Apple Watch

Stay up-to-date on the latest Apple Watch news, and learn how to get the most out of your device with our comprehensive tutorials. From updates to features to troubleshooting tips, we’ve got you covered.

How to make Apple Watch play nice with your iPhone on a 5Ghz Wi-Fi network

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated August 8, 2019

Although not quite new, we reported this morning that Apple Watch can't connect to a 5Ghz Wi-Fi network. It's not a bug or anything. It's just a limitation of the current hardware found in Apple Watch. For those users that are not aware of this limitation, it can cause problems when believing that because you are on a known Wi-Fi network, Apple Watch and iPhone should still be able to connect even if they're out of Bluetooth range.

There is just no way to make your Apple Watch connect to a 5Ghz Wi-Fi network, but there are ways to work around that limitation. I've actually been helping people with that specific issue for a few days now, and because I've seen misinformation going around, I thought it would be best to just get things cleared up and explain how you can have both your iPhone and Apple Watch play nice with each other, even if your iPhone is connected to a 5Ghz network.

Apple Watch doesn’t work with 5Ghz Wi-Fi networks

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 22, 2015

In addition to Bluetooth, the Apple Watch also relies on Wi-Fi to communicate with its paired iPhone. In fact, the device can provide a number of useful features over Wi-Fi when iPhone isn't in Bluetooth range such as Messages, Siri and more.

It also automatically connects to known Wi-Fi networks that your iPhone, while connected to the Apple Watch over Bluetooth, has connected to before.

However, the Apple Watch won't connect to a 5GHz Wi-Fi network, even if its paired iPhone has previously connected to it, as first noted by French blog iGen.fr.

Slice Intelligence: Apple Watch sales taper off to 30,000 units per day

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 22, 2015

Slice Intelligence, an opt-in service that scans receipts of two million online shoppers' inboxes, estimated Friday that Apple Watch sales have cooled off and currently stand at or below 30,000 daily units in the United States, following the launch day spike that saw an estimated 1.5 million U.S. pre-orders of the wrist-worn device.

As noted by Quartz tech editor Dan Former, that suggests that Apple Watch orders fell sharply after the first day and haven’t grown since.

Users report less consistent heart rate readings after updating to Watch OS 1.0.1

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 14, 2015

In addition to fixing performance issues and a number of problems related to the accuracy of fitness tracking, the first software update for the Apple Watch seem to have introduced an unintended bug.

The affected owners have flocked to Apple Support Communities and MacRumors' forums to report that the device is now capturing their heart rate readings less frequently than before after updating to Watch OS 1.0.1.

Apple says the device's heart rate sensor should capture heart rates every ten minutes throughout the day — even more frequently during workouts — but there are now noticeably larger gaps of time between data, some as long as an hour or more.

How to choose which app notifications are sent to Apple Watch

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated November 5, 2026

In this post, we’ll show you how to configure both stock and third-party apps to send or not send notifications to your Apple Watch.

How to use glances as app shortcuts

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 22, 2015

Glances are the quick information summaries of apps that are accessible by swiping up from the bottom of the watch face on your Apple Watch. In a previous post we told you all about glances, how to use configure them and how to use them.

But there's an additional thing that you should know about glances that is proving to be extremely useful for Apple Watch users. You see, a glance can be used as a direct shortcut to the app that it represents.

In this post, which is a part of our larger Apple Watch guide, we'll show you how to use glances as app shortcuts on your Apple Watch.

How to enable or disable Handoff on Apple Watch

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated November 6, 2026

Learn how to use Handoff on your Apple Watch to move what you’re doing on your wrist to the bigger screen of your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

4 ways to locate your misplaced iPhone using Apple Watch

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated November 4, 2026

When your iPhone is buried under sheets, left in another room, or out of sight, the obvious way to find it is to call it from another phone. However, this may not help if your iPhone is in silent mode, Do Not Disturb, or an active Focus mode.

In these situations, or if you don’t have a second phone around, you can use your Apple Watch to play a loud alarm sound on your iPhone or trigger its camera LED to blink.

Standalone Apple Watch bands begin hitting select Apple retail stores

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Standalone bands for the Apple Watch are now available across select brick-and-mortar Apple Stores in the United States, the United Kingdom and possibly elsewhere, according to latest reports.

As reported by Twitter user AppleRadar, an Apple Store in Miami is now carrying the Classic Buckle and the Sport Band in multiple colors, with additional bands likely arriving soon.

Here’s what’s inside Apple Watch display retail units and how they work

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 21, 2015

If you visited your nearest Apple retail store since the Apple Watch's April 10 debut, you were probably delighted by the special display retail units that combine the Apple Watch and a bigger screen to provide a cool interactive experience.

Tapping any app or option on the Apple Watch instantly puts up an animated description of the feature on the second screen. It's instantaneous, fun and seamless.

Thankfully, a set of documents and images published recently by a Brazilian regulatory agency, and shared by BlogdoiPhone, gives us an in-depth look at how Apple engineered these display retail units and how they work.

How to use Handoff to move between Apple Watch and iPhone

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 21, 2015

Handoff—a feature that allows you to quickly move between devices and pickup right where you left off—first appeared with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. It allowed you to seamlessly move between an iPhone and an iPad, and iPhone and a Mac, Mac and an iPad, etc.

Unsurprisingly, Handoff is now available on the small screen with Apple Watch. It will allow you to do things like check email on Apple Watch, and seamlessly switch to your iPhone to has out a reply. Have a look at our tutorial inside for a walkthrough on how it works.

Apple Stores expected to begin carrying Apple Watch bands this week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

You may soon be able to pickup new Apple Watch bands in-store, according to 9to5Mac. Citing an internal memo sent out to employees, the outlet reports that Apple Stores will soon start carrying limited quantities of bands for the just-released wearable.

Before you get too excited, the message indicates that a majority of the stock will be made up of Sport bands. Also, it sounds like much of the inventory is reserved for customers looking to swap their pre-bundled bands, and replacing worn out demo bands.