5 Underrated Apple Watch Features I Love
After years of waiting, I recently upgraded my Apple Watch and quickly realized that going from the Apple Watch Series 6 to the Series 10 is a journey of both big and small changes. It’s still the same Apple Watch, but bigger and lighter. It’s also finally light enough that I can wear it to bed and get a sleep analysis report every night . Honestly, I only upgraded my Apple Watch because my old watch’s battery was starting to die , but now I’m glad I did.
While it’s easy to talk about the updated form factor, I’ve also noticed that my upgrade to Series 10 has brought with it a few small benefits that I don’t think are talked about enough. Some of these aren’t exclusive to Series 10, but they’re front and center: they’re small conveniences that I’ve come to appreciate since upgrading to the new Apple Watch.
Apple Watch Speaker, Free of Chains
Before Series 10, the Apple Watch’s built-in speaker was limited to taking calls and reading notifications. And I loved being able to take calls without looking up from my phone.
But if you have a Series 10 or Ultra 2, you can now play a wide range of audio from your speakers. This works in Apple’s own apps, of course, like Podcasts and Music. But it also works in third-party apps, as long as they support it. YouTube Music works, and Spotify does, too, but only if you pay for Premium. If you use a media app a lot, check to see if the speaker output is working.
An unexpected hit for me has been Audible and Zenitizer, my favorite meditation app . Now I don’t even touch my iPhone when I start meditating. Zenitizer is an unguided meditation app, but I use it to play background nature sounds to help me focus, which is easy enough to do on the Apple Watch speakers.
Photo, excellent dial
I’ve been trying for 10 years now, but I can’t seem to find a watch face that I like. It’s hard to find a watch face that you enjoy looking at, and that is useful, loaded with all the complications you like.
So, I caved in and embraced the newly updated Photos watch face. If you haven’t tried the new version in watchOS 11, you should. It does all the heavy lifting for you. First, find it on your iPhone in the Watch app. Here, you can tell it to twirl between photos of nature, cities, or people. It’ll automatically suggest the name of your partner or family members. Then I suggest leaving the watch face’s font on Dynamic, after which you can add a complication or two if you like.
Now, every day, your watch face will cycle through a set of photos, cropped to look nice on Apple Watch. The font will also dynamically alternate with the background of the photo, so you’ll see it peeking out over the horizon in a sunset photo or through your wife’s curly hair (my personal favorite). It’s pretty neat to look at throughout the day.
Widgets for Victory
If watch face complications aren’t your thing, you can turn to widgets. Introduced in watchOS 10, they bring a scaled-down version of iPhone widgets to the Apple Watch. You can access them by swiping up on the watch face or by turning the Digital Crown.
The first widget lets you add app shortcuts, and then it’s your playground. Your Apple Watch will automatically show you widgets based on time of day or context. But you can add and pin widgets as you see fit.
For me, widgets have become my command center. Almost every interaction with my watch starts with widgets. I use them to open the Workout app, check the weather, start a meditation timer, manage podcasts and timers, and track my fitness activity.
My only issue here is that the widget space is pretty limited. You can only add up to eight widgets (plus the complication shortcut widget at the top). I’m using seven widgets right now, so I’m pretty close to the limit. I hope Apple expands this limit in the next watchOS update.
Offline playback and the ability to leave your iPhone at home
I don’t have a cellular Apple Watch, but I still like to leave my iPhone at home and rely solely on the watch. Plus, the Apple Watch’s connection to the iPhone is pretty limited anyway. Sometimes the Apple Watch won’t connect even when I’m in the next room (concrete walls can be a culprit). It’s good to get used to using it separately.
My favorite thing about using the Apple Watch on its own? You can download media and podcasts to it. It’s not a one-click process, and it’s not even necessarily a simple one. But if you open a compatible media app on your Apple Watch as well as your iPhone, there’s a good chance the app will give you instructions on how to sync audio files and podcasts. Overcast, my favorite podcast client, does this pretty well. It takes a long time to sync between my devices, but once you do, you can go into Settings to turn on a feature that automatically downloads the most recent 20 episodes from any playlist to your Watch (when it’s connected to Wi-Fi and charging).
In the Music app, open any playlist, tap the three-dot menu icon, and tap Download . Apple’s Podcasts app will automatically download episodes in your Up Next queue, but you can also choose shows to always download to your watch. From the Watch app on iPhone, go to My Watch > Podcasts > Add Shows .
Double tap grows on you
Finally, I want to talk about a little double-tap feature that has come in handy for me in a few critical situations. Available on Apple Watch Series 9 and above, this feature lets you double-tap the air with your index finger and thumb to perform an important action on the screen. You can use it to accept a call, end a call, wake up your Apple Watch, and even scroll through lists. For example, you can double-tap the screen to wake it, do it again to open the widgets screen, and continue scrolling. Not exactly revolutionary, but pretty useful when your hands are full.