Apple Watch Features/Tips and Tricks
Apple Watch Features/Tips and Tricks
Many (if not all) of these tips are straight from the Apple Watch User Guide, but I thought I would put some of my favorites here in one short, convenient place.
JoshuaHelps 5 Favorite Features/Tips and Tricks
These first 5 tips come from JoshuaHelps' posting in the "Using Apple Watch" forum (Five Features/Tips and Tricks for the App… - Apple Community). JoshuaHelps said: "The Apple Watch Series 5 by far is my favorite Apple product I own. When I first got the device I was watching videos and reading about tips and tricks. I composed my Five Favorite Features/Tips and Tricks for the Apple Watch Series 5 to share for new Apple Watch owners." Here they are:
Turn Off Always On Display
If you are not a fan of the always on display, it can be disabled if you choose to.
To turn on or off the Always On Display;
- Go to Settings on the watch
- Select Display and Brightness
- Tap "Always on feature" on or off
Move the Clock up to 59 Minutes Ahead of Time
Let's face it, some of us run behind and usually arrive late to places. I fully own this title. In assistance of arriving on time, I set my watch ahead by a few minutes.
To turn on this feature;
- go to Settings
- Select Clock
- +0 min (Using the crown to increase or decrease the time moved forward)
Adjust Your Quick Replies
Using the messaging app on the watch can be very beneficial to deliver a quick message. I have multiple"quick messages" I use when I can not access my phone.
To edit the message options;
- Visit the Apple Watch Application on your iPhone
- Scroll down to the messages app
- Select Default Replies
- Scroll down and select "add reply"
- Type out your message and save!
Have Your Apps Appear as List View instead of Grid View
I like to have my apps organized, which in grid mode was quite the accomplishment. Instead of having the app icons only show in Grid View, List View lists the apps and organizes them in alphabetical order.
To apply this feature (note: this no longer works in watchOS7);
- Press the digital crown
- Force touch (gently applying pressure to the watch face in one spot)
- Select List View or Grid View
For watchOS 7 and above:
- Open the Settings app
on your Apple Watch. - Tap App View, then tap Grid View or List View.
You can also open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, tap App View, then tap Grid View or List View.
If you want to see only a small number of apps, you can use the Dock. The Dock will appear when you push the side button. You can put just your most used apps in the Dock, and they will stay away from the confusion of the app list. The following tells you how to choose the apps you want for your Dock:
Use the Dock on your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Send Your location Using Your Apple Watch
To quickly send your location to a friend or family member is very easy using the Apple Watch.
To use this feature:
- Go to messages on the Apple Watch
- Select the contact you wish to send your location to
- Force touch (gently applying pressure to the watch face in one spot)
- Select "Send Location"
To share Apple watch location via Cellular connection and have it show in the People Tab in Find My:
- Open the Find People app on the Apple Watch
- Click on "Me."
- In here you can click a button which says use this watch as my device location.
askbarnabas Basic Troubleshooting steps for Apple Watch
Basic Troubleshooting steps for Apple Wat… - Apple Community
Some Other Apple Watch Features/Tips and Tricks
Unlock Mac Using Apple Watch
While you’re wearing Apple Watch, your Mac can sense when you’re nearby, then automatically log you in. You can also use Apple Watch to approve other requests for your administrator password.
How to unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Unlock Apple Watch Using iPhone
You can unlock Apple Watch whenever you unlock your iPhone in one of two ways:
On Your Watch:
Open the Settings app, then tap Passcode, and finally turn on Unlock with iPhone.
On Your iPhone:
Open the Watch app, tap My Watch, then tap Passcode, and finally turn on Unlock with iPhone.
Use the Flashlight on Apple Watch
The flashlight on the iPhone is much brighter, but using the watch flashlight is just enough to light a darkened door lock or nearby objects while preserving your night vision. Also, you still have your hand free while using it.
Turn on the flashlight:
Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, swipe up to open Control Center, then tap the flashlight icon.
Swipe left to choose a mode—steady white light, flashing white light, or steady red light.
Turn off the flashlight:
Press the Digital Crown or side button, or swipe down from the top of the watch face.
Use the Camera App on Apple Watch
If you take shaky photographs or want to position your iPhone for a photo and then take the photo from a distance, you can use your Apple Watch to view the iPhone camera image and take the photo. You can also use your Apple Watch to set a shutter timer—this gives you time to lower your wrist and raise your eyes when you’re in the shot.
