IN THIS CHAPTER

Accessing weather, UVI and AQI index, and wind speed

Following stock info and more

Using Dock to quickly open your favorite apps or go from one app to another

Viewing notifications, calendar items, and reminders on Apple Watch

Using the Calculator app

Setting and listening to Voice Memos

Navigating the Maps app, including the Compass feature

When people ask me, “Why do I need a smartwatch?” I usually answer with something like “convenience.” A wearable device on your wrist is ideal for quick bits of information, when and where you need it. Rather than pulling out your smartphone or your tablet, you can simply glance down with your eyes to get what you need while on the go.

In fact, once you start using Apple Watch, it’s hard to go back to before you had it!

This chapter focuses mostly on how Apple Watch shows you information that’s relevant to you. For example, you can access weather information for today or for the next week, or even for another city. Or multiple cities. Do you like playing the market or want to see how your own public company is doing? Select which company’s stock price and performance are important in your world — all updated in real time.

Then I describe how to add this information to your watch face as one of the complications options. I also cover how to access notifications on Apple Watch for a number of installed apps. I round it all off with using Apple Watch for calendar alerts and accessing maps on your wrist.

Accessing Real-Time Weather, UV (UV) Index, and Wind Speed

Apple Watch comes with many built-in Apple Watch apps (see Table 1-1 in Chapter 1 for a list of them), and Weather is one of them. You can also add the Weather app to many Watch faces, as shown in Figure 6-1. See Chapter 4 to find out how.

Sure, you can choose not to see this information on your smartwatch if you’re not interested — simply unselect it in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, as covered in Chapter 11 — but this information should be timely and interesting for many (hence, Apple adding them in without your having to download specific apps).

Apple also added UV (ultraviolet) index info, wind speed, and in some cities, the Air Quality Index (AQI), too.

The Weather app displays your current location’s temperature and a graphical representation of expected precipitation and conditions over much of the day (by the hour) as well as a week-ahead view — and for multiple locations if desired.

To use the Weather app on your Apple Watch, follow these steps:

1. Press the Digital Crown button to go to the Home screen.
2. Tap the Weather app.

   Once the app launches, you should see the temperature and weather for your current location, as shown in Figure 6-1, and possibly some other locations you’ve selected on the iPhone version of the app. If this is the case, tap your city (for me, it’s Toronto).

   You should see the temperature is in the center of the app, surrounded by a 12-hour look at the day and an associated icon, such as a sun, a cloud, a raincloud, snowflakes, and so on. If you live in the United States, the temperature is displayed in Fahrenheit (a choice you make when setting up the watch); it’s displayed in Celsius in Canada and other countries that use the metric system or if you make that choice yourself. The name of the city appears in the top left of the screen and the current time in the top right.

3. Swipe down with your fingertip or twist the Digital Crown button to scroll down the app.

   This shows you a ten-day forecast, as shown in Figure 6-3.

   The further down you swipe or twist the Digital Crown button, the further ahead in the week you go. You can see each day’s high and low temperatures and predicted precipitation — all courtesy of the Weather Channel. Scroll back up to the top of the Weather app by twisting the Digital Crown or use your fingertip to swipe up. At the top of the screen you can see what you’re looking at — Temperature, Condition, or Precipitation — and can tap to change options.

   

4. Keep scrolling to see the UV index and Wind Speed.

5. To see other cities you’ve selected to track, tap the top-left corner of the Apple Watch, where there should be a small arrow to go back and select another city. Tap to see precipitation, too, and select what you prefer to see at a glance.

   See Figure 6-4.

   

   You can change the cities you follow in the Apple Watch app on iPhone; see Chapter 11 for more on doing this. You can select the default city or have it always show your current location (using location data in Apple Watch and/or iPhone). You can also select what weather conditions you’d like to see on Apple Watch. Figure 6-5 shows examples of weather conditions you can access.

   

Don’t forget you can use Siri to call up weather information. Simply raise the watch to your mouth, say “Hey, Siri” and or press and hold the Digital Crown button, followed by a question, such as “What’s it like outside?” or “Do I need a raincoat?” Or give a command, such as “Tell me the weather.” Actually, you can just say “Weather.” If you don’t specify a location — like the examples provided here — Siri assumes you want to know your local information. See Chapter 7 for more on using Siri to help you perform tasks with your Apple Watch.

Following Stock Information and Much More

To keep an eye on the stock market, Apple Watch offers you a quick glance at any public company’s stock price and performance for when (and where) you’d like it. It’s similar to the Stocks app on iPhone but tailored to the smaller Apple Watch screen. The process is similar to looking at the weather and just as customizable, including adding it to a Watch face (see Chapter 4).

To use the Stocks apps on your Apple Watch, follow these steps:

1. Press the Digital Crown button to go to the Home screen.
2. Tap the Stocks app.

   If you didn’t tweak what stocks you’d like to see by going into the Stocks area of the Apple Watch app on iPhone, see Chapter 11 for more on doing this. Until you customize what stocks you want to keep an eye on, you see the current value of major stock indices, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as well as such companies as Apple and Google, as shown in Figure 6-6.

