While the Apple Watch is very easy to use and adds great value to my day-to-day life with its features, there are many tips, tricks and hacks that I’ve picked up from fellow Apple Watch users. These have made it ever so convenient to navigate life and get my money’s worth. Read on to see how many of these tips you already know!
1. Raise to Speak to Siri
Siri is probably one of the top five “people” I speak to on a daily basis. Probably because it makes my interactions with my devices so much smoother. But there’s another way to access than to shout “Hey Siri” at the most awkward places or even pressing the Digital Crown.
Yes, you can simply raise your wrist and start speaking to Siri on Apple Watch Series 3 and above or watches running watchOS 5 and above. To turn on this feature, go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch and tap Siri. Toggle on Raise to Speak. Similarly, on your iPhone, head to the Watch app and tap on Siri, then toggle on Raise to Speak.
2. Manage Notifications
Apart from managing which notifications get sent to your Apple Watch, you can also have them delivered straight to your Notification Center. Simply swipe left on the notification and tap the three dots to reveal the options. Tap on Deliver Quietly so that the notifications won’t buzz when delivered and will be quietly sent to the Notification Center.
Tap on Turn Off on Apple Watch to completely turn off receiving notifications from that app. This can also be done via your iPhone in the Watch app by going into Notifications and then Mirror iPhone Alerts From.
This will help you easily manage which apps are allowed to send notifications to the Apple Watch and which aren’t.
3. Use Theater Mode
For the times when you don’t wanna be disturbed, using the theatre mode is such a time saver without having to dive into settings and open up different modes. It silences the notifications and disables the screen to light up whenever I move my wrist.
4. Unlock Your iPhone and Mac With the Apple Watch
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we all started wearing masks, which made it difficult for our phones to recognize our face IDs. Although Apple released a feature to unlock the iPhone by setting up a FaceID with a Mask, unlocking my iPhone and even my MacBook with the Apple Watch is a very useful feature.
Just set up a password on your Apple ID before you enable these settings. Head to Settings > Face ID & Passcode on your iPhone and toggle on Unlock with Apple Watch. This feature does require iOS 14.5 and later or watchOS 7.5 and later.
For unlocking your MacBook (mid-2013 or later, running macOS Sierra 10.12 or newer), make sure both devices are signed into the same iCloud account and that two-factor authentication is enabled. On your MacBook, head to System Preferences > Touch ID and Password and enable the option to unlock with Apple Watch.
5. Download and sync music to your Apple Watch
Apple Music subscribers can stream music over a cellular connection on their Cellular Apple Watch, but this can drain the battery real quick. An alternative to this is to sync your favorite albums or playlists for offline use.
Open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to Music > Add Music, choose a playlist or album, and wait for it to sync.
We can also download music from Spotify. Simply open the Spotify app on your iPhone, find a playlist or album, tap the three dots, and select Download to Apple Watch. Make sure the watch is connected to a Wi-Fi or cellular network.
Once downloaded, you can listen to music on your hikes and at the gym without having to carry your phone along.
6. Add a Workout Playlist
Adding on to the download music point, another really cool feature is that I can set a playlist to play automatically when I start a workout. To set your workout playlist, open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to My Watch > Workout, then tap Workout Playlist and select a playlist. This playlist won’t play if you’re already listening to music on another app.
7. Enable Apple Pay on Your Apple Watch
Since the Apple Watch (especially the Cellular + GPS versions) can function as a standalone device, activating Apple Pay on my Apple Watch has made contactless payments so convenient. I don’t have to carry cards or even my phone for most of my errands. And I know I’m always secured if I’m out and I run out of cash.
To enable this, open the Watch app on your iPhone, go to My Watch > Wallet & Apple Pay, and add a card from the available list. Cards already added to your iPhone will be displayed on the list. To use Apple Pay on your Apple Watch after setup, double-press the Side button or hold your watch near a contactless terminal to complete a payment.
This feature has also made it so convenient to pay for public transport, especially during vacations, without needing Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode.
8. Control your watch with hand gestures
We may know the basic hand gestures used to make navigating our Apple Watch experience seamless, but enabling AssistiveTouch hand gestures opens up four new hand gestures that can be customised to further make this experience smoother. These are Pinch, Double Pinch, Clench, and Double Clench.
9. Identify which song is playing
We all know we can add the Shazam icon to our iPhone’s Control Center and use it to recognize music playing in a restaurant or a movie. But did you know that we don’t have to whip out our phones to use this feature?