Take a photo:
- Open the Camera app on your Apple Watch.
- Position your iPhone to frame the shot using your Apple Watch as a viewfinder.
- To adjust exposure, tap the key area of the shot in the preview on your Apple Watch.
- To take the shot, tap the Shutter button.
The photo is captured in Photos on your iPhone, but you can review it on your Apple Watch.
For more options, see the "Camera" section in the Apple Watch User Guide.
Use the Remote on Apple Watch
Once set-up, play music in iTunes on a computer or control an Apple TV.
Use your Apple Watch as a remote control for your Apple TV or iTunes - Apple Support
Turn the Digital Crown to adjust the volume.
How to turn off "Now Playing" on watch
- Press the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch.
- Tap Settings on the list of apps or in the grid view.
- Tap General.
- Tap Wake Screen.
- Tap the switch next to Auto-Launch Audio Apps so it's in the grey "off" position.
Activities with the Apple Watch
Here's how to change your move goal:
- Open the Activity app on your Apple Watch.
- Go to your rings, then firmly press the screen.
- Then tap "Change Move Goal".
- Tap to increase or decrease the number of active calories for your daily Move goal.
- When you're done, tap Update.
For some reason (with watchOS 5 and 6), you can change the Move goal, but not your Exercise or Stand goals. This was changed in WatchOS 7 so that you can now change all the goals. See the "Change your activity goals" section in:
Use the Activity app on your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Workouts with the Apple Watch
Lots of good information here:
Workout types on Apple Watch - Apple Support
Work out with your Apple Watch - Apple Support
To restore a deleted workout type:
- tap on workout app
- then scroll down to the bottom and tap on "Add Workout"
- finally tap on a workout type in the list
and it will be added back to your workout list.
To manually add a workout (and its data):
- In the Health App on the iPhone, tap on the Health Data tab at the bottom
- Then tap Activity and scroll down to Workouts and tap on it
- In the the top right hand corner of the screen it says add data (or simply +)
- Tap on that and you can enter a new workout and its data
- When you are finished tap on add at the top right of the screen.
Be aware though that this only effects your 3 rings on the day in question.
Also see:
How to manually add a workout in the Health app - Apple Support
To delete a specific Workout:
On the paired iPhone tap the Fitness icon, then "Summary" in the lower left corner. Then "Show More" in the Workouts section. Swipe left on the Workout you want to delete and tap Delete.
On your iPhone, tap:
Watch > My Watch > Workout
and deselect "End Workout Reminder" to stop the notifications to pause/resume your workout.
In a workout, tap the circle with the 3 dots in the upper right corner to set/unset workout goals.
You may then actually have to perform a workout for the "new" goal to stick.
Also see step 3 in the 'Start a workout' section in:
Use the Workout app on your Apple Watch - Apple Support
To STOP segments during a workout on Apple Watch:
Select the Workout Activity, such as "Outdoor Walk" NOTE: Do not start the walk, instead:
- Tap the 3 dots in the upper righthand corner
- Then, Tap the Pencil Icon
- Then, SCROLL down to "Splits"
- Tap "Splits"
- Where it says "Splits Alert' ensure you TURN OFF the alert by tapping the righthand "slide" to GRAY instead of GREEN.
- This should turn off your unwanted segments and splits notifications. The segments should be available once you stop your workout, should you want to access them.
When the Workout View has multiple metrics displayed (such as time, distance, and heart rate), all metrics display in white, except for the one metric that is displayed in red. You can change which metric is displayed in red (and therefore easiest to see with a quick glance at your watch) by rotating the Digital Crown.
For a Pool Swim workout, turn the Digital Crown to set the pool length. If you press down on the screen (tap doesn't work), you are presented with option to select M (meter) or YD (yard). Then tap Start.
To see the total calories burned for the day first, tap on the Activity app (and History at the bottom left corner if not already selected - then select a day). Then swipe left in the "Move" section to not show the graph and show the Active and Total calories. (Swipe right to return to the graph.). Or, you can use the Health app - tap on Activity.
According to What is the difference in "active cal… - Apple Community
Total calories include - basal calories + calories burned when doing a workout. Active calories are those that are burned during some activity like swimming running or anything else where your body is moving, Basal are those that your body burns during a day without any activity.
