New Apple Watch Setup Tips (watchOS 10)

If you are setting up an Apple Watch for the first time, here are some tips for getting the most out of your watch

Navigation

The Apple Watch has two buttons, the Digital Crown and the Side Button. It also supports other swiping and long press gestures.

  • Digital Crown
    • Pressing the Digital Crown will show the App View.
    • Turning the Digital Crown while you are looking at the time will show you some action tiles and eventually show the list of apps.
  • Side Button
    • Pressing the Side Button will show Control Center.
    • Double clicking on the Side Button will show Apple Pay.
  • Swiping down from the top of the screen will show Notification Center
  • Watch Face Edit View is launched by long pressing on the watch face
    • Scroll the digital crown to switch to a different watch face
    • Click Edit to make changes to a watch face

Recommended Changes

Out of the box a lot of the settings Apple has chosen are great, but there are a few adjustments I make for a better experience.

  1. Turn on Silent Mode so it won’t make sounds via Control Center
  2. Try out the Find my Phone functionality also in control center, the icon is a phone with sound waves coming out of it
  3. The Watch app on the iPhone makes it really easy to configure the settings on your watch and also to manage your watch faces
  4. Set up Apple Pay on your watch because it is way easier than having to take your phone out
  5. Enable Bold Text in Settings > Display & Brightness for better readability of text
  6. Turn on Prominent Haptics in Settings > Sounds & Haptics, this will give you a bigger vibration when prior to the normal vibration
  7. Update the Siri settings, I like to have “Hey Siri” and Raise to Speak disabled, but leave it on for pressing the Digital Crown
  8. Change the App view to List View, by pressing the digital crown and scrolling to the bottom of the view and pressing List View OR via Settings > App View
  9. Disable reminders for the Mindfulness app so it won’t ask how you are doing twice a day
  10. Disable reminders for the Handwashing app so you won’t get notified every time you wash your hands for less than 20 seconds
  11. Disable “Start Workout Reminder” in Workout app settings, this means you won’t be prompted if you are just walking around and I think it might also save a little battery life too.