SECRETS OF SETTINGS
Get deep inside the Apple Watch’s settings
The Apple Watch is a vastly more complex creature than you might imagine, with myriad options spread out across several areas. The first thing to know is that there are two places to configure settings. On the Watch’s Home screen you’ll find a Settings app that contains fundamental settings. The Apple Watch app on your iPhone presents many more when you tap My Watch, making it the best place to start.
11 Limit interruptions
Receiving many notifications on the Apple Watch soon becomes overwhelming. Calm things down by tapping Notifications to view the settings for each app. They might offer different settings, but most include two options: Mirror my iPhone (the default) and Custom. If you select the former, the phone’s options are summarised below; to adjust them, go to Settings > Notifications on your iPhone.
12 Customise notifications
Tap Custom to choose an app’s notification behaviour on your Watch. Three options are available: Show Alerts determines whether visual notifications appear on the screen, the Sound switch controls audible prompts, and Haptic decides whether the Watch gives you a gentle tap on the wrist.
Some apps have more complex Notifications. For example, Activity presents separate controls for stand reminders (so you can stop your Watch telling you to stand up and move around) as well as progress updates during the day, daily goal completions, long-term achievements and a weekly summary.
13 Get rid of the red dot
If you miss a notification a red dot appears at the top of the watch face. Turn off Notifications Indicator if you find it annoying.
14 Increase your privacy
While the Watch’s small screen makes it fairly private, you might want to hide the content of alerts. Switch on Notification Privacy and you’ll only see the type of alert and the person it’s from, and you’ll only see the full details if you tap the alert.
15 Check for updates
One important feature found in the Apple Watch app that isn’t on the device itself is software update. Go to General > Software Update and the app will check if a new version of Watch OS is available and enable you to install it. Your Watch will need to be charging and have at least 50% battery power though.
16 Auto update apps
To save having to remember to install new apps, tap General > Automatic Downloads and switch on Automatically Download Apps. Now when you install an iPhone app with an Apple Watch component, it’ll automatically appear on your Watch’s Home screen.
17 Check the usage
Your Apple Watch only sports 8GB of storage, which might quickly fill up because only 5.9GB of it is available to you. You can see what is eating up space in General > Usage.
18 Fast- forward the time
If you like to set a watch slightly ahead of time, tap Settings on your Apple Watch’s Home screen and choose Time. Tap where it says ‘+0 min’ and rotate the Digital Crown to determine how far ahead you want to set the time, then tap Set. This only affects the watch face; the actual time is displayed elsewhere.
19 The Settings glance
Swipe up from the bottom of the watch face to open Glances and then swipe right until you reach the leftmost one: the Settings glance. It contains shortcuts that toggle AirPlane Mode, Do Not Disturb, and Silent Mode with just a tap.
20 Find your iPhone
The large button across the bottom of the Settings glance is used to tell your iPhone to emit a pinging noise (reminiscent of a submarine radar). This is ideal for locating your iPhone when you’ve put it down nearby yet can’t remember exactly where.