Apple Watch tips and tricks: Hidden secrets of WatchOS revealed Stuart Miles, 25 December 2018
The Apple Watch is a complex device but it offers plenty to those happy and keen to explore all its features. For the most part you should be able to work out the basics of your new Apple Watch, but Apple has included plenty of hidden gems to allow you to get even more out of it than you thought possible. How do you turn on Power Reserve? How do you clear clear all your messages in one go? How do you take a screenshot on the Apple Watch? Here are our tips and tricks full of shortcuts, quick options and much more, all waiting to be discovered and utilised to help you become an Apple Watch power user. Apple Watch Messages tips and tricks Read your messages When you get a message, raise your wrist to see who your message is from and to read the full message. Lower your arm to dismiss it. Respond with a preset message When a message comes in, scroll down to the bottom and you can send a simple preset message in response. Respond with words You can opt to dictate your message to be turned into words via Siri or send as an audio file within the text. It's also possible to use your finger to type and it will turn it into text. Respond with Emoji Apple also lets you respond with a number of different emoji exclusive to the Apple Watch, as well as standard emoji. To see beyond your most recently used emoji scroll down the page with your finger or the digital crown. Send a new message Force Touch in the Messages inbox to compose a new message. Don't miss a message To ensure you don't miss any important notifications, turn on Prominent Haptic to pre-announce alerts. Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Select Prominent. Mirror your iPhone Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Select Messages and then tick the Mirror my iPhone listing. The Watch will now alert you in the same way your iPhone is set up. Only repeat alerts once If you don't want your wrist overly buzzing you can set it so the watch only alerts you of a new text message once rather than twice as you might have on your phone. Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone > Messages > Select Custom. Alternatively you can have the watch remind you of a single message up to 10 times. Turn off sound for message alerts Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone > Messages > Select Custom > Toggle Sound off. Disable dictation for messages Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone > Messages > Select Audio Messages. Here you can chose for the watch to give you the option to use dictation or not. Turning it off removes that option when you next go to send a message. Send Read Receipts You can set the Apple Watch so that it will automatically send read receipts when you have read one of their messages. Go to The Apple Watch App for iPhone > Messages > then toggle Send Read Receipts. Changing Default Replies Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu to Messages. Tap on Default Replies. You can change the default replies you send when the watch isn't trying to guess what to say by tapping Edit at the top right. Or you can turn Smart Replies on or off. Sending your current location in a message You can send your current location to anyone you're messaging via the Watch. Force tap on an iMessage and then opt to Send Location. Apple Watch Mail tips and tricks Delete email from your watch You can quickly delete an email from your inbox list by swiping right to left. Flagging an email You can also flag your emails by swiping left slowly. Within the email itself a "force touch" will also bring up a number of options including flagging. Marking an email as unread from your Watch You can mark an email as unread from your Watch by force touching the email when you're in it. A grid of options will appear, one of which is to mark it as unread. Mirror your iPhone Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Select Mail > Tick Mirror my iPhone. The Watch will now alert you in the same way your iPhone is set up when you get new email. Customise what email alerts you get Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Select Mail > Custom. Here you can select how each of your different email accounts are handled and whether you want alerts at all. Emails only from VIPs Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Select Mail > Custom > Tick VIPs. Now you will only get alerts when your VIPs email you. Change message preview size You can have none, one, or two lines of preview for your messages. To select the one for you go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Select Mail > Message Preview. Change the flag style Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Select Mail > Custom. Scroll down and tap on the Flag Style listing in the menu. You can either have a colour or a flag. Don't delete by mistake Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Select Mail > Custom. Scroll down and toggle on Ask Before Deleting. Replying to emails You can reply to emails, flag them, mark them as unread or delete them. To do so Force Touch on the screen on the email you are reading and chose from the four options. Apple Watch Activity tips and tricks Change your goals Force Touch in the Activity app to change your daily move goal anytime you want. See more data Swipe up from the three ring summary view to see more information, including active calories, steps, distance and flights climbed. Turn off Stand reminders Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Tap on Activity and the toggle Stand Reminders off. Turn off progress updates If you aren't fussed about getting updates throughout the day about how active you're being then you can change when the Apple Watch notifies you about it. Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Tap on Activity > Daily Coaching. Turn off all Activity alerts Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Tap on Activity and the toggle off all the alerts you don't want. Turn off tracking altogether Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone. Scroll down and select Privacy. There are two options: Fitness Tracking and Heart Rate. You can turn either on or off, or both to stop the heart rate sensor calculating your calories burned and the watch using your body movements to determine your step count and fitness level. Apple Watch Workout tips and tricks Pause or end a workout quickly Swipe left to right during a workout to end or pause a workout. You can then choose to save or discard it. Change the metrics shown during a workout Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Tap Workout > Workout View. You can set your preferences for the different workouts. Power saving mode in Workout Turn off the heart rate monitor feature to save power by going to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scrolling down the menu to Workout. Then toggle the Power Saving Mode option. Add segments when on an outdoor run It's possible to add a segment when on an outdoor run by just double tapping the display. A segment will feature time, distance and average pace. Apple Watch Music tips and tricks See album art Tap on the track info in the Now Playing screen. Shuffle and repeat Force tap when playing a song to select Shuffle or Repeat. Jump alphabetically in track or album listings Scroll faster with the digital crown until a letter appears. It will now jump through your songs via the alphabet. Turn up the volume with digital crown When you are viewing the music Glance use the digital crown to turn up or down the volume. Sync a playlist or album The Apple Watch has the ability to store songs so you can listen without your iPhone nearby - great for a run. To sync a playlist go to the Apple Watch app > scroll down the menu and tap Music. Select Add Music and then select the playlist or album you want to sync. Songs sync when Apple Watch is on its charger. Apple Watch Calendar tips and tricks Switch between list and day view Force touch and select either day view or list view. Get directions to an event Force Touch on a calendar entry and select get directions. These will then open up in Maps, taking you through step by step with vibrations on your wrist. Back to today If you've scrolled down through your appointments, you can get back to today by using Force Touch and then selecting Today. Apple Watch watch faces tips and tricks Changing your watch faces On the watch face screen Force Touch and then scroll left or right to reveal more. Customising your watch face Force Touch on the watch face screen then press customise. Scroll left and right to reveal different elements, like colour, which can be changed. Use the digital crown to scroll through colour or different "complications" as Apple calls them. Tap on each complication to change what's in them. Not all features are available on all watches. Deleting clock faces Swipe up when in the watch face selection mode to delete the face. Don't worry you haven't deleted it forever. Having more than one design of the same watch face In the watch face selection mode, scroll all the way to the right and select new. Use the digital crown to scroll through available options. Setting 24-hour time Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu and tap Clock. Toggle whether you want your watch to show 24-hour time or not. Push Alerts from your iPhone When this is on Apple Watch will alert you of Timers and Alarms you've set on your iPhone so you can snooze or dismiss them remotely. Toggle on or off via the Apple Watch app for iPhone if you don't want this via the Clock section of the app. Turn off the red notifications indicator When this is on, a red dot will appear at the top of your watch face when you have unread notifications. To turn it off go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu. Tap on Clock > Notifications Indicator. Choosing your monogram details Some of the watch faces "Colour" for example, allow you to show your monogram on the face. The Apple Watch app for iPhone allows you to customise what initials are shown (up to 5). To change it go to the app > Clock > Monogram. Change City names or add airport abbreviations As default Apple lists the city time zones around the world you've got stored in your phone, but if you associate more with San Fran or Seattle than you do with Los Angeles then you might want to change the name. Go to the app on your iPhone > Clock > City Abbreviations. Set the time ahead Some people like to have their watch always set a couple of minutes fast. On your Apple Watch go to Settings > Time and then use the digital crown to change the time up to an hour ahead in one minute increments. Setting a photo watch face To set a specific photo as a watch face find a photo in Photos and Force Touch on it to set as a Watch Face. Setting a Photo Album watch face Go to the Apple Watch app > Photos > Select which folder you want to use for your Photo Album watch face. Apple Watch Phone tips and tricks Stop your watch ringing when your phone rings Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and scroll down the menu and tap Phone. Select Custom and then opt to have the Watch show alerts, sounds, or whether it should buzz. Call someone from your Watch Go to the Phone app on your Apple Watch and then select someone from your Favourites, Recents, or Contacts. Making a call Press the digital crown to load Siri and then say "Call..." to make the call. Apple Watch Photos tips and tricks Deciding what photos to show on the Apple Watch You can opt to have certain photos or albums synced to your watch even when you don't have your iPhone nearby. Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and tap on Photos > Synced Albums. You can then select which albums you want on the Watch. Selecting a photo on your Watch Use the digital crown to zoom in and out and your fingers on the screen to move around. Setting a photo watch face To set a specific photo as a watch face find a photo in Photos and Force Touch on it to set as a Watch Face. Apple Watch Stocks tips and tricks Change the Stock watch face complication Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone > Stocks > Select whether you want Current Price, Points Change, Percentage Change, or Market Cap. Change default stock in Glances Go to the Stocks section of the Apple Watch app for iPhone and then select from a range of different stocks or simply have it mirror your iPhone. Apple Watch Weather tips and tricks Change the default city Go to the Weather section in your Apple Watch app for iPhone and then select which city you want to show on your watch faces or the Weather