Unless you use "Other" or "Yoga" workouts, I have heard that, according to Apple Support, for the activity ring to register your Outdoor Walk workout you need to maintain a speed of approximately 3.3 mph or faster and increase your heart rate to approximately 75% of your High Heart Rate (from the iPhone Watch > Heart app). This definition of a "brisk walk" is to encourage you to put more effort into the walk, (For an Outdoor Cycle its is 9.8 MPH (or 16 KPH) and 75% of your High Heart Rate.) If you slow down or pause, the watch will stop giving you exercise credit, It will still measure your steps and calories burnt but will not give you any credit towards the exercise ring or workout app. A brisk walk speed is different for everybody as the watch takes into account your age, sex, weight, and heart rate which is why it is important to calibrate the watch and have the correct details set up in the Health app,
I can't vouch for any of those specific numbers, but I'm sure there is some kind of criteria you have to accomplish for a "minute of exercise" to be counted as an "exercise minute. See the "Make sure that you earn Move and Exercise credit" section in:
Get the most accurate measurements using your Apple Watch - Apple Support
You should also make sure your watch is calibrated:
Calibrating your Apple Watch for improved Workout and Activity accuracy - Apple Support
Also, see the solution to:
apple watch series 5 activity recording n… - Apple Community
Check your entire history from the Activity app on your iPhone.
- Open the Activity app on your iPhone.
- Tap the History tab (lower left corner) to see details about your all day activities. On the calendar, a green dot appears next to the days (upper right corner of each day) that you worked out.
- To see more detail, tap a day.
- To get information about a workout, tap the Workouts tab, then tap the item.
Workout map route colors explanations:
Yellow is the average pace.
Green is the fastest pace.
Red and orange are the slowest paces.
All sections are based on averages for that section and length of time to complete.
If there are grey dots on the route this is a weak or non existent GPS signal. The dots are where the watch is filling in the gaps.
To see the map, you must turn on route tracking. On the iPhone, go to "Settings > Privacy > Location Services" and turn Location Services on.
- Next tap Apple Watch Workout and then tap While Using the App.
- Then tap on maps then tap While Using the App.
- Finally tap on System Services and turn on Motion Calibration & Distance.
Another place to check is on the watch in "Settings/Privacy/Location Services" and make sure this is turned on. Then scroll down to Apple Watch Workout and select While Using the App.
Activity App Greyed out after every charge - Apple Community
I was having similar issues as another person in here about the activity app being greyed out after charging it and then it taking sometimes hours to start tracking. I spent 6 months working with apple support to figure out a solution and even after referring to the engineers, no one could figure it out. We even narrowed it down to only happening at my house, so we called comcast together and had them provide a new router,l since we thought it was my WiFi. No luck.- problem persisted but only when i was at home. The final answer was just get a new watch. BUT THEN I tried a different charger and wouldn’t you know, no issues. Moral of the story- be careful with after market chargers!!!! Try a different charger, and not a stand one.
Music with the Apple Watch
If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, personalized mixes are automatically added to your Apple Watch when it’s connected to power. If you want to change which playlists are automatically added, follow these steps:
- Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap My Watch, then tap Music.
- Turn individual playlists on or off.
Apple Music subscribers and non-subscribers can also choose to have Heavy Rotation added to their Apple Watch. Heavy Rotation is a collection of albums and playlists selected based on your iPhone listening habits.
How to hide Now Playing on your Apple Watch
When you play music, Now Playing automatically opens. Here's how to change the setting:
- Open the Settings app on your watch.
- Tap General > Wake Screen.
- Turn off Auto-Launch Audio Apps.
Maintaining Apple Watch
Cleaning Apple Watch
How to clean your Apple Watch and band. Helpful tips on avoiding skin irritation.
How to clean your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Acceptable Operating Temperatures
Tips for maintaining temperatures and handling your device safely.
Keep Apple Watch within acceptable operating temperatures - Apple Support
Accurate Apple Watch Measurements
You can further improve its accuracy using these tips.
Get the most accurate measurements using your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Measuring Heart Rate
Tips for a more accurate heart rate reading.
Your heart rate. What it means, and where on Apple Watch you’ll find it. - Apple Support
Taking an ECG
You can take an electrocardiogram (ECG) with the ECG app.
Taking an ECG with the ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 or later - Apple Support
To print an ECG:
Take an ECG from your Apple Watch.
Open the Health app.
Tap the Browse tab, then tap Heart > Electrocardiograms (ECG).
