The Apple Watch is one of the company’s best products and a device that dominates the wearables space. Whether you’re looking for a fitness companion or more, there’s an Apple Watch for you. This smartwatch is packed with features and sensors, and many people don’t know where to start or how to make the most of it. Whether you bought it or got it as a gift, our goal is to help you get started. Here are the first 10 things you can do with a new Apple Watch.
Navigate this article:
- Learn how you can control it
- Choose a watch face
- Choose the complications that are important to you
- Change app layout
- Add your vaccination card
- Mute his audible warnings
- Set your activity goals
- Learn to shower or swim with it
- Add your friends to the fitness app to enter competitions
- Change the standard band and protect it with a cover
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This is the GPS variant of the Apple Watch Series 7, the company’s latest WiFi-only smartwatch.
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This is the GPS + Cellular variant of the Apple Watch Series 7, the company’s latest 4G-enabled smartwatch.
1. Learn how to control it
When you pair an Apple Watch with an iPhone for the first time, you need to learn how to navigate watchOS. Like iOS, a swipe from the top of the screen displays notifications. If you swipe up from the bottom of the screen, the control center is displayed. There you can add, remove and rearrange the switches based on your settings. A swipe right or left on the main screen toggles between the watch faces you’ve added.
As for the hardware, the Apple Watch has a side button and a digital crown. A single click on the side button displays your current or favorite app – depending on your settings. Double-click to see cards stored in Apple Wallet. When you press and hold the side button, a menu appears that includes the power button, medical ID, and emergency SOS.
The digital crown is used to scroll through lists and zoom in/out on certain items. However, if you click on it, it will show you the installed apps when you are on the main screen. If you’re in an app, you’ll be taken to the main screen instead. Finally, a double-click will take you to the last app you used. It may sound like a complicated mechanism, but your muscle memory will adapt faster than you expect.
2. Select a dial
Choosing a watch face that suits your taste and style is one of the first things you should do after buying an Apple Watch. The company offers you a variety of options to choose from. However, it still doesn’t support custom watch faces. So by default, you are limited to those available on watchOS. To change it, simply access the Watch app on your iPhone, click on the Face Gallery tab in the middle of the bottom navigation bar, and click on the face you want to see. Once you are in a face, you can customize some aspects, z. B. The colors and complications. When you’re done with it, tap the Add button and it will immediately change on your watch. You can use as many watch faces as you like, and you can easily swipe (horizontally) between them on your watch’s main screen.
3. Choose the complications that are important to you
Apple and third-party developers provide many complications that you can use. What are complications? Think of them as watch face accessories that provide up-to-date information or shortcuts to specific apps. Worry about the weather? There’s a complication for that. Interested in specific stocks? There is also a. Curious about the sunrise/sunset times? You have it!
The number of complications you can add depends on the watch face you’re using. Some support up to nine at a time. Time, while others are not as generous. To choose yours, simply click on an existing watch face you use in the Watch app on your iPhone. When you add a new face, you can select the complications you want before clicking the Add button.
4. Change the app layout
Just like on iOS, you can change the app layout on watchOS via . Change Wiggle Mode. Simply click and hold on the apps screen, then select edit apps. You can then drag them around to rearrange them and even delete some of them. Alternatively, you can use the Watch app on your iPhone to use the larger screen. Apple Watches support both grid and list views – but the latter are strictly alphabetical.
5. Add your vaccination card
We’ve reached a point where many entertainment options and airports require COVID vaccination verification. Browsing through your files or photos for the certificate QR code can be annoying, especially if you have your hands full. That’s why we’ve prepared a guide for you on how to manually add your vaccination card to your Apple Wallet. Here’s how to access it simply by double-clicking the side button on your watch.
6. Mute the audible alerts
Apple Watches have speakers, but many of us find that a bit useless. The watch has a taptic engine that provides good haptic feedback when you receive a notification. Assuming you are wearing it, you will most likely feel it. If you don’t wear it, you can simply unmute your iPhone to hear the incoming notifications. The point is – the notification sounds on the Apple Watch are redundant for many of us. To mute audible alerts, simply swipe up to open the control center and click the bell icon. You can also set a silent but vibrating alarm on your Apple Watch so you don’t wake up startled.
7. Set your activity goals
Many of us buy this watch for its health and fitness tracking features. To set or change your activity goals, access the Activity app on your watch, scroll down and click Change Goals. This way you can change how long it takes to close the motion, exercise and stance rings. As a word of advice, set realistic goals that are achievable, but also gently push yourself to do more. This way, you’ll likely stay motivated to close them out. As a result, you’ll make slow progress if you set higher goals every few weeks or months.
8. Learn to shower or swim with it on
The Apple Watch is waterproof. This means you can shower or swim while wearing it. Before jumping into the shower, pool or ocean, swipe up to display the control center and click the water drop button. This disables the touch display so the watch doesn’t register the water drops as random clicks. This way you won’t accidentally send your live heartbeat to your ex via iMessaging Forgotten to clear the number.
When you’re done showering or swimming, rinse it off with clean, non-salty water. Make sure water gets into the speaker and microphone openings. This will remove any soap or salt that is stuck in it. After you’re done rinsing, turn the Digital Crown until it starts beeping and ejects the water through the speaker holes. This unlocks the touch controls and allows you to use your watch normally afterwards.
9. Add your friends to the fitness app to participate in competitions
Competing with others or comparing our progress with others can be very motivating. Apple allows its watch users to share their activities with their friends and family members. To do this, launch the Fitness app on your iPhone and go to the Share tab in the bottom right corner. Click on the icon in the upper right corner and search for the contact you want to add. Click on their name and send them an invitation.
Once they accept it, you can view their three activity rings and the workouts they did for the day. You can also challenge them by clicking the "Contest" button in their profiles. Contests last a week and are based on a points system. The person who accumulates more points will receive a reward at the end of the 7 days.
10. Change the standard band and protect it with a cover
Sometimes standard watch bands can get boring. Fortunately, Apple and third-party vendors sell alternative. You can change bands by taking off the watch and pulling the bands out while pressing and holding the small buttons on the back that secure them in place. Then slide in the new bands and off you go!
A case can make an Apple Watch look hefty, but it’s worth it if you’re prone to bumping your wrist against tough objections. Breaking the screen takes away its premium look, and you don’t want to do that to your brand new watch. To save you from endless dilemmas when choosing color, style and material, we’ve compiled a list that narrows you down to the best watch bands and cases available.
Apple Watch is a feature-rich device that’s slowly turning into a companion you can’t leave behind. It provides accurate health and fitness-related measurements and spurs you to do more. It also integrates tightly with Apple’s ecosystem, so you can, for example, unlock your Face ID iPhone in a masked state and your Mac. It really is a small but handy bundle of power.
What’s your favorite feature of the Apple Watch? Let us know in the comment section below.