8 Apple Watch Shortcuts and Tricks You Never Knew

Instantly Mute Sounds

Sound notifications can be handy for things like getting alerts when you are working out, but they can be very annoying in other situations, like during meetings or when you're in movie theaters.

Instead of turning sounds on and off, there’s a much easier solution. Head into the Apple Watch app, and go to the Sounds & Haptics section. Here, you’ll find an option called Cover to Mute. When this is enabled, when you cover your Watch face, and it will instantly mute any sound, helping to keep those small annoyances at bay.

Wake the Watch to Your Last App

Lift or jostle your Apple Watch, and the screen will wake to show you the time and any notifications. But if you are using a specific app intermittently to check on a status or manage messages, etc., this can get a little annoying since you have to unlock the screen every time.

Fortunately, there’s a way to change this. Go to Settings, then General, then Wake Screen. Here you’ll find options to automatically wake your Watch up to the last app that you were using. You can set it only to do this if you used the app in the last couple of minutes or increase the delay to up to an hour.

Manually Set Your Watch Clock Ahead

Would you prefer being a bit earlier to…well, everything? In the Apple Watch Settings, you’ll see the Time option up top. In this section, you’ll be able to add minutes to your clock so that it will always show a later time. Add five minutes, and you won’t have to worry about being a little too late to classes, meetings, and so on. This only affects the time shown on your Watch face – alerts, international times, and other important information will still show the real-time.

Create Default Replies for Your Messages

Replying to messages on the Apple Watch isn’t exactly easy unless you’re very comfortable using Siri. However, there is an alternative. In the Apple Watch app, you can find a section called Messages, where you’ll see Default Replies. Here, you can create a list of default responses that you can quickly send in Messages right from your Apple Watch, without the need to pull out your iPhone.

You can create messages for all sorts of things, from a generic, “I’m busy right now, I’ll respond in a few minutes,” to specific things like, “I’m driving right now,” or “Email me more information on this.” With the right messages, this can be a big time saver.

Send Over Your Location to a Contact

If you are following a conversation on your Apple Watch, you can send your specific location at any time. Just long-press on the Watch and choose the Send Location option. This will send a little map to your contact with a flag to mark your location. It’s an easy way to show how close you are when meeting a friend or a number of other situations where sharing your current location can be very valuable.

Clear All Notifications

This simple trick is often missed because it’s not always clear how to access it. If you haven’t checked your phone in a while and your Apple Watch has started to pile up with notifications from a variety of apps, you can clear them all away immediately if you know what to do. Just swipe down to the notifications list, and use the long-press Force Touch to bring up the option to Clear All. It’s that easy!

Unlock Your Mac with Your Apple Watch

This fun trick saves time and only takes a little bit of setup. On your Mac, you can go to System Preferences and head over to Security & Privacy. Here you will find an option to Allow Apple Watch to Unlock Your Mac. Follow the instructions to authorize the unlocking procedure. Now, you can keep your Mac safely password-protected, but it will still automatically log you in when you come close with your Apple Watch.

Use the Bedside Mode

The Apple Watch can track a variety of sleep statistics, but not everyone cares about that feature or finds the information usable. If you’re more comfortable with your Apple Watch off while you sleep, you can turn it on its side to enable the Bedside Mode, which turns the Watch into a mini Alarm Clock clearly showing the date and time as well as any alarms you have enabled.

If you’re home, you can pair Bedside Mode with a compatible wireless charger, but this trick is often most useful when traveling or taking a quick nap to regain some energy.