Using the Shazam app right from my wrist saves me so much time, especially when the song is playing in an outdoor setting, and I can’t scroll back to repeat it. Alternatively, I can also ask Siri what song is playing by pressing the Digital Crown, and she will identify the track for me because she’s a girl’s girl!
10. Be notified if you’re falling sick
The Vitals app, which was introduced in watchOS 11, tracks my core body vital signs and compares them to my baseline each day. If these tend to go south, my Apple Watch notifies me and helps me take in ample rest before it gets serious and even head to the doctors well in time.
This will only work if you wear your Apple Watch to bed in order to track your sleep though. Just turn on the notifications of the Vitals app in your settings and you’re golden.
11. Get access to maps offline
Starting with watchOS 11, we can store offline maps on the Apple Watch. This makes navigation so easy, especially while traveling and if the cellular connection is unstable.
To save a map, open Maps on your iPhone, touch and hold the location, and then tap Download. The offline map will sync to your Apple Watch automatically on the Maps app.
12. Set multiple Apple Watch timers
Okay, you would know how meal preps mean chucking three items in the oven and the crock pot at once. Since everything has a different cooking time, by setting multiple timers on my Apple Watch, I’m able to keep tabs on all things without worrying that one will burn to bits. Just open up the Timers app and choose from the different popular timers, or tap Custom to create a new one.
13. Siren for help on the Apple Watch Ultra
The Siren app, available on the Apple Watch Ultra series, is a powerful safety feature designed to alert others around you when you need help. It emits a loud sound that can be heard up to 180 meters away and will continue beeping until you stop it manually or if the Apple Watch’s battery runs out.
Press and hold the Action or Side button to open up the menu and slide the Siren option to start a countdown. To stop the siren, tap the red stop icon on the screen.
14. Take a screenshot
I’m sure you know this one already, but just in case you’ve been living under a rock, I’m gonna throw this in here. You can take a screenshot of your Apple Watch screen by pressing the Digital Crown and the Side button simultaneously. Screenshots are sent directly to your iPhone’s Photos app.
15. Change AirPods volume from the wrist
Simply open the Now Playing screen on your Apple Watch and rotate the Digital Crown to adjust the volume of your AirPods. This eliminates the need to whip out my phone when my hands are tied up or at the gym.
16. Eject water from the speakers
If you’re using the Apple Watch Series 2 or above, the Water Lock is a feature for additional protection of the Apple Watch in areas where it is prone to water, such as water sports or rain.
To activate the Water Lock, tap the side button to open the Control Center and tap the water droplet icon. When in a dry area, simply dry the watch with a soft cloth and press and hold the Digital Crown to eject the water.
17. Wash Away Germs with a Timed Countdown
Introduced during the pandemic, the handwash timer automatically starts a countdown to help ensure you wash your hands for the recommended 20 seconds. You can easily enable or disable this feature by going to Settings > General > Handwashing.
18. Light up your iPhone to find it
I’m probably in the top 10% of the people who keep using and abusing the Apple Watch’s feature to ping the iPhone in order to locate where I had kept it, but if I’ve left it in a dark or a hidden corner, the sound doesn’t do much.
A neat little trick for such situations is to long-press the ping button, and your iPhone will also flash its flashlight, making it even easier to spot.
19. Use Your Apple Watch as an Apple TV Remote
As long as both your Apple TV and the Apple Watch are on the same Wi-Fi network, the watch can act as a remote control for the Apple TV. simply open the Remote app on your watch and tap your Apple TV.
Follow the on-screen instructions to pair the two and once connected, you can easily play, pause, and control the volume right from your wrist.
20. Control Your iPhone Camera from Your Wrist
Perfect for the OOTDs and selfies when I’m alone, the Camera app on my Apple Watch acts as a remote for my iPhone. I can use it as a viewfinder to view and adjust the shot and even take photos or videos without touching my iPhone.
21. Quickly Calculate Tips and Split Bills
If you also suck at math, no judgment, trust me! No need to do the mental math to calculate tips at the restaurants. Open the Calculator app, enter the bill amount, and tap Tip, and your watch will instantly calculate the tip and the total payable amount.
You can also adjust the percentage and even split the bill among multiple people for those office dinners.
Wrap Up
Although you might have known some of these tips and tricks already, I bet there was something new you learnt today which is going to make your life so much easier going forward. If there’s any secret tips or hacks you know of that I haven’t covered, let me know in the comments.
