How to use Nightstand Mode on Apple Watch

Did you know your Apple Watch can be used as a bedside clock? In this tutorial, we will show you how to use the Nightstand Mode feature to give your Apple Watch a purpose even when you’re not wearing it.

Apple Watch in Nightstand Mode

With Nightstand Mode turned on, your Apple Watch will display the time whenever it’s connected to a power source in landscape orientation (above image).

Nightstand Mode doesn’t stay on continuously; instead, your Apple Watch falls asleep after a while.

You can wake it up again by simply touching the display or pressing the side button or digital crown while it’s docked, and you’ll be able to see the time again. Apple also says you can wake your watch up by nudging the watch or the table it’s sitting on, so motion also plays a role in waking it up.

For anyone who uses alarms to get up in the morning, Nightstand Mode works great with these, too. Your Apple Watch will emit the alarm when your alarm is set to go off, and the green text turns yellow while the alarm is going off. You can silence the alarm by using the side button to turn it off or the digital crown to snooze it.

If this is something you’d like to use on your Apple Watch, or if you would like to disable it, then follow the steps below.

Turn on Nightstand Mode

You can do it from your watch or the paired iPhone.

From Apple Watch

  1. Open the Settings app and tap General > Nightstand Mode.
  2. Turn on Nightstand Mode.
Turn on Nightstand Mode on Apple Watch

From iPhone

  1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap General from the My Watch tab.
  3. Scroll down and toggle on Nightstand Mode.

And now you’re all set; Nightstand Mode has been enabled and will function whenever you charge your Apple Watch in landscape position.

To turn Nightstand Mode off, you can follow these once again, except this time, turn the switch to the off position instead.

Do a similar thing on iPhone: How to enable, use, and customize the StandBy feature on your iPhone