How can I add specific people to my Apple Watch Photos face?

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Level 1

38 points

How can I add specific people to my Apple Watch Photos face?

Trying to create a watch face using the "Photos" face from the "New Watch Faces" gallery. When I choose "Shuffle" and then "People," I get 13 random people to choose from, most of whom I do not want to include, some who I don't even like.

How do I add other people?

Frankly, I'm completely disgusted with many of the changes to the Photos face in this version of the WatchOS, but this inability to feature the people I want is the worst of all.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Apple Watch Series 6, watchOS 11

Posted on Feb 19, 2025 10:18 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 20, 2025 12:39 AM in response to riffraf

I use an Ultra 2 and have been using Apple Watches for 6 years now.

As you, I can see less people in the People section of the Photos Watch face setup, compared to the people that the Photos App detected, including pets.

But, as a workaround, you can create an album with your favourite people and use that as a source for showing the shuffled content.

I stopped using the Photos watch face after the watchOS 11 upgrade, due to reduced features.

But, you still can use the Feedback link to tell Apple directly about your issues, thoughts and wishes about that:

Feedback - Apple Watch - Apple

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

I have been using Macintosh computers since System 7

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Answer 2

riffraf Author

Level 1

38 points

Feb 20, 2025 8:53 AM in response to Ingo2711

Thank you Ingo2711.

I'm sorry-yet-glad-yet-sorry to hear that you've encountered the same issue. Sorry, naturally, because you, like I, have been disappointed by the reduced functionality, yet glad - as always in these types of tech situations - to find that it is not something that I should have been able to solve by reading documentation or through my own troubleshooting efforts, and yet again sorry that there is no fix or planned fix.

Yeah, I've played with that work around. As you are no doubt aware, the diminished photos face limits us to 24 photos in such a collection, and if choosing to shuffle an album we get perhaps 16 different images per day. My experience with that is that the watch frequently fails to actually display all 16.

My work-around has been to create multiple Photos faces shuffling different albums, with a shortcut that randomly selects a different Photos face every 15 minutes. Far less than satisfactory, kind of annoying, but better than what Apple now offers off the rack.

I don't expect an answer, but why Why WHY does Apple do this stuff? It wasn't broken. It was wonderful. I had created an album of 500 pics where over time I'd carefully cropped each one to fit the display precisely as I wanted. What was wrong with a beautiful watch face that would display a different 1 of 500 photos each time I raised my wrist? Now, even with my work around, the very awful AI crops my photos in truly bizarre ways that ruin the overall effect frequently, and improves it never. And truly I hate that the way the time moves around all over the face, over and behind the images.

Please don't recommend that I fill out Apple feedback! My experience with that is that my time would be more productively spent pounding sand.

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Answer 3

Feb 20, 2025 9:31 AM in response to riffraf

The Feedback will reach the Apple Tech people, not the official Apple Support you call when having issues with your device.

Providing Feedback made them aware of the Screenshot issue in watchOS 11 / iOS 18, for example, which then got solved in the lastest updates. The more users do this, the more likely are changes.

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Answer 4

Feb 19, 2025 11:58 AM in response to riffraf

Did you already have a look at this related article?

Use the People & Pets album in Photos on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If you use the Feedback link, you can tell Apple directly about your thoughts about the new Photos Watch face and wishes for future watchOS updates.

This is the only way to reach them, as Apple does not follow theses user to user communities.

Feedback - Apple Watch - Apple

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Answer 5

riffraf Author

Level 1

38 points

Feb 19, 2025 2:03 PM in response to Ingo2711

I am not trying to use "Collection." I am trying to use "Photo Shuffle > People." There is no option to add people.

Do you have a watch? Try it:

Watch App > Face Gallery > New Watch Faces > Photos > Content Shuffle > People.

Now, tap on People. What do you see?

I see 14 random people out of the 248 people identified in my People & Pets Collection in my iCloud Photo Library. There is no option to add anyone. Shouldn't there be more people to choose from there? Am I really supposed to be stuck with a baker's dozen + 1 of randos, some of whom I don't want to see at all?

I have unpaired and re-paired the watch. I have deleted and rebuilt my photo library (no small effort there.) I have spent time on the phone with Apple Support, who promised to follow up with me but never did.

Although I do not believe there is any connection between the 500 photos I have synced via the Photos app on the watch, a quick look at that collection shows well more than 14 people identified in those photos.

The simplistic suggestions - well meaning though they may be - only serve to aggravate. Please, does anyone have any advanced troubleshooting advice?

I've been using exclusively Apple computers since 1982, Macs since 1988, and Apple Watch since version 3. There were no problems whatsoever with the pre iOS 18 photos face where any one of 500 photos would be displayedd at random each time I raised my wrist throughout the day. It's infuriating.

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