Tap the chart for your ECG result.
Tap Export a PDF for Your Doctor.
Tap the Share button in the top right corner to print or email the PDF.
VO2 max
This information comes from:
https://www.cultofmac.com/610268/vo2-max-apple-watch-aerobic-fitness/
Apple Watch may log your VO2 max, but you can’t currently check it on the watch itself. To see your stats, you must use the Health app on your iPhone. Go to Health Data > Activity and scroll down to find it. If you have readings for the current month, they will be highlighted in a big orange box. If you have no VO2 max data, it will be languishing at the bottom of the list, under No Recorded Data.
If you can’t find any VO2 max readings in the Health app, that is probably because you have not yet logged the right kind of workouts with your watch. It can take at least 24 hours of wearing your Apple Watch, followed by several Outdoor Walk, Outdoor Run, or Hiking workouts and passive measurements with your Apple Watch before you receive an initial estimate. It has to be one of those 3 workout types. VO2 max relates to maximal exertion. So you’ll need to log a pretty intensive workout to generate a reading. And you’ll need to sustain it for at least 20 minutes.
Correctly Counting Flights of Stairs
How to use Water Lock and eject water from your Apple Watch - Apple Support
FWIW one user said he talked to some Apple Watch engineers and they suggested:
- locking the water (swipe up and hit the water drop),
- washing the watch with alcohol or soap/water,
- flush the water out per the instructions - pull on crown.
It worked! Voila! Miscounting flights of stairs problem fixed.
Also, see the replies to:
Apple Watch counting too many flights - Apple Community
Battery Performance
To understand Apple Watch performance and its relation to your battery, see:
Apple Watch Battery and Performance - Apple Support
“Battery life” is the amount of time your device runs before it needs to be recharged. “Battery lifespan” is the amount of time your battery lasts until it needs to be replaced. Maximize both and you’ll get the most out of your Apple devices, no matter which ones you own. See the "Tips for Apple Watch" section in:
Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple
If the battery drains too fast after an update, see all the replies to:
has anyone had battery issues with the 10… - Apple Community
Battery Drain since watchos 7.4 - Apple Community
WatchOS 7.5 battery drain - Apple Community
FWIW, in some cases, unpairing the watch, completely erasing it, then pairing and restoring the backup will resolve the battery draining issue after an update. (Simply unpairing and pairing again may not work.)
Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Also, some people have found that simply waiting a few days after an update resolves the battery draining problem.
Also see:
Apple Watch battery drain - the ultimate … - Apple Community
For repair & service:
Apple Watch Service & Repair - Apple Support
Resetting Apple Watch
Restart Apple Watch
The first (and simplest) thing to try if something isn’t working right is to restart your Apple Watch and its paired iPhone. If necessary (device not responding), try a forced restart. Both methods can be found here:
How to restart your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Restart your iPhone - Apple Support
If that doesn't help, the next steps would be to unpair and pair your watch again and restore from the backup just created. This should result in no loss of data. It deletes all temp and corrupted files and re-indexes the file system.
Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support
As a last resort, follow the above procedure for unpairing and pairing the watch, but do not restore the backup. Set the watch up as new instead. There should be no loss of Fitness data or Awards since those are stored on the paired iPhone, not the watch.
If you having boot loop issues with Apple Watch try these steps:
Press and hold both the side button and Digital Crown for about 10 seconds, then release both buttons when you see the Apple logo.Wait a few seconds, then hold down just the side button for about 20 seconds or until the “erase all settings” prompt shows up on the screen, then click it, then click the green check button.
Erase Apple Watch
In some cases, you may need to erase your Apple Watch - if you forgot your passcode, for example.
Reset the passcode on your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Backup and Restore Apple Watch
Your Apple Watch is backed up automatically to your paired iPhone, and you can restore it from a stored backup.
Apple Watch backups are included when you back up your iPhone - either to iCloud, or to your Mac or PC. For more information, see the Apple Support article Back up your Apple Watch.
- Back up your Apple Watch: When paired with an iPhone, Apple Watch content is backed up continuously to the iPhone. If you unpair the devices, a backup is performed first.
- Restore your Apple Watch from a backup: If you pair your Apple Watch with the same iPhone again, or get a new Apple Watch, you can choose Restore from Backup and select a stored backup on your iPhone.
