The Apple Watch is generally an easy device to use, however, these added hand gestures make it even more seamless. Be it checking notifications, switching between watch faces, or silencing calls and alarms, here’s a quick guide to help you master the Apple Watch with these hand gestures:
1. Assistive Touch Gestures
To turn on Assistive Touch gestures on your iPhone:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone and tap Accessibility,
- Scroll down and tap on AssistiveTouch,
- Toggle on AssistiveTouch and tap on Hand Gestures
- Toggle on Hand Gestures and here you will find additional gestures which can be customised according to your preference. By default these are set to:
- Tap: Pinching your index finger and thumb together once will trigger a forward action by default. This means the cursor will move to the next item on the list or your screen.
- Double Tap: Pinching your index finger and thumb together twice will trigger a backward action by default. This will move the cursor to the previous item on the list or your screen.
- Clench: To perform the clench gesture, simply make a fist once. This will trigger a tap action which will select or open the item on the cursor. And is very useful when your hands are busy.
- Double Clench: Making a fist twice will open the Action Menu. The Action Menu is a menu with a number of options to activate different commands.
The Action Menu is meant for:
- activating the Digital Crown;
- going into the System menu;
- scrolling left, right, up, or down;
- turning the Digital Crown up or down;
- having the time spoken out loud;
- personalising your present watch face;
- switching between pointer and gesture display,
- autoscrolling the screen;
- putting the watch to sleep.
The System Menu will show a submenu of pathways to the Notification Center, Control Center, the Dock, the Home Screen, Apple Pay, Siri, and the Side button.
If you set this on your phone like how I did, the Watch app will notify you to try out these gestures on your Apple Watch. Follow the onscreen instructions to perform each gesture and tap ‘Done’.
To enable the AssistiveTouch hand gestures on your Apple Watch:
- Open the Settings app
- Tap Accessibility and toggle on AssistiveTouch
- Tap on Hand Gestures and toggle them on
- Follow the on-screen instructions for the watch to recognize your wrist movements and tap Done.
2. Tap
Tapping on the screen wakes up the screen, opens apps, and helps interact with notifications.
3. Touch and Hold
This gesture of touching the screen and holding it helps in changing the watch faces and seeing more options within an app.
4. Swipe
Swiping across the screen has various functions. Swiping down on the watch face reveals notifications, swiping left and right helps in navigating apps and browsing through photos, swiping up and down helps in scrolling through notifications and messages, amongst more actions. If I have turned on the ‘Always On’ display, swiping up the screen gently increases the display brightness.
5. Drag
Dragging is an action used to rearrange apps in the grid view. Just tap and hold the icon you want to rearrange and drag it to place it where you want.
6. Cover to Mute
Need to quickly silence an alert? Simply cover the display with your palm, and the Apple Watch will mute incoming calls and notifications. This will keep distractions to the minimum while still notifying you.
7. Double Tap
Tapping my index finger and thumb together twice helps me answer calls and reply to messages. This gesture is also used to see and scroll through Smart Stack and other supported apps. But this feature is only available on certain Apple Watch models.
Models that support the Double Tap gesture:
- Apple Watch Series 9
- Apple Watch Series 10
- Apple Watch Ultra 2
Wrap Up
While these gestures are no comparison to the gestures Android offers, they certainly enhance the Apple Watch experience. Doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned Apple Watch user or new to the gang, using these gestures day to day will help you get the most out of your Apple Watch.
I have personally used these hand gestures most at the gym, while working out, while driving, cooking or daily chores such as doing the laundry and dishes. So tap in, swipe up, and double-tap for seamless Apple Watch functioning!
