How to navigate an Apple Watch

Once you get one, your Apple Watch will become an essential tool for your daily life. The perfect complement to your iPhone, you can track your workouts and activity, access apps like Apple Wallet to make purchases in stores, get notifications, and even make and receive phone calls, including FaceTime audio. There are a lot of things your Apple Watch can do that you probably don’t know about. But how do you navigate it all? Well, by using four key things: touch screen, Digital Crown, Side buttonsand the Watch App.

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Using the touch screen

Tap and swipe

Because your Apple Watch has a touchscreen, one of the easiest ways to interact with it is to use the display: on the Home screen, swipe up, down, left or right to access different menus. Swipe up A stack opens with quick links to recently opened items, including fitness data, weather, and apps running on the latest watchOS 11, like Uber arrival status. Keep swiping to the end to access even more items. Swipe down View your notification history including messages, social media notifications, emails, and smart device notifications.

There are also tap gestures to operate the screen. Tap once You can select an item or, if your model has an Always On display, wake it up and brighten the screen. Tap and hold You can enter edit mode and change the watch face to another one in your library. Drag your finger along the screen View zoomed views within apps like Apple Maps.

Using the Digital Crown

More tactile

You can achieve the same navigation as above by using the Digital Crown and rotating it up and down. Press the Digital Crown Return to the previous screen. The Digital Crown can also be used to switch between different app options, such as workout types, photo library, or to scroll through apps in the App Store. Scrolling up and down can also zoom in and out.

Double click Pressing the crown will bring up the App Switcher menu, which shows recently opened apps, such as your file folder. You can open apps from here, or Swipe left and Tap the big “X” To close them down. Hold down this button Tap to summon the Siri voice assistant. If you enable Water Lock before you go for a shower or swim, you can unlock the screen when you’re done by pressing and holding the Digital Crown, which also drains any water from inside your Watch.

Try interacting with the Digital Crown while using different apps to see how it feels – some people prefer the tactile feel of a wheel over a touchscreen.

Side buttons

Quick access to settings (other)

The Apple Watch also has a long, rectangular side button to the right of the Digital Crown. Press it You can summon the Control Center menu at any time, where you can access the status of your Wi-Fi and cellular connections (if applicable), battery level, Do Not Disturb options, Walkie-Talkie, Do Not Disturb, Airplane Mode, Flashlight, and other usability settings. You can also use this menu to notify your iPhone if you leave it somewhere in the house.

If you Hold down this buttonBe careful not to hold your finger down too long unless you need help, as this will call Emergency SOS. Pressing and holding also gives you the option to turn off the watch. Double-click this button You can instantly access your digital cards in Apple Wallet, and on Apple Watch Ultra models, including Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2, you can also customise this side action button to access your favourite features and apps.

Controlled via app

Customize the look and feel of your watch

The Watch app is where you can really customize the look and feel of your Watch. Here, you can choose a watch face with your favorite complications. Once set up, you can quickly access your favorite settings with just a tap on the touchscreen. For example, on the Modular Watch screen I use, I added three complications to the bottom for the three apps I use most often: Workout, Camera, and Apple Wallet. But you can always open it up and tweak and choose. Set as current watch face You can change the appearance and complexity at any time.

Use gestures

Pinch, squeeze, and one-handed access

On the latest Apple Watch, you can enable Gesture Control to perform common actions like opening the Smart Stack, answering or hanging up a call, viewing messages, and controlling timers, stopwatches, alarms, and music playback by simply pinching your index finger twice with your thumb. This feature has technically always been available in the Accessibility menu on older Apple Watch models, and was programmable to perform a single function. But with watchOS 10.1, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 now have the feature as an intelligent feature that adapts based on what’s on the Watch screen at the time and works across different apps. This gesture, called Double Tap, works whenever the display is awake. Double tapping automatically performs key actions based on which app you’re using or if a notification is visible. However, you can also enable it in the Settings menu.[タップ]You can choose and customize it. Double tap You can also choose whether you want to play/pause or skip when you double-tap while listening to music or podcasts, and whether you want to select or detail Smart Stacks. You can also turn off double-tap if you prefer.

The Accessibility menu also has options to perform actions like summoning Control Center or Apple Pay by clenching your fist. Watch Appselect My Watch, Accessibility, Assistive TouchDown HandsWhen you turn this feature on, Tap, double tap, squeezeand Double Clench It performs a variety of single functions. It’s pretty sensitive, so you might find that every time you clasp your hand, Apple Pay opens. But for some people, it’s a great way to operate the Apple Watch without literally moving a finger.

Explore Watches

Getting started with Apple Watch is easy. The more you interact with your Apple Watch and explore the different settings and options in the Watch app, the more you’ll discover what it can do. There are so many ways to customise your Apple Watch, from the touchscreen to buttons to gestures and more.