musicMagpie Blog

Want to get the most out of your Apple Watch? Whether you're an Apple Watch novice or you've been an Apple Watch user since the beginning, there could be some hidden features you're missing out on!

Here are 10 Apple Watch hacks and features you need to check out.

---

In this blog:

• Activating Water Lock
• Using the Walkie-Talkie
• Accessing the camera clicker
• Setting up hand gestures
• Pinging your phone
• Accessing the flashlight
• Unlocking your Mac
• Clearing and silencing notifications
• Getting directions
• Translating speech

---

Activating Water Lock

As you may know, Apple Watches are water-resistant, not waterproof. To reduce the likelihood of any water damage to your Apple Watch, you should use the Water Lock feature when swimming or doing anything involving your watch getting wet. Here's how to use the Apple Watch Water Lock feature!

To manually turn Water Lock on:

1. Swipe up from the bottom of your home screen to open the Control Center.
2. Tap the icon that looks like a drop of water.

When you select a swimming workout on your Apple Watch, Water Lock will automatically turn on. If you want to be sure that Water Lock is on, look for the blue water droplet icon at the top of your watch face – if it's there, it's on!

When you're done with your water activity, be sure to eject any water from your watch:

1. Tap the blue water droplet icon.
2. Turn the digital crown.
3. You'll see a pulsating blue dot, then dancing blue raindrops on the screen as your device emits a few beeps before completing the ejection.

Using the Walkie-Talkie

One of the many cool Apple Watch features you may not know about is the Walkie-Talkie. If you have a friend or family member with an Apple Watch, you can use this feature to chat without using up your calls or texts.

Unlike physical walkie-talkies, the Walkie-Talkie feature on Apple Watches doesn't have range limits, so all you need is an internet connection!

To set it up, click the yellow Walkie-Talkie symbol on your Apple Watch home screen, choose one of your contacts, and hold the on-screen button to talk.

Clearing and silencing notifications

If you don't know how to silence or clear your notifications, listen up!

There is a small red dot on your watch face screen that indicates when you've missed a notification. If you swipe down and are overloaded with notifications, simply push down hard to open the option to clear all notifications.

To silence future notifications, hold your palm over the screen of your Apple Watch until you feel your watch buzz.

While technically not an Apple Watch hack, this tip is for those who don't already make use of this feature!

Accessing the camera clicker

If you're a fan of group photos, you'll know all too well the struggle of racing against the self-timer to take the perfect pic.

Thanks to this Apple Watch hack, instead of running back and forth while trying to master a pose in 3 seconds, you can use your Apple Watch as a camera clicker to snap photos whenever you're ready!

If you open the Camera app on your Apple Watch, it immediately activates your iPhone camera. Then, all you have to do is tap the shutter button on your Apple Watch to take a photo remotely.

Setting up hand gestures

Did you know there is a simpler way to navigate your Apple Watch features? You can set specific hand gestures that can control your Apple Watch, like opening certain apps or taking you back to your home screen, all without touching the display or pressing any buttons.

Want to know how to use Apple Watch hand gestures? Here's how:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Click Accessibility from the menu on the My Watch tab.
3. Click AssistiveTouch and toggle on AssistiveTouch.
4. You'll then need to click Hand Gestures from the Inputs menu to toggle on Hand Gestures.

Then, all you'll need to do is set up which hand gestures you want to use to control certain functions. There are four gestures: Pinch, Double Pinch, Clench and Double Clench – you can select which actions you want to be assigned to each motion.

Pinging your phone

For those who have a habit of misplacing their phone, this Apple Watch feature could save you from all those panicked searches.

As long as your iPhone is within Bluetooth range to your Apple Watch, you can ping your phone to make a noise – even if it's on silent! To check if your iPhone is within Bluetooth range of your watch, swipe up to the control screen and look for the iPhone icon in the top left corner; if it's green, it's in range.

On the right-hand side of the control screen, tap the phone icon with two parentheses around it. This will trigger your phone to make a noise, hopefully helping you to locate it.

Accessing the flashlight

If you're ever in a situation where you need a little light and don't have your phone or a flashlight, you can use your Apple Watch instead! This Apple Watch hack allows you to access a hidden flashlight feature on your device.

Swipe up in the control centre, tap the flashlight icon, and your Apple Watch screen should light up into a flashlight. You can also adjust the brightness and switch between three modes: regular white, flashing white, and red.

Unlocking your Mac

If you have both a Mac and an Apple Watch, you can set it so that your Apple Watch unlocks your Mac without typing in your password.

Open the System Preferences on your Mac and go to Security & Privacy. You'll then need to tick the 'Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and Mac' box and type in your Mac password to enable the feature.

Getting directions

Looking for some Apple Watch hacks for on the move? You're in luck!

Did you know that when using Maps on your Apple Watch, you can follow directions without looking at your screen? Open up Maps, set your destination and click start. Your watch will then buzz on your wrist to let you know when to turn left and right and give you a final buzz when you reach your destination.

For turning left, you will feel two long double buzzes. For turning right, you will feel four rapid buzzes. And when you have reached your destination, you will feel one long buzz.

Translating speech

If you're ever in need of a quick translation, you can use Siri on your Apple Watch to assist you. Your Apple Watch supports 11 different languages for real-time translation and is as simple as asking Siri to translate!

Just say, "Hey Siri, how do I say {word or phrase} in {language}". Siri will then display the typed translation and speak the word or phrase aloud – so you can either try to pronounce it yourself or let Siri lead the way!

---

Thinking of upgrading to a newer Apple Watch? Trade in Apple Watch models with musicMagpie for cash towards your upgrade! Plus, get your next Apple Watch for less when you switch to a refurbished Apple Watch – it's smart for you, smart for the planet!

You can even buy other Apple devices, including refurbished iPhone models… why not check out our range of refurbished phones too?