Theater Mode

How to automatically silence your Apple Watch based on location

Silent mode and Theater mode enabled on Apple Watch Ultra

While your Apple Watch makes some nice and useful sounds, you don’t always want to hear them. You may have sounds for alerts, reminders, or to let you know the time. But if you’re heading someplace where those sounds can annoy others, you probably want to silence them.

So that you never forget to enable Theater Mode or Silent Mode, you can set up automations to turn these on automatically based on your location. Here, we’ll show you how to create these automations for your Apple Watch in the Shortcuts app.

Hands on with what’s new in watchOS 3.2

Two days ago, Apple released watchOS 3.2 for all Apple Watch models with two newsworthy improvements: Siri in apps and a new Theater Mode toggle in Control Center. With watchOS 3.2, Apple's SiriKit framework that debuted alongside iOS 10 is now available to watchOS developers.

Apple seeds macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 8 and watchOS 3.2 beta 7

Apple on Monday seeded an eighth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.4 and a seventh beta of watchOS 3.2 to its registered developers and members of the Apple Developer Program. Both macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 8 (build 16E192b) and watchOS 3.2 beta 7 (build 14V5249a) can be deployed over-the-air on devices running a prior beta and a using a special configuration profile that can be downloaded from Apple's portal for developers and beta-testers.

Apple seeds beta 6 of watchos 3.2 and tvOS 10.2

Apple today seeded sixth betas of what would become the tvOS software update for the fourth-generation Apple TV and the watchOS 3.2 software update for Apple Watch with new features like Theater Mode, support for Siri in watchOS apps and other perks.

tvOS 10.2 beta 6 (build 14W5264a) can be deployed via the Software Update mechanism on any Apple TV with an appropriate configuration profile. watchOS 3.2 beta 6 (build 14V5245a) is available as an over-the-air download via your paired iPhone.

Apple seeds fourth betas of iOS 10.3, macOS Sierra 10.12.4 and watchOS 3.2 to developers

Apple today seeded fourth betas of iOS 10.3, macOS Sierra 10.12.4 and watchOS 3.2 to members of the Apple Developer Program. iOS 10.3 beta 4 (build number 14E5260b), macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 4 (build number 16E175b) and watchOS 3.2 are now all available as over-the-air downloads through the Software Update mechanism on devices with an appropriate configuration profile. We'll update the article if we find new features or important under-the-hood changes in the new betas.

Apple seeds second beta of iOS 10.3, watchOS 3.2 & tvOS 10.2

Apple on Monday seeded to its registered developers second betas of what would become iOS 10.3, watchOS 3.2 and tvOS 10.2 software updates. iOS 10.3 beta 2 (build 14E5239e), watchOS 3.2 beta 2 (build 14V5214d) and tvOS 10.2 beta 2 (build 14W5231d) can now be deployed on devices with a prior beta and an appropriate configuration profile.

The latest betas arrived two weeks after iOS 10.3 launched for developer testing and a week following the first beta of watchOS 3.2. tvOS 10.2 beta 1 arrived on January 24.

Hands-on with Theater Mode for Apple Watch in watchOS 3.2

Apple today released a developer-only beta of watchOS 3.2 and the biggest news aside from support for Siri in Apple Watch apps is Theater Mode that we thought would make its debut in iOS 10.3 (it didn't). Activated via a brand new toggle in Control Center, Theater Mode puts your wearable device into silent mode while keeping the screen dark until you tap it or press the Digital Crown or the Side button.

watchOS 3.2 changelog suggests Theater Mode coming to Apple Watch

Apple this morning launched first developer betas of iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4, but the company has yet to officially post a developer-focused preview of watchOS 3.2. However, the official changelog meant to accompany watchOS 3.2 beta 1 is live on Apple's servers, suggesting a rumored Theater Mode that Sonny Dickson said would launch in iOS 10 may be coming to Apple Watch instead. And what's Theater Mode all about?