   Each company you follow on the stock market is listed by its traded name (such as AAPL for Apple), the current stock price underneath the name (such as $222.15), and whether the stock is up (in green) or down (in red) and by how much, such as a green +2.20%.

   

3. You can learn more information about each company or exchange by tapping its name (such as DOW J).

   Figure 6-7 (left) shows an example. On the right is the ability to select what kind of stock info to see, such as Points and Percentage changes, and Market Cap. Tap what you like.

   

   You can have a number of companies listed, all organized within the Apple Watch app on iPhone. See Chapter 11 for more on third-party apps.

   The Stocks app on iPhone gives you an even deeper dive, such as the indices or company’s performance over the past day, week, month, or six months (see Figure 6-8).

4. Swipe to the right at any time to go back to the main Stocks app screen with multiple indices and companies listed.

   You can also ask Siri to tell you the stock price of a given company or the performance of a stock index. You can access Siri by saying “Hey, Siri,” followed by your question or command, or press the Digital Crown button in any app you’re in to ask Siri about a particular company.

Using Dock on Apple Watch

Covered briefly in Chapter 3, Dock lets you quickly open and cycle through your most recently used apps (or your favorite apps) when you’re on the go.

In other words, it’s a super convenient shortcut to what matters most to you.

Customizing Dock

To choose which apps appear in Dock — up to ten of your favorites — follow these steps:

1. Grab your iPhone and open the Apple Watch app.

2. Tap My Watch, and then Dock.

   Here you can choose your favorite apps.

3. Tap Edit and then add or remove apps (see Figure 6-10).

   To remove apps, tap the red –, and then tap Remove. To add apps, tap the green +.

4. To rearrange apps, touch and hold next to an app, and then drag up or down.

5. Tap Done.

   This saves your changes.

Make sure that Favorites is selected to have them appear on Dock.

Mastering Notifications on Apple Watch

Just as many preinstalled Apple Watch apps support notifications (which are on by default), many third-party apps have them too — depending on whether app developers provided them. This section shows how to navigate notifications to meet your situation.

How notifications work

Notifications pull information from supported apps — for example, if someone liked your photo on Instagram, if your favorite game wants you to know someone is attacking your virtual kingdom, or if the New York Yankees won the doubleheader. Likewise, a news outlet, such as USA TODAY, might let you know the president is about to give a speech or if the weather is taking a turn for the worse in your area. Figure 6-11 gives an example of a notification tied to the USA TODAY app.

But first a quick caveat: Notifications can go to either your Apple Watch or iPhone, but not both. If your iPhone is unlocked, you’ll get notifications on your iPhone rather than your Apple Watch. But if your iPhone is locked, asleep, or off altogether, you get notifications on your Apple Watch (unless your Apple Watch is locked with your passcode). Figure 6-12 illustrates this.

If you have an Apple Watch without cellular connectivity, notifications are pushed to your watch from a nearby iPhone or over Wi-Fi. Otherwise, if you own a GPS + Cellular model and pay for the service, you can get notifications to your wrist directly from apps, over the Internet.

Chapter 11 explains how to enable or disable individual app notifications in the Settings area of the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

Accessing the notification settings

Quite simply, you can use the Apple Watch app on your iPhone to access notifications and choose which apps give you notifications. You can also select what information you’d like to be notified about per app. So for example, the right image of Figure 6-13 shows how to customize the Calendar app, which you simply do by tapping Custom to choose when to be notified. Notification Center also includes apps from third parties.

Now, you should receive a gentle tap on your wrist to tell you about the news based on the apps you choose to give you notifications.

If you’re not feeling the notifications on your wrist, you can dial up extra vibration by selecting Prominent Haptic within the Apple Watch’s Sound and Haptics area in the Settings app. Now those buzzes on your wrist will feel more pronounced.

Changing how you get notifications on your Apple Watch

Apple Watch isn’t a one-size-fits-all scenario. Different wearers will want to be notified about different apps, and in different ways. Concerning the different ways, here’s how to make some changes.

1. Touch and hold the top of the watch face, or swipe down from the top of the watch face to open Notification Center.
2. After Notification Center appears, swipe down.
3. Swipe left on a notification, tap the three little dots, and then select an option (see Figure 6-14):
   • Deliver Quietly: If you don’t want to hear sounds or feel haptic alerts for that app, tap Deliver Quietly. Notifications now go directly to Notification Center on both your Apple Watch and iPhone, rather than produce a sound or haptic alert.
   • Turn Off on Apple Watch: If you don’t want to get notifications for an app, tap this option.
4. If you change your mind about an app, swipe left on a notification from the app, tap the three dots, and then choose Deliver Prominently.

Want more privacy? When you raise your wrist to view a notification, you see a quick summary, and then full details a few seconds later. To prevent the full details from appearing in the notification, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, then tap the My Watch tab. Tap Notifications, then turn on Notification Privacy. Now, when you receive a notification, you need to tap it to see the full details.

