New GMT face

I think the way Apple's GMT watch face works is confusing (and different to most GMT watches). Many of the responses on this thread are not quite right and people are unnecessarily confused by the implementation.

Below I will refer to the alternate time as GMT (it could be any alternate time choosable).

The way most GMT watches works (and how I think the Apple GMT Face should work) is like this:

• Separate bezel numbered up to 24
• The GMT bezel doesn't have to move (and usually doesn't)
• The GMT hand indicates the 24 hour time
• If it is12 noon GMT the GMT hand would point straight down (to regular the regular 6 is)

Currently the Apple GMT Watch Face GMT bezel rotates (apparently to indicate offset from your current time zone) and the GMT hand only goes between 1 and 12 with the colour of the GMT bezel used as a guide as to whether it would be night or day (am/pm).

Apple could rectify the issues by changing to the regular method I have described or at least providing the option to have a fixed or offset GMT bezel in the face options.

An important user group of watch faces like this are pilots who use UTC for precise, reliable and consistent time sharing. For pilot's the world over the time is the same (UTC time) and it is stated in 24hr format. Apple, please label the GMT bezel up to 24 or have the number in the circle (at the end of the GMT hand) going from 00 up to 23. eg. 15 minutes after midnight UTC is zero zero one five (WATCH should show 00) and 1045pmUTC is 2245 (should show 22). Hopefully you get the idea.

Examples:

Something is missing. Ideally, we should be able to set the red hand as a 2nd time zone AND then be able to rotate the bezel to effectively see a 3rd time zone. Like a Rolex GMT (which it aesthetically is attempting to duplicate).

Summary:

1. Primary hour and minute hand. Sourced from phone time. [typically set to local time]. This works. Default.
2. My wish: red-hand would be a setting via the face configuration to pick a different hour/offset. [typically set to GMT time]. Missing feature.
3. Then be able to use the current crown functionality to rotate the bezel to align the hour with the red-hand to show a 3rd time zone. [used to calculate a 3rd time zone; in an auto-time-set situation, you would typically show your destination or upon arrival, show your home time zone]. This works.

Default watch face “GMT” is set for 12 hr clock. To change outer dial to read as Military 24 hr clock. Just go to Apple Watch on your iPhone and go to Clock and there change to 24 hr clock and then outer dial will remain as a 12 hr clock but the outer dial will now show as a 24 hr Military clock view. Reverse back To 12 hr for all other face clock views

I’m no expert — and I’m not sure I understand the question — but the outer bezel should line up with an hour in most cases, not a half-hour.

If your local time on the inner dial is PST and you have the outer bezel time zone set to EST, the outer bezel’s “3” should line up with midnight on the inner dial (indicating that the outer bezel is set to a time zone three hours ahead of local time).

How to Read a GMT Watch:

https://youtu.be/n54Oab-tlls

If you tap on the GMT watch face, you can use the crown to set the time zone shown on the outer bezel. (Mine wasn’t set to UTC by default — I had to scroll through and select it.)

However.

It’s not like I’ve seen a ton of analog GMT watches, but the ones I’ve seen had outer bezels labeled in 24-hour time. On the Apple Watch, tho’, that bezel is labeled in 12-hour time — and for me, that makes it significantly less useful. (I need to see local time in 12-hour format and UTC in 23-hour format.) If there’s something I’m missing, I hope someone will let me know.

The red hand points to the current hour in the time zone you’ve selected. For example, as I write this the local time on my watch (hour and minute hand) are reading 5:04 p.m. I’ve selected UTC (by tapping the watch face and using the crown to select “UTC”), so the red hand is pointing to 9 p.m. on the outer bezel, indicating 9:04 p.m. (or 21:04, in 24-hour time) in that time zone.

My watch was also missing UTC as a choice in the GMT face timezone list, but after I went into World Clock on my paired iPhone and added the UTC zone to my list of selected zones there, UTC suddenly appeared on the list on the watch.

GMT

This watch face has two dials: a 12-hour inner dial that displays local time, and a 24-hour outer dial that lets you track a second time zone. This watch face is available only on Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 4 and later.

https://support.apple.com/guide/watch/faces-and-features-apde9218b440/watchos

Basically it's not GMT, it's the time zone you set. The red hand is kinda like the hour hand slowly changing to another hour. Ex. It's 9:48 AM EST right now, and my secondary time is London. Therefore, it is currently 2:38 PM (14:38) in London. The red hand is showing how close it is to the next outer tick, which is the next hour. If it hits the next outer tick, it will become the next hour. (kinda a long explanation)

It's tough to separate out the posts in this thread from folks who're having trouble with the GMT face because it isn't working properly (or they don't understand how it's designed it to work) from the posts in this thread from people who just don't like how it's designed to work — or who just would have preferred to see it designed differently.

Unfortunately, until Apple fixes the problem that prevents people from unfollowing threads in these discussions there are those of us who're going to get emails from all of the above.

So, a general reminder: If you just don't like how something Apple did was developed, or wish it had been developed differently, or would have developed it differently if you were the developer, or have an idea that you wish Apple would develop instead, it's more important to post your thoughts to apple.com/feedback/ than to post them here.

If you're only using these user discussions, it's possible but unlikely that it'll reach the people at Apple who'd benefit most from hearing them.

If your watch is showing time in BST or GMT, it should only do a 360 degree sweep in 24 hours, depending on whether you have set the watch in 12 hour or 24 hour time.

On my imac, I can get it to show the time in 12 hour format or 24 hour format

By unchecking the Timestamp box, your watch will show time in 12 hour format, but will place am or pm after the time.

In 24 hour time, it will show the time in the 24 hour format. The am and pm won't show.

Your watch should be set to BST right now, but on October 25th at 2am, your watch SHOULD automatically show GMT. It works on all of my Mac devices, so it should work on your watch.

The reason the hour hand is at the 13:00/ 1 o'clock indicator is that that is what it should be in BST. At 2am on the 25th October, the hour hand should revert to the 1am position, in other words, it shouldn't move.

Forget about GMT until 2am on 25th October, if you are still up and about at that time. 😀

Another related bug is that the arrow of the outer ring changes so that it is not centralised when chosing the time zone. Compare the two images. Anyone else experiencing the same flaw or know hot it may be fixed?

Thank you, very instructive! However, look at the arrow at the bezel: it should stay by number 3, but it is tilted when the time zone is applied.. in addition, the arrow is no longer centralised in the bezel field. Must not this be a flaw? I cannot see any other explanation for it.

For some reason the blue area is tilted when the bezel is applied. So the arrow on the 3 is no longer centralised, which looks odd :). See the gap by the number 6 in the blue field which inexplicably appears.

My GMT master’s GMT hand is always pointed at GMT - the 24 hour hand is supposed to be on 22:26 note the Rolex. The Apple Watch “24 hour GMT” hand you’ll notice is NOT at 22:26. The local time is 1726 CDT (MSP).

Am I missing something or what? (I also have an Omega watch which shows GMT the same as EVERY other aviator watch I know of ie Breitling, Heuer etc)

The one nice thing is the hour does show up where the red “GMT” hand is pointing so one does know what hour is in the time zone “without thinking much”.

However, I still like the way the analog watch displays it, just have to get familiar with the difference.