The Apple Watch has been out for a few days now. This tutorial lists number of tips and tricks, some of which you may not have discovered yet, in order that you can get the most from the Apple Watch.
Entering the Password
It's a little fiddly to tap the numbers on the screen of the watch, to enter your password, since the screen is quite small.
An easier way to enter the numbers would be to use the Apple Watch app on the iPhone to enter the password. All you need to do is open the Apple Watch App on the iPhone and the watch will unlock.
Go Home
The Digital crown is the equivalent of the home button. If you are on the watch face Press the digital crown to view all the apps on the watch.
If you are somewhere else, two presses on the digital digital crown will take you to all the apps.
Reorder Apps
If you used to doing this on iPhone or iPad the principle will be immediately recognisable.
Go to the home screen that shows you all of the apps. Press any app icon until they all start dancing around like they do on an iPhone. Press and drag the app in order to move it elsewhere and, thus, reorder the apps on the screen of the watch.
When you have arranged the apps into the desired order, press the digital crown to stop the apps dancing around and set the apps on the home screen.
Remove an App
To remove an app from the home screen of the Apple watch, press and hold any app icon until all of the app icons start to dance around.
Some of the app icons will have a small cross in a grey circle. These apps can be hidden from the home screen by pressing the cross. You will notice that some app icons do not have this cross and these apps cannot be hidden.
Alternatively, open the Apple Watch app on the iPhone, go to My Watch > An Appand then toggle Show App on Apple Watch.
Use the Apple Watch app on the iPhone if you wish to display apps that you have previously hidden.
Glances
From the watch face, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to view Glances. To navigate between Glances swipe left and right.
The number of Glances available will be signified by the small grey dots at the bottom of the watch screen.
Managing Glances
Glances can be configured in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone.
Open the Apple Watch app on the iPhone, go to My Watch > [An App] and then toggle Show in Glances.
Set Clocks for Different Time Zones
On the face of it, it seems a little confusing as to how one goes about selecting different clocks for different time zones on the Apple Watch. There is nothing intuitive on the watch itself and nothing in the Apple Watch app that suggests how this is done.
The answer is surprisingly simple when you know how. Open the Clock app on the iPhone and select World Clock.
Press the + button to add new cities. Press the Edit button to reorder cities. Note, the city at the top of the list is the one that will appear in Glances on the Apple Watch.
All of the cities, that you have defined, will be displayed in the World Clock app on the watch. To change the order they are displayed, edit the order on the iPhoneClock app.
Notifications
From the watch face, swipe down from the top of the screen to view the latestNotifications.
You will know if you have any new, unread notifications as there will be a dot at the top of the screen to let you know.
Let the Talking do the Walking
Siri, Apple's voice-activated personal assistant, has come on leaps and bounds over the last couple of years since it was first introduced on iPhone.
Whilst not 100% perfect, Siri is able to carry out certain tasks if you tell it to which will save you tapping on the screen.
To activate Siri just say, "Hey Siri". When you see Siri activate on the screen, speak your command. You can use Siri to do all sorts of things, for example:
- Check the weather
- Check the weather forecast
- Schedule an appointment
- Find contact details (hands off to iPhone)
- Navigate a route
- Find a point on a map
Quickly Get the Weather Forecast for Anywhere
Getting the weather forecast for anywhere in the world is as easy as lifting your wrist and asking Siri. No configuration, no swiping, no faffing around with iPhone. Just ask.
Silence Incoming Calls
Apple Watch tells you when someone is calling your iPhone. But it's not always convenient to take the call.
To silence the Apple Watch place your hand over the top, and in contact with the screen, for three seconds to mute the watch.
Respond to Incoming Calls You Can't Answer
On the screen of the Apple watch you will see the name of the caller and red andgreen buttons to answer or decline call.
For more options, use the digital crown to scroll down and choose whether you wish to answer the call on the iPhone or whether you wish to send a message to the caller.
If you wish to send a message to the caller, tap the appropriate button and then choose from the list of predefined messages. Select one and your caller will be sent an iMessage or text instead of their call being answered.
Play and Pause Music
You can select the Music app, from the home screen, but you can also have Siri do the heavy lifting for you. Just tell Siri what you'd like to listen to, in this caseSledgehammer by Peter Gabriel.
Use Siri to pause music, too, by raising your wrist and saying, "Hey Siri, pause the music.”
Adjust Volume Easily
Whilst listening to music, whether it is being played through the iPhone, the Apple Watch or AirPlay speakers, the volume can be quickly and easily adjusted by rotating the digital crown.
AirPlay to External Speakers
Use Force Touch—press and hold—the music controls screen to select AirPlay so that you can send the music to externals speakers rather than playing it through the watch.
You can also select the source of the music, such as iPhone, iPad, Mac and even shuffle the music.
Master Messages
Force Touch (press and hold) on a name to compose a new message.
Swipe right to view the message conversation.
Swipe left to view options to view that person's contact details or delete the message conversation.
Calendar
Force Touch (press and hold) top switch between list and day views. Use the digital crown to scroll.
Press and hold the digital crown to activate Siri to dictate details of new appointments to be scheduled in the Calendar.
Ping to Locate iPhone
There are occasions when, perhaps, you have misplaced your iPhone rather than lost it. You know it is at home somewhere, but you don't know that it is stuck down the back of the sofa.
Find my iPhone only tells you what you already know; that your iPhone is where you are, …somewhere.
With Apple Watch you can ping the iPhone pressing the button on the Apple watch which will cause the iPhone to make a loud sound. This will help you locate the iPhone if you have misplaced it. Incredibly useful if it has ended up behind a cushion, somewhere.
Save Power With Power Reserve
If the Apple watch is running low on battery power, you can switch to Power Reserve mode which will allow to to watch to function as watch but turn off all of the functionality.
To access Power Reserve mode swipe up and navigate through the Glances to find the remaining battery power.
Alternatively, press and hold the button on the side of the Apple Watch to bring up the power reserve menu item.
Turn On or Off
There are a number of options readily available to control the level of interactivity with the Apple Watch.
From Glances, there’s a quick option to set Airplane mode, Do Not Disturb mode and Mute all sounds. Further, use the Apple Watch app on iPhone to mirror Airplane mode between Apple Watch and iPhone. Set one and both behave the same.
A press and hold of the button on the side of Apple Watch brings up the menu item to Power Off the device.
Powering the Apple Watch on and off can also be achieved by pressing and holding the digital crown and the button simultaneously.
Secure the Charger
Don’t lose the charger when you are not charging the Apple Watch. Ensure that it is unplugged from the power source and stick it on something metallic, such as a lamp base, a cold radiator or a metal ornament.
The inductive charger is magnetic and will stay where you place it. Handy, as it’s less likely to get lost under paperwork.
