After WatchOS 10 update I cannot swipe between watch faces

You can't, until or unless Apple hears the howls of fury and chagrin and changes back to the simple, sensible swipe.

There's a feedback form but I didn't think to copy the link so I could pass access to it on.

I wonder how long this particular piece of iOS 10/17 idiocy will last...

Oh, no, it's intentional, apparently. One speculation here is that someone decided some "may" have found it hard to swipe between faces. And of course it's so much easier to press and swipe?

Thoughts... "If it ain't broke... " KISS-- No, I'm not sending love. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I did find out that it's possible to edit what's almost a worst aggravation: the former control center swipe screen that now tells you the time (I thought that's what the watch face was for?) among other clutter. A long press on that screen puts pluses and minuses on the app icons so at least you can clear out the ones imposed on you. I suppose you could add the 'complication' functions that used to be so easy to access from a watch face but I'd sure rather have the old screen back!

I have to wonder how long the side button's going to last as more and more keeps getting assigned to it. On the watch the new one replaced it was getting very hard to make a press on the side button register.

zeteticos wrote:

Oh, no, it's intentional, apparently. One speculation here is that someone decided some "may" have found it hard to swipe between faces. And of course it's so much easier to press and swipe?

My suspicion is that a lot of people thought it was too easy to swipe accidentally. I know I submitted feedback about that. I hated it when my watch was showing a face I hadn't intended.

zeteticos wrote:

>which others may have complained about

I can't buy that "others" "may" have complained about accidentally switching faces without supporting data. Has anyone seen an actual complaint about accidentally switching faces? Where? When? Has anyone seen anything said about accidental switching other than vague gossip?

There are 10 Apple watches among my family and no one will admit to having EVER switched faces accidentally.

Users that are unhappy with the way the old UI worked called Apple Support, post here, and other places, and visit Apple Store Genius Bars. They are voting with their support calls and visits.

Users that are happy with the way things are DO NOT call Apple Support, and do not go into Apple Store Genius Bars, and do not post how happy they are with the interface.

So Apple sees the complaints, but not the joy. The Silent Majority opinion is no heard.

Of course now that the UI has been changed, the users that used to be happy with the old UI, are hopefully letting their voices be heard by sending feedback to

https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch

Northern-Survivor wrote:

Based on the Watch os10 Press Release and the Event it seems to me Apple thought swiping between widgets would be better than swiping between faces. Unfortunately there are no third party widgets (yet!). And without a ‘Favourites ‘ function any additional apps would only appear in ‘All Apps’. It’s a dog’s breakfast really.

I wasn't thinking about widgets. The person to whom I was replying was talking about how they didn't like the new Weather app because when they tapped on the complication, it took them to a screen they didn't like. Hence my recommendation to look at other weather apps. Widgets didn't enter into it.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

This is the first iteration of the Smart Stack I suspect that it will develop over time. And, I suspect that Apple is watching suggestions and user data on it quite closely to determine the direction.

I hope your suspicions are well founded and prove to be right.

WatchOS 10 is a seismic shift. For 9 iterations of the OS the focus has been on multiple faces each with multiple complications (I had 42 complications in total) . Reading (and re-reading ) the press release it’s clear Apple thought there should be a better way . The focus now is on Widgets in a Smart Stack and widgets are based on apps, not complications.

I suspect it’s going to be a long time before I can say ‘these widgets are easier and quicker than 6 faces and 42 complications’.

I think the Apple are on the right track, but they have a very long way to go.

Here’s the press release for anyone who hasn’t seen it:

Introducing watchOS 10, a milestone update for Apple Watch - Apple (NZ)

Well said. It’s a change & not universally liked. I think they could have done more to flag up the change. So many folks thought there was a bug or their watch wasn’t working. Now it get to more well known maybe it will grow on those who don’t like it. Personally I’m finding it no problem.

Northern-Survivor wrote:

So what do you think is the intention of the New Design Language & Navigation?

Is " New Design Language & Navigation" some Apple policy or procedure? I'm assuming it's a specific thing because you put it in title case. I am not familiar with it.

It seems clear to me that it was intended to replace (not sit alongside) the old navigation.

I would use the word "supersede" rather than replace when it comes to Widgets. I don't believe there was any one-to-one replacement for anything. You can still change watch faces so there is no need to "replace" a functionality that has been altered but not removed.

Between them, the App Switcher and Smart Stack contain many, though not all, the functions of the Dock as well as some features very similar to Glances, the feature that the Dock replaced. There is no indication that either of these features was intended to "replace" watch faces and complications (neither of which have gone away).

Again, I don't think that people using 9 watch faces in a given day was something Apple took into much consideration when making the change. But, I can't know that for sure.

What I do know for sure is that nothing anyone says in this thread will effect any change. Keep telling Apple what you want to see.

Northern-Survivor wrote:

Familiarise yourself here

Introducing watchOS 10, a milestone update for Apple Watch - Apple (NZ)

The press release made it pretty clear this was a new approach to navigation on the watch

Yes, I understand that there is a new approach to navigation. Even if I hadn't read that article, or watched the original announcements or kept up with what was happening with beta releases, I would have been aware of that. But, no, I hadn't paid much attention to the section headers in the article.

Thanks.

I have been a committed user of Apple hardware for decades. Not all changes in macOS, iOS and watchOS were improvements. But because of "Swipe-Gate" I researched for the first time whether others have the same problem and how they deal with it.

As suspected, I'm not alone. An update that needs to be explained to the customers so they can understand it is not well designed. Especially not when it replaces a completely intuitive gesture.

Replacing a "swipe" with a "longpress-swipe-press" is simply NOT a useful update for very many people, even if you disagree and strongly defend Apple’s decision.

The other changes to the dock, stack and button assignments aren't a step forward for me either, but at least they don't restrict me excessively.

I agree with you: What is being discussed here by how many people is not representative anyway. All it takes is a few people with a direct line to Tim Cook who want the swipe gesture back. Not every bad decision from Apple is forever (keyword Magsafe on MBP).

I'm sure the swipe gesture will come back. This is just too bad to stick with on principle.

just my 5ct, over n out ✌🏼😎

Foulcher wrote:

Long press already existed, it was not a new way and is nowhere near the same usage.

Indeed, long press is not a new way, but Apple’s design language and Navigation is very new in Watch OS 10

It was all explained in the Press Release (some might say not explained well enough) . Here’s the link:

Introducing watchOS 10, a milestone update for Apple Watch - Apple (NZ)

Nykteria wrote:

Totally agree. It was great to quickly switch for different occasions/parts of my day. What a dumb update. Ugh…For those who are “accidentally” switching, why not make a setting for them to have it stick instead of taking this important functionality away? Boo hiss.

Tell Apple via

https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch

The more users that send feedback, the more likely it will reach a decision maker.

darcidar wrote:

This is some ISH. I am not pleased and I wish I hadn’t updated the watch os. I’ve literally never accidentally changed the face by swiping and if that’s the reason, give the option to turn swipes off and on. I no longer want to invest in a newer Apple Watch. Ready to throw this one away and go back to FitBit.

Tell Apple via

https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch

The more users that send feedback, the more likely it will reach a decision maker.

You are waaayyy late to the party.

That is discussed throughout this entire thread. However, had you read at least the last few pages you would have discovered that Apple has restored the simple swipe from before as an option.

Found a way to get to other faces. Press down on watch face, as you do for editing. Now swipe left and right for your old Apple Watch faces.

Enjoy