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 silence your Apple Watch with a simple gesture

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 23, 2022
Cover Apple Watch to mute alerts

When you're in a meeting or at the movies and a phone call comes in or a loud alert starts dinging, nothing compares to the social awkwardness after realizing you've forgotten to silence your watch. While you can mute the alerts on your Apple Watch with a couple of taps, by the time you fumble through the menus, you'll have already embarrassed yourself.

Thankfully, there's a better way: the Apple Watch includes a nifty little feature for silencing incoming phone calls and other audible alerts with a super quick gesture.

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How to change dictation language on Apple Watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2019

As part of the Apple Watch setup procedure, you're asked to select your preferred language that will be used system-wide in apps, the user interface and other places. Your choice also determines the language used for dictation.

For example, my watch is set to English even though my mother tongue is Croatian (I just find English user interfaces easier to use).

Unfortunately, this gives me headache if I want to dictate messages to my local buddies in Croatian, not English. But did you know that you can transcribe words spoken in languages other than your default one?

I sure as hell did not and am not ashamed to admit that I was totally oblivious to using multiple languages for the Apple Watch's dictation feature. In this post, I'm going to teach you real quick how to do just that with a few easy-to-follow steps.

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How to mute Activity reminders on Apple Watch for the rest of your day

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 9, 2015

Among the small things Apple's added to watchOS 2 is a new switch allowing you to mute Activity reminders for the rest of your day.

To be clear, hourly alerts to stand up and move a little, as well as other coaching reminders on your Apple Watch, can help a great deal when it comes to meeting your personal fitness goals.

But not everyone is a fitness buff.

If you yourself aren't exactly an active person, you might find Activity alerts a bit distracting, if not downright annoying. But worry not, you can suspend coaching alerts for the rest of your day with just a few taps. Let me show you how.

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You can finally send messages completely hands free with watchOS 2

Sébastien Page ∙ September 28, 2015

A new feature of watchOS 2 finally allows users to send messages completely hands free, and even though there is a catch, it's a much welcome improvement to communicate via text message without having to physically touch the device.

The catch is that this new feature only applies to messages you create from the Home or Watchface screen using Siri. It does not work for replies to messages you receive, and doesn't work if you go straight to the Messages app and tap Reply. Still, if used right, it can make the process of sending messages completely frictionless.

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How to only transfer Activity and Health app data to a new iPhone

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Transitioning to a new iPhone is made simple by iCloud backups, iTunes, and a few clicks or taps. Apple ensures it is easy to move from a fully loaded and setup device to a completely fresh iPhone with the same information, using their backup options. Most laypeople, almost always choose to restore new iPhones from their backups; however, more technically inclined concerned people tend to start with a fresh iPhone and do not restore from backup to prevent carrying over any unwanted information.

Earlier this week Christian highlighted two methods for upgrading to a new device and retaining your Activity and Health data. Method #1: use a third-party app to import your Health data, but it lacks Activity logs. Method #2: backing up your old device to iCloud or iTunes and restoring from backup, as I've described above.

But, what if you want both your Activity and Health data, but a fresh setup too? Step inside to learn how to install both, yet only, your previous device's Activity and Health data on your new iPhone. 

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How to buy Apple Watch with in-store delivery

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 26, 2015

Earlier today, the Apple Watch hit an additional seven countries around the world, thus bringing the number of countries where the wearable gizmo officially sells to sixteen, with more markets joining Apple's party it in the coming weeks and months.

The Cupertino firm has pledged to sell “some models” in its retail stores to walk-in customers. But, you still cannot just waltz inside an Apple Store, pick up an Apple Watch and walk away—without making an online reservation first.

That's where the Apple Online Store's handy online reservation system comes into play. Called Reserve & Pickup, it lets prospective customers reserve their Apple Watch with in-store delivery for pickup in person. In this tutorial, I'm going to guide you step by step through using the Reserve & Pickup system to find an Apple Watch you'd like to buy and have it shipped to your nearest Apple Store.

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How to set up and use Apple Pay with Apple Watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 30, 2023

The Apple Watch has built-in NFC, which stands for Near-Field Communication, for making wireless payments on the go. And in a typical Apple fashion, the watch doesn't even have to be in the range of its paired iPhone, nor does it have to establish a network connection, to make the payment.

Before you can start making payments with a flick of your wrist, you're going to need to set up Apple Pay on your Apple Watch. In this tutorial, I'm going to lay it all out for your and explain how to set up, manage and use Apple Pay with your Apple Watch.

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How to use your Apple Watch stopwatch like a pro

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 26, 2023
Stopwatch on Apple Watch

The Apple Watch, as you might have guessed, is really good at timekeeping. Unsurprisingly, it comes bundled with a stopwatch function that works as both a full-fledged app and a watch face complication. In this post, which is a continuation of our Apple Watch tips series, we'll show you how to get the most out of the stopwatch functionality on your Apple Watch.

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