Apple Watch: 7 settings to change immediately

After taking your new shine Apple Watch out of the box and connect it to your iPhone, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the options and settings, buried both in the Watch app on your phone and in the Settings app on the watch itself.

Whether you have a Apple Watch SE, Apple watch 6 or even a Series 3, they all work the same WatchOS 7 software and have (for the most part) the same features and settings. Whether it’s your first watch or an upgrade, there are a lot of things you need to know about. For example, sometimes the role of the camera is overrun with spurious screenshots. But it doesn’t have to be like that.

Plus, don’t let the sheer number of apps installed on your watch overwhelm you. And certainly don’t be frustrated that Siri keeps talking to you at random. There are simple solutions for some of these annoyances.

We’ll walk you through changing seven settings that will make your Apple Watch a smooth and enjoyable experience.

Adjust all your activity goals

With the release of WatchOS 7, Apple added the ability to change your goals for how long you get up and work out. Previously, you could only change your movement goal (or calories).

So instead of using the default settings – 30 minutes of exercise and 12 hours of cumulative rest per day – you can change either one to fit your actual daily routine.

This small change will allow you to achieve your own goals when you actually start your day, not when Apple asks you to. For example, if you use sleep tracker at night and need to charge your watch more often in the morning, you won’t feel like you’ve wasted an hour of time closing those ringtones.

Open the Activity app on your watch then scroll down and press Edit goals. Make your adjustments for all three metrics and start closing those rings.

Such long and random screenshots

Taking a screenshot on the Apple Watch is done by pressing the digital crown and the side button simultaneously. It’s a simple and convenient method, unless you’re like me and frequently find yourself triggering it by accident, filling the photos app with random images of your dial.

To completely disable the ability to take screenshots, open the Settings on your watch or use the Watch app on your phone and go to General and scroll until you find Enable screenshots. Turn it off and go back to clutter-free wrap.

Prevent every app from installing automatically

Whenever you install an app on your iPhone, it will automatically install its Apple Watch counterpart if there is one. This can clutter up your watch’s app grid quite quickly, making it difficult to find the apps you want to use on your watch.

Either in the Watch app on your phone or in the Settings app on the watch press General then slide the switch next to Automatic application installation to the Of position.

In the future, you can install individual apps on your watch by opening the Watch app on your phone and then scrolling to the bottom where you’ll find a list of available apps.

Stop those boring AF reminders to breathe

Every few hours, your Apple Watch will beep and tap your wrist, reminding you to take a moment to breathe. The first time it happens, it’s kind of funny, Why do I need a booster to breathe, crazy watch ?! Then it happens again. And even. Every four hours, by default for a physiological act which is literally involuntary.

The Breathe Booster is designed to help you take a few minutes to clear your mind and control your breathing, lowering your heart rate and potentially helping you feel more centered and calm. But if you’re like me and never follow the prompt, take a few seconds to turn it off so you don’t have to remind yourself to breathe.

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, then scroll down and tap on the Breathe app option. Next,
to select Notifications disabled.

Make it easier to find your apps

Honeycomb app grid looks great in promotion photos and at first glance, but it can be difficult to find the app you want to launch, especially if you have a lot of apps installed on your watch. Instead of using the grid, the watch can display all of your apps in an alphabetical list.

Either in the Watch app on your phone or in the Settings app on the watch and press Application view > List view. Now, when you press the digital crown to exit your watch face, you’ll see a list of apps that you can quickly browse and find what you’re looking for.

Control when you see Siri

There are three different ways to activate Siri on your Apple Watch. You can lift your wrist towards your mouth and start talking, long press the Digital Crown, or use the “Hey, Siri” wake-up phrase.

I’ve found that I often accidentally trigger Siri when trying to check the time or read a notification while talking to someone else (but my watch thinks I’m trying to talk to Siri). It’s boring, but luckily can be changed.

Either in the Watch app on your phone or in the Settings on the watch, select Siri and there you will find three buttons to control when you will see Siri. Drag each button to Of position for one of the options you don’t want to use.

Reorganize the control center

Much like Control Center on your iPhone, Control Center on the Apple Watch is where you go to quickly adjust settings like “Do Not Disturb” and Airplane Mode, and activate the flashlight.

However, the Control Center’s default list of options may not be the best fit for how you use your watch. For me that means moving the Bedtime toggle from the bottom of the list to the top. That way when I want to track my sleep on the weekends when I don’t have sleep goals set, I can swipe up and tap the icon.

To access your watch’s control center, swipe up from the bottom of the watch face or, in an app, you can long-press the bottom of the screen until the control center starts to display. swipe up, after which you just need to slide your finger up to access it. The same trick works to view your notifications from anywhere.

Change the order or hide some Control Center buttons by Edit button at the bottom of the list. The icons will start to shake and show a red minus sign to hide an option. Drag and drop the icons in your preferred order, or tap the red minus button to remove the option completely.

When you are finished, press Finished or press the digital crown on the side of your watch to return to the watch face.

There are plenty of other Apple Watch features that are worth checking out. For example, the ECG application can help identify irregular heartbeats, new dance workout, and you can even share your personalized watch faces.