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.

App Watch: the day after Christmas

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

If you have kids, or if you were a kid at some point, you probably remember opening your presents each Christmas, using them to no end for the rest of the day, and forgetting about most of them the day after. That never happened to me, actually, but it's a long-standing stereotype, so go with it.

The difference between your RC car and your Apple Watch is that your car began collecting dust after a day or two, and your Apple Watch is becoming an integral part of your life. The initial novelty of the Digital Crown has become a natural scrolling mechanism, and the urge to constantly try a new watch face turned into changing the color to match today's shirt, or switching from an informative to a simple face from a work day to the weekend. Apple Watch has become a background track in your day-to-day life, and that's a good thing.

However, there is always more room for great apps to expand horizons and streamline workflows, which is why App Watch exists. So let's see what Santa (bearded app developers) has for us this week.

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How to check remaining battery life on Apple Watch

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 3, 2015

Although battery life has been much better than most anticipated with Apple Watch, you should still expect a day or, at tops, a day and a half of battery life after a full charge. For that reason, it's pretty important to keep a close eye on your Apple Watch battery throughout the day, especially if you decide to use battery hogging functions like phone calls and the workout app.

Fortunately, Apple makes it super easy to monitor battery life on Apple Watch. In fact, it's more verbose than it is on the iPhone since the watch shows you the full battery percentage by default. Inside, we'll show you two easy ways to monitor battery life on Apple Watch.

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What are Glances and how to use them

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Glances on Apple Watch are quick summaries of information that can be quickly viewed at a glance—hence the name. Glances contain, or at least should contain, information that you view the most frequently.

Why did Apple include Glances in Watch OS? How many glances can you have configured at once? These questions, and others are answered in this Glances overview.

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Developer builds Apple Watch app that can fully control his Tesla

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Developer Allan Wong posted an interesting video on YouTube today, showcasing his new Apple Watch app Remote S. In the clip, he can be seen using the wearable to control his Tesla Model S, performing tasks such as opening the charging port and adjusting the temperature.

While Tesla's are pricey and not very common in most circles, the video is extremely impressive and worth watching. This is by far the most in-depth app we've seen demonstrated on the Watch, as Wong is able to use it to control nearly every function and feature of his vehicle.

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Apple confirms tattoos can impact heart rate sensor performance on Apple Watch

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

In an update to an Apple Watch support document this week, Apple confirms that tattoos around the forearm and wrist area can impact the heart rate sensor performance on the wearable. Earlier this week, Watch owners took to Twitter and Reddit to complain that their tattoos were causing all sorts of errors with the device.

Apple addresses the issue in a document entitled "Your heart rate. What it means, and where on Apple Watch you’ll find it." Many factors, it says, can affect the performance of the Watch's heart rate sensor, including skin perfusion (blood flow), irregular motion/movements, and permanent or temporary changes to your skin.

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How to toggle Airplane mode on Apple Watch

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated August 13, 2020

Airplane mode disables all of the Apple Watch radios, which is handy when you want to disconnect from all devices, or when you're flying and are requested to do so by an airline. There are several ways to enable Airplane mode on Apple Watch, as we show you in this continuation of our Apple Watch Guide series.

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Poll: should Apple allow third-party Watch faces?

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 30, 2015

Apple touts rich personalization through custom faces as one of the cornerstones of its wearable device, but not everyone agrees. Skimming through your comments paints quite a different picture as tinkerers and jailbreakers alike are clearly big on the idea of third-party faces for the Apple Watch.

As much as built-in ones are customizable with tint colors and complications, surely official Twitter or Facebook faces that showed current status, photos and what not would have been much appreciated, am I right?

As third-party faces development is a highly polarizing issue among the Apple faithful, we're curious to hear your position on the matter.

So, should Apple deliver?

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The Apple Watch Home screen is a beautiful mess

Sébastien Page ∙ April 30, 2015

With the Apple Watch Home screen, Apple introduced a new layout and design that is a departure from what we have all been accustomed to with iPhone and iPad. Instead of favoring rows and columns of square-ish icons, Apple had to rethink the user interface and introduced us to an infinite and honeycomb-like fluid grid of apps devoid of pages, folders, or dock.

One could argue this design paradigm modernizes the Home screen as we know it, but beyond the new and refreshing look, I've had a hard time getting used to it and actually find it useful. As a matter of fact, I don't find it useful at all. It is absolutely gorgeous to look at, but it is also a terrible mess to use. Organizing apps, looking for apps, and being able to accurately tap on their icons is something that I have had a difficult time with.

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I don’t open apps on my Apple Watch

Oliver Haslam ∙ April 30, 2015

As I spend more time with my Apple Watch, I am finding that we are starting to settle into something of a routine. The watch tells me when someone or something wants my attention, and I triage that notification based on its importance and the level of attention I can give it. It might not sound exciting, but the process of quick notification triage is something that the Apple Watch is proving most adept at.

But the Apple Watch is more than a way to read notifications. It has apps, and glances, and sensors. Some apps, just like on the iPhone and iPad, are more useful than others, and it's still very early days for the Apple Watch ecosystem as a whole. That said, after a week of using my Apple Watch, I have come to the conclusion that I don't launch apps by tapping their icon on the watch's Home screen. In fact, I don't really use that many apps at all.

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