Your iPhone’s best friend is the Apple Watch. It allows you to manage notifications, make phone calls, and even use some apps without having to touch your iPhone. The health and fitness features will assist you in staying in shape, and the notifications will keep you up to date on your messages. But the Apple Watch is much more than the Activity app, Notification Center, and watch faces.
Your Apple Watch is packed with features. And as a new user, you may not be aware of all of them. Check out our list of hidden Apple Watch features below to get the most out of your Apple Watch.
1. Use the Dock as an App Launcher
The Dock, which appears when you press the Side button on the Apple Watch, is its best-kept secret. However, the naming is confusing; the Dock’s default behavior, similar to the iPhone’s App Switcher, is to show your most recent apps.
However, in practice, you may never use this feature. Fortunately, there’s a hidden setting in the Watch app that turns the Dock into a fantastic app launcher.
Open the Watch app, go to Dock, and change Recents to Favorites. Add a few of your favorite apps to the Favorites list below.
The average Apple Watch user switches between a few apps, such as Workouts, Music, Messages, and Podcasts. To launch an app, simply press the Side button from anywhere, scroll through the list, and then tap on the app preview.
2. Try Silent Mode
The benefit of wearing an Apple Watch is that it allows you to disconnect from your iPhone. You don’t have to pick up your iPhone every time you get a message or a call with it. Instead, you can simply leave your phone on silent for extended periods of time.
The Apple Watch, on the other hand, makes a sound whenever you receive a notification by default. This can quickly become irritating, especially since the Taptic Engine on the Watch is so good. With a few taps, you can keep it quiet.
Swipe up from the watch face to reveal the Control Center, then tap the bell icon to activate Silent Mode. When you receive a notification, your Apple Watch will gently tap you on the wrist and will not light up the screen until you pick up your wrist.
3. Raise to Speak to Siri
There is no need to press the Digital Crown to talk to Siri if you have an Apple Watch Series 3 running watchOS 5 or higher. Raise your wrist to bring the Apple Watch closer to your face, and then begin speaking. Siri will begin transcribing and processing your command immediately.
Surprisingly, this is the most dependable method of interacting with Siri on the Apple Watch. It is far superior to holding the Digital Crown.
4. Thoughtfully Manage Notifications
If you wear your Apple Watch all the time, you’ll have to spend some time sorting through the notifications. Wearing the Apple Watch will quickly become overwhelming if you don’t.
Fortunately, the Apple Watch allows you to disable Notification Center notifications. Swipe left on a notification, then select Turn off on Apple Watch from the menu. You can also select the Deliver Quietly option to disable the app notification’s sound and vibration feedback.
5. Customize Your Favorite Workouts
When you start using the Workouts app on a regular basis, you’ll want to customize the workouts screen. For example, you could incorporate the current pace into the walking workout.
Simply launch the Watch app, navigate to Workouts > Workout View, and select the workout. Tap Edit to add, remove, or rearrange the metrics to your liking.
6. Reply to Texts Directly on Your Apple Watch
When you receive a notification on your gadget, tap it and select Reply to respond quickly. You have several options here: you can use the mic button to dictate a response, or you can select an emoji or pre-written response.
However, one feature you may not be aware of is the Scribble tool. Tap the A icon with your hand to open a scribble pad. Draw letters here, and they’ll appear as text at the top. If you have a Series 7 Apple Watch, you can reply to messages using the watch’s QWERTY keyboard.
7. Use Theater Mode
The Apple Watch has a habit of turning on at inconvenient times. You don’t want your gadget to distract you visually or audibly while you’re playing a game or watching a movie.
Swipe up from the Control Center and tap the Theater Mode button during these times. Unless you tap the screen or press the Digital Crown, your Watch will not light up. It also activates Silent Mode, which suppresses audio alerts while still allowing you to feel your wrist tap to see if there’s anything waiting for you.
8. Enable All the Health Features
One of the most common reasons people purchase the Apple Watch is to improve their physical fitness. While this is primarily accomplished through the Fitness and Workouts feature, it is also critical to enable various health features on your Apple Watch. This allows you to fully utilize its capabilities.
ECG, Blood Oxygen monitoring, Fall Detection, Sleep Tracking, and other features are available on your Watch. All of these can be found in their respective categories in the Watch app on your iPhone. In the app, you’ll find them under Health, Heart, Mindfulness, Sleep, and other categories.
10. Enable Apple Pay on Your Apple Watch
Because the Apple Watch can be used as a standalone device, you might want to activate Apple Pay on it. This allows you to use your watch for contactless payments without having to take out your iPhone or wallet.
To enable contactless payments on your gadget, launch the Watch app on your iPhone and go to My Watch > Wallet & Apple Pay. Add the card you want from the available list (you can only add cards that are already on your iPhone), and it will appear on your Watch automatically.
