12 things you should know about your Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is now available for little money. While the new generation is in the starting blocks, the "old" models are cheaper to have. 

We would like to give you a few tips for the perfect start.

Sound on the hour

Just in time like a church clock, the Apple Watch can inform you about the time on the hour. To do this, open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to the "My Watch" tab. Select the "Clock" entry. 

Now drag the slider next to "Windchime" to the right to activate the function. Below that, you can also set a tone ("bell" or "birds") that plays on the hour.

However, you are not dependent on the Apple Watch only informing you about the current time on the hour. 

Rather, you can also set other intervals. To do this, open the Watch app on the iPhone and call up the "Accessibility" in the "My Watch" tab. 

Tap Wind Chime. Select Schedule and set the reminder interval to Hourly, 30 minutes, or 15 minutes.

Turn off navigation via Apple Watch during CarPlay

Apple has submitted a software update that deactivates the turning instructions of the Apple Watch when using CarPlay. 

To do this quickly and easily, first, open the Watch app on your iPhone. Tap the My Watch tab at the bottom of the screen. 

Then select the "Cards" entry from the settings list. Once in the navigation settings, you now drag the slider next to "Drive with CarPlay" to the left. In addition, you can also turn off the "Drive" option in this way. 

Then you will no longer receive any turning instructions if you travel with someone. 

Apple Watch Calculator

With watchOS 6, Apple brought the calculator to the Apple Watch and thus makes fast calculations possible. 

You can start the useful application in several ways – the fastest as a complication. To do this, press firmly on the watch face and select "Adjust". 

Now swipe left until you see the possible complications highlighted. Select any complication and set "Calculator" using the Digital Crown. Then press the crown twice to return to the dial.

Quit "Apple Watch" apps – here's how it works

The first step is to open the app you want to force it to stop before holding down the Side button until you see the shutdown screen. 

Now release the side button and hold down the Digital Crown to exit the open app.  

If there is still a problem after the forced exit, you should try to uninstall and reinstall the app in the Watch app of the iPhone. 

In some cases, however, it helps to restart the Apple Watch by holding down the Digital Crown and the side button at the same time until you see the Apple logo. 

If this doesn't help either, you may have to wait for an update of the "Apple Watch" app including troubleshooting.

Delete apps from Your Apple Watch

To do this, open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to the "My Watch" tab. Now scroll down until you see the heading "Installed on Apple Watch".  

Here you will see all the apps installed on your Apple Watch. To delete an app from the watch, you have to tap the app and then drag the slider next to "Show app on Apple Watch" to the left. 

Unfortunately, you can't delete multiple apps at once, but you'll have to repeat the procedure for each app individually, but the storage space will thank you.

Customize the Dock

The dock can be reached by pressing the side button on the Apple Watch. This can be adjusted in just a few simple steps. 

To do this, open the Watch app on the iPhone and tap the menu item "Dock". You'll see all the apps that are stored in the Dock at the top. 

Below are all undisplayed apps. Tap Edit, then tap the red or green icons in front of the apps on the left to remove or add them from the Dock. 

You can edit the order by holding down your finger on the icon with the three lines and dragging the app to the desired location. Finally, tap Done once you've set all the apps and their order for the Dock.

Change goals

While the daily workout time and standing hours can't be set, Apple lets you change the movement goal on your Apple Watch. 

To adjust the calories needed for the exercise goal, first, open the Activities app on Apple Watch. Now scroll to the bottom and then select the option "Change destinations". 

Using the Digital Crown or the plus and minus icon on the screen, you can set the desired calorie goal in increments of 10, once you're done, tap "Next". After that, you can change your training goal as well as the standing goal.

To change the orientation of your Apple Watch

Alternatively, you can of course realign your Apple Watch without an iPhone, directly in the settings:

Wake up your Apple Watch from sleep and press the digital crown to bring up the home screen. Find the Settings app here and open it. 

Then navigate to the menu item "General" and then to "Orientation". Select "right" under "Wrist" and "left" under "Digital Crown" if you're left-handed. 

The Apple Watch orientation will change instantly, so you can instantly switch the smartwatch to the other wrist. 

Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch – despite mask

To do this, open the Settings app and go to "Face ID & Code". Then drag the slider under "Unlock with Apple Watch" to the right. 

It still can't start after that. You need to make sure that your Apple Watch is unlocked on your wrist and that you have secured it with a passcode. 

In iOS 15, Apple only allows you to unlock with Apple Watch. Other functions as on the Mac are not available. 

So you can't pay with Apple Pay or fill in a password automatically. To do this, you must either remove the mask or enter your system code. 

Maybe Apple will submit the features with an upcoming update.

View steps on your Apple Watch

Apple Watch counts every step you take. But Apple still did not integrate a quick and easy display. Rather, you need to open the Activity app on the Home screen. 

Then scroll down with the Digital Crown. At the lower end, you can now check the distance traveled and the number of steps taken.

Pro tip: If you place the activity app as a complication on the watch face, you can see the number of steps much faster.

To choose Wi-Fi on your Apple Watch

As with the iPhone, manually changing the Wi-Fi network is not absolutely necessary. 

However, if you are traveling without an iPhone and want to connect to a foreign network, for example, then this has been possible since watchOS 5 or later. 

To do this, press the Digital Crown and then open the Watch's Settings app.

Here you just tap on the menu item "WLAN". You will now see different networks depending on availability. 

With a tap on a Wi-Fi network, you can connect. If you have never connected to this network before, you can also easily enter the password via the scribble function. However, depending on the length, this can be very tedious.

To rearrange Apple Watch Control Center

Since watchOS 5, Apple allows you to customize Control Center. However, you cannot remove a function but only rearrange it. 

To do this, swipe up from the bottom of the dial to enter the control center. Now scroll to the bottom and tap on the "Edit" button. 

The icons in Control Center now start to wobble like on an iOS device. Place your finger on an icon and drag it to the desired location before lifting your finger again. You can repeat this as you like. Once all the icons are in place, tap "Done". 

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