Apple Watch is fast becoming a cultural icon in the same vein as other Apple hits, such as iPhone and AirPods. As far as smartwatches are concerned, Apple Watch has no equal and, frankly, not even a close second. More and more folks are adorning their wrists with them every day. Apple Watch is easy to use, works seamlessly with other Apple products, and just plain looks good.

I’ve used Apple Watch since its first iteration (I can honestly say I got one of the first off the assembly line), and have been a satisfied customer ever since. In this book, I share my expertise with you, to help get you up to speed quickly and discover all the features your Apple Watch has to offer.

About This Book

Like other For Seniors For Dummies books I’ve authored, this one is written for the mature folks among us. People who may be somewhat new to using a smartwatch and want to find out just what these little wonders can do. From turning on and charging your Apple Watch, to customizing watch faces, syncing content with your iPhone, connecting to a Wi-Fi network, holding voice and text conversations, checking email, finding your way around town, and more, Apple Watch For Seniors For Dummies tries to cover it all. In writing this book, I made it my mission to consider the types of activities that would interest someone who is 50 years old or older (as I am) and donning an Apple Watch for the first time.

Foolish Assumptions

This book is organized by tasks. Starting right from the beginning, I assume you’ve never touched, let alone used, an Apple Watch. I also assume you’re at least somewhat familiar with an iPhone, since you’ll need to have one to use your Apple Watch. (If not — and here comes the shameless plug — a very fine introductory tome called iPhone For Seniors For Dummies, written by yours truly, will get you up to speed fast.) Even though you may be tech-savvy to a lesser or greater degree, I try to use nontechnical language throughout the book.

Another assumption I’m making is that you can’t wait to find out more about using your Apple Watch to

• Keep track of your workouts
• Stay on top of your current health conditions by monitoring heart rate, blood oxygen levels, sleep tracking, ECG, and more
• Translate into different languages
• Listen to music, audiobooks, and podcasts
• Get directions
• Pay for stuff using Apple Pay

And that’s just scratching the surface.

Icons Used in This Book

Icons are the tiny pictures in a page's margin that call your attention to special advice or information. Following are the icons in this book.

These brief pieces of advice help you to take a skill further or provide alternate ways of doing things.

Heads up! This icon flags a task to perform with care — because a mishap would prove difficult or expensive to undo — or a danger you might not be aware of.

This icon indicates information that's so useful, it's worth keeping in your head, not just on your bookshelf.

Maybe the information here isn't essential, but it's neat to know if you want to impress someone in your inner circle.

Beyond the Book

Even more Apple Watch information is on www.dummies.com. This book’s cheat sheet shows you how to extend your Apple Watch’s battery life, offers assistance with troubleshooting an unresponsive Apple Watch, and points you in the right direction for Apple support. To get to the cheat sheet, go to www.dummies.com and type Apple Watch For Seniors For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box. This is also where you'll possibly find any significant updates or changes that occur between editions of this book.

Where to Go from Here

I wrote this book in such a way that you can go straight through from beginning to end or skip to a particular chapter to learn a specific topic or immediately work with a certain task. The steps in every task quickly walk you through the process, without bogging you down with a lot of technical jargon.

At the time I wrote this book, all the information contained within was accurate for Apple Watch Series 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, Apple Watch SE, and version 8 of watchOS (the operating system used by the Apple Watch). It’s likely that Apple will introduce new Apple Watch series and versions of watchOS between editions of this book. If you’ve bought a new Apple Watch and found that its software, hardware, or user interface, or other software on your computer looks or acts a little different than what's in the text, check out the Apple Watch website at www.apple.com/watch. You’ll most likely find updates there on the latest releases and information for Apple Watch.