there are widespread reports of issues with watchOS (though I have seen complaints about battery life). I'm not saying, “if you install this beta, your watch is toast.” Your Apple Watch could be totally fine on the beta, just like many other beta testers’ watches are. The issue is, if the beta doesn’t react well to your watch, there’s not much you can do about it.In the event something goes wrong, you don't have many options on your own: You can wait for Apple to release an update to the beta that hopefully fixes the issue you’re having, or wait for Apple to send out the final RC (Release Candidate), which is the same software the general public gets.You can get the beta off your Apple Watch (but it's a pain)If you did install watchOS 26 on your Apple Watch, and you're having regrets, you can't downgrade on your own. Instead, you'll need to send the watch to Apple, where they'll remove the beta for you.I've never gone through this process, so I can't speak to exactly what to expect. However, based on some of the Reddit conversations I've seen, the best way to start is to contact Apple Support. Don't make an appointment at the Apple Store, since there's no guarantee they'll do it for you in-person. Instead, you'll likely need to mail your watch to Apple, where they'll fix it and send it back. Reports vary about pricing and timing. Some users say the procedure is free with AppleCare+, while others say you don't need insurance. One user reports that the entire process took about a week and a half. So, you're not screwed if you have a buggy watchOS 26 beta—it's just a pain to fix.Why can’t you downgrade your Apple Watch’s OS yourself?Apple doesn't have an official answer to this question, but I can take a guess: the Apple Watch has no way to physically connect to an external device like an iPhone or Mac. It communicates entirely by wifi and Bluetooth. If your watch’s software were to corrupt, which is possible during a downgrade, you wouldn’t be able to plug it into a device to help restore it. If the corruption affects the watch’s wifi and Bluetooth connections, there’s no way for you to communicate with the watch, and you'd just have to send it to Apple anyway.In my view, most betas are best left alone, but especially watchOS. Until Apple figures out a way for users to downgrade themselves, the risk is too high you'll put you watch out of commission.