On your iPhone if you tap Health and then Sources, you should see a watch backup under DEVICES. You can tap that backup and see what data such as Workouts is in that backup. Then when you re-pair your watch you should be able to restore that backup.
Update Apple Watch
You can update your Apple Watch software by checking for updates in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Update your Apple Watch - Apple Support
If your Apple Watch displays a red ! after a software update, try this:
If you see a red "!" on your Apple Watch - Apple Support
If the update fails, see fireyjack's reply to:
apple watch 3 series won't update , w… - Apple Community
I was given a 7000 series Apple Watch - Apple Community
If you get message saying it’s not connected to the internet during an update:
If you see 'Unable to Verify Update' when updating Apple Watch - Apple Support
If that doesn't help, try this, on the paired iPhone tap:
My Settings> App Store > Cellular Data > Automatic Downloads
and turn it off to force updates over WiF!
Resync Apple Watch Data
To re-sync data from the iPhone to the watch, on your iPhone tap:
Watch app > My Watch > General > Reset > Reset Sync Data
This will remove all Contacts and Calendar data and then re-sync it from your iPhone.
Other Apple Watch Basics
How to use your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Identify Watch
Look up your Apple Watch model, collection, and color.
Identify your Apple Watch - Apple Support
How to find the serial number or IMEI for your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Status Icons and Symbols
What the status icons at the top of your Apple Watch screen mean.
Status icons and symbols on Apple Watch - Apple Support
Using Zoom
If the watch randomly zooms in on a spot on the screen and it won’t stop or you can't read it, try this:
Go into the watch app on the phone and tap on General > Accessibility and turn on/off zoom and/or adjust the zoom level.
AssistiveTouch
When you raise your wrist, a blue ring around your Apple Watch screen indicates that AssistiveTouch is turned on and ready for you to activate it with the default double-clench gesture. You can change the color of this visual signal in Accessibility > AssistiveTouch > Color. Or you can turn the visual signal off by going to Accessibility > AssistiveTouch > Hand Gestures > Activation Gesture.
Use AssistiveTouch on your Apple Watch - Apple Support
To Free-Up Storage
For songs, see:
Remove music from Apple Watch - Apple Support
and for pictures, see the "Limit photo storage on Apple Watch' section in:
Choose a photo album and manage storage on Apple Watch - Apple Support
To delete apps on your watch, see:
Delete apps from your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Also, try unpairing and pairing your watch again and restoring from the backup just created in the unpairing process. This deletes all temp and corrupted files and re-indexes the file system. This should result in no loss of data and in some cases can free a lot of storage.
Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Also see:
If you don’t have enough space to update your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Sell or Buy Apple Watch
Remove your personal information from a device, even if you don't have it anymore. Or make sure that the watch that you're about to buy from someone else is ready for you to use.
Transfer your Apple Watch from your old iPhone to your new iPhone.
How to pair your Apple Watch with a new iPhone - Apple Support
Setup another (new) watch (see step 4) with your existing iPhone:
Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Note: You can have multiple watches paired with a single iPhone. (You can only use one watch at a time.) But you cannot have a single watch paired with multiple iPhones.
Set up more than one Apple Watch - Apple Support
Use more than one Apple Watch with your iPhone - Apple Support
Apple Watch Activation Lock
Activation Lock is designed to prevent anyone else from using an Apple Watch if it's ever lost or stolen.
About Activation Lock on your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Activation Lock is an anti-theft feature that cannot be bypassed. Only the previous owner can remove the lock by using their Apple ID & password. Apple will not help you find the previous owner. If the previous owner cannot or will not remove the lock, then the watch is useless to you or anyone else. Try to get a refund (through eBay) or dispose of the watch properly. In the future, see the 'Before you buy a watch from a third-party' section in:
If you are the ORIGINAL owner, then see the 'Start a support request' section in:
How to remove Activation Lock - Apple Support
Also see lobsterghost1's tip:
The All Too Common SAD Reality of Buying … - Apple Community
Here are two ways to unpair your watch if you no longer have the paired iPhone:
- See the 'How to erase your Apple Watch if you don't have your iPhone' section of:
Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support
- With a web browser, go to: https://www.iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID. Open Find My iPhone and select All Devices (at the top). Then click your Apple Watch, select 'Erase Apple Watch', and select Next until the device is erased. Finally click "X" next to remove your Apple Watch.
This is a work in progress. I appreciate any comments.
If you still need help, contact Apple Support.