Glance. See 10 day forecast Go to the Weather app on your Apple Watch and swipe up to see the next 10 days of weather for that city. See if it is going to rain today and at what time Force touch on the weather app to set the dial to show the conditions, chance of rain, or temperature throughout the day. Now you can see that it will rain at 5PM clearly. Apple Watch Notifications tips and tricks What does the red dot mean If you see a red dot on your watch face, it means you have unread notifications. Clearing all notifications Force Touch when you are on the notifications pane to Clear All. Seeing past notifications Swipe down from the top of the screen. Don't show the message, just the alert Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and select Notification Privacy from the Notifications menu. Now when you get a message you'll know its from a specific app but you have to tap to see what it says. Handy if you don't want others reading your notifications. Cutting down on notifications Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone > Notifications and then select whether you want Apple and third party apps to send you notifications or not. Apple Watch General tips and tricks Manage third party Complications Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and select Complications. You'll see what third party apps you have installed that will allow Complications. Change the screen cut out time to 70 seconds Go to the Watch app on your iPhone and then General. Scroll down to Wake Screen and set the On Tap setting to "Wake for 70 seconds". Disabling Bedside Mode You can have it so your Watch changes to Nightstand mode when connected to the charger on its side. If you want disable this feature go to the Watch app on your iPhone > General > Bedside Mode. Go to last app Double click on the digital crown to go to the last app you were using. Quick access to Siri Either say "Hey Siri" or long press on the Digital Crown. Mute an incoming call To mute an incoming call, just cover Apple Watch with your hand. Back to Watch face Don't worry about pressing the digital crown to go back to the app screen then again to centre it on the clock and then again to get back to the watch face. Simply place your hand over the watch, it will go black then tap on the screen to return to the watch face straight away. Unlock with iPhone You can setup Apple Watch to automatically unlock when you're wearing it and you unlock your iPhone. Go to the Apple Watch app on iPhone > My Watch > Passcode > Unlock with iPhone. Find your lost iPhone Swipe up from the bottom of your Watch face. Tap on the iPhone symbol and if your iPhone is on it will send out an audible ping. Mute your Watch Swipe up from the bottom of your Watch and tap the bell. This will mute and I mute your Apple Watch. Airplane mode You can pair your Watch and your iPhone to go into Airplane mode together. Make sure the Airplane mode Mirror iPhone feature is turned on in the Apple Watch app. Alternatively, swipe up from the bottom of your Watch face and tap the plane on or off. Do Not Disturb Swipe up from the bottom of your Watch face and hit the moon. This will switch do not disturb on or off. Reorder quick settings or delete them Swipe up from the bottom of your Watch face and scroll to the bottom. Tap Edit. Left handed Change the watch orientation of the watch by setting whether you are to use it on your left or right wrist via the General settings in the Apple Watch app for iPhone. Accessibility changes You can change a number of accessibility features of how the Apple Watch looks and reacts to your input via the accessibility features in the General Settings menu in the Apple Watch app. Enable Handoff for your watch If you are doing something on your Watch that you then want to carry on doing on your phone, you can enable Apple's Handoff feature to work on the Watch too. Go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone then General > Enable Handoff. Change the app layout Go to the Watch app on your iPhone, then App Layout and start moving the circles around. Deleting apps Go to the app screen on your Watch and then long press on the display until the icons start to jiggle. Here you can delete or move the apps around in the same way you do on your iPhone. Turn off your Apple Watch Long press on the second button below the Digital Crown. Here you can turn it off, opt to go into Power Reserve mode or Lock the device. Turning on Power Reserve mode Swipe up from the bottom of your Watch face and tap the battery percentage. You can then swipe left to right on the Power Reserve tab to turn it on. Turning off Power Reserve mode Press and hold the button below the Crown until the Apple logo appears to turn Power Reserve off. Taking a screenshot To snap a photo of whatever is on the screen at any given moment press both the digital crown and the second button at the same time. The photo will be automatically saved to your Photos album on your iPhone. Hard reset your Apple Watch Press the digital crown and second button for around 10 seconds until the Apple logo reappears. Pairing a pair of Bluetooth headphones On the watch go to Settings app and then Bluetooth. You can pair your headphones directly to the Watch from here. Giving extra buzz with Prominent Haptic Sometimes a haptic (buzz) from a notification isn't enough to alert you, especially if you are wearing the watch strap loosely. To help combat that you can turn on something Apple calls Prominent Haptic that when on Apple Watch will play a prominent haptic to pre-announce some common alerts. To turn this on go to the Settings app on the Watch and then Sounds & Haptics and scroll to the bottom of the menu. Turning off Simple Passcode As default the Apple Watch comes with a four-digit passcode, however you can increase this level of security to a six-digit passcode. To do that go to the Apple Watch app for iPhone and then Passcode. Here de-toggle Simple Passcode. Type in your new six-digit code and you are done. Mark as Missing If you've lost your Apple Watch you can mark it as missing via the app so that if you find it again you'll need to re-pair it with the Apple Watch and re-authenticate with your Apple ID to use it again. . Apple HomeKit and Home app: What are they and how do they work? 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