Accessing Your Calendar on Apple Watch

Because your Apple Watch is connected to the Internet via cellular or Wi-Fi — or at least wirelessly tethered to your nearby iPhone through Bluetooth technology — you can access handy calendar information on your wrist. In fact, the Calendar app not only syncs with your iPhone, but it also syncs with iCloud if you use Apple’s popular cloud service to store and access information. This section covers how to navigate your calendar, how to respond to a calendar or appointment request, and how to respond to an appointment request through notifications.

Navigating the Calendar app

Featuring day, week, and month views — including support for reminders, invitations, and notifications — the Calendar app on Apple Watch shows you a list of upcoming events.

To use the Calendar app on your Apple Watch, follow these steps:

1. Press the Digital Crown button to go to the Home screen.
2. Tap the Calendar app.

   The Calendar app launches. The first time it opens, you need to allow the Calendar app to know your location, as shown in Figure 6-15. Why? If an event includes a location, you automatically get a “leave now” alert on your Apple Watch based on estimated travel time and traffic conditions! Your options are Allow Once, Allow While Using App, or Never.

   By default, you should see the current Today view, with your upcoming events listed in chronological order.

3. Use your fingertip to scroll down to see future dates or twist the Digital Crown button toward you.

   Figure 6-16 shows an example of an upcoming event.

   This experience is similar to the Calendar app on iPhone. The current time is also listed in the top right of the Calendar app.

4. In the Today view of the Calendar app, tap the top-left corner to access Month view. To return to Today view, tap a specific date.

   See Figure 6-17 for a look at the Month view. In this view, you can swipe left or right to move forward or backward through time or twist the Digital Crown button if you prefer.

   Just like you can set Reminders on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can activate Siri on your Apple Watch and say something like, “At 6 p.m., remind me to call Mom.” The watch doesn’t make a calendar entry for this event, but you’re reminded with a sound, a vibration on your wrist, and a text. Remember, Apple Watch has no keyboard, so you must dictate the reminder. See Chapter 7 for more ways to use Siri to help you accomplish tasks with Apple Watch.

   

   

5. Create a calendar appointment on your Apple Watch.

   To do this, you’ll need to use Siri. Simply ask your personal assistant to make a calendar entry on a given date and time.

Setting Reminders on Apple Watch

Introduced in watchOS 6, Apple Watch has an easy way to set reminders and notify you when it’s the right time (or place). And, for those who use the Reminders app on iPhone and iPad (running iOS 13 and later) and/or the app on macOS Catalina (or later), the Reminders app on Apple Watch will have a similar look and feel.

To see/set a Reminder on Apple Watch:

1. To see your Reminders, tap the white Reminders app on the Apple Watch Home screen.

   Or raise your wrist to activate Siri and say “Open Reminders” or “Do I have any upcoming Reminders?”

2. Tap one of the three sections to review your Reminders: Today, All, or Scheduled (upcoming Reminders you’ve set), as shown in Figure 6-19.

   Of course, you’ll be notified of a Reminder at the time you’ve selected to be reminded, either by a slight vibration on your wrist, alarm sound, or both (you can select in Settings).

   All your Reminders are conveniently synchronized between your Apple devices — unless you don’t want to (which you can tweak in Settings).

3. To set a reminder inside the Reminders app, scroll down using your finger on the Apple Watch screen or by turning the Digital Crown and select Add Reminder.

   You can now create a Reminder by using speech (voice to text) or the Scribble feature (handwriting to text).

If you see the Reminder notification when it arrives, you can swipe the screen to dismiss it or turn the Digital Crown to scroll to the bottom of the reminder, and then tap Snooze, Completed, or Dismiss.

If you discover the notification later: Tap it in your list of notifications, and then scroll and respond.

You can also create Reminders in these alternate ways:

• When in the Reminders app, press firmly on the screen, which immediately launches the Add Reminder option.
• Raise your wrist and ask Siri for a reminder, such as “Tomorrow at 9am, remind me to email my editor” or “When I get to the office, remind me to create new passwords” (the latter example first requires you to add addresses, such as home and office, to your Contacts profile).

Accessing Apple Watch’s Integrated Calculator

From Calendar to Calculator, Apple Watch includes a handy calculator on your wrist, starting with the watchOS 6 operating system. While not super high-tech or anything — heck, I had a Casio calculator wristwatch in the ’80s! — it sure is convenient to have an integrated calculator app on Apple Watch.

To use the Calendar app, simply tap the Calculator app icon on your Apple Watch Home screen. You can then perform a math equation, including addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication. (See the left side of Figure 6-20.) Press C to Clear the number.

Alternatively, you can ask Siri to open the Calculator app (or just ask Siri your math question if you want to verbalize it).

If you want your Apple Watch to quickly generate a tip if, say, you’re at a restaurant, type the amount of the bill (like $120, as shown in Figure 6-20), and it generates the tip for you (default is 15%, but you can turn the Digital Crown for a higher or lower number). You can also select how many people are splitting the bill, so you know how much each person owes!

Creating and Listening to Voice Memos

Sometimes it’s more convenient to simply use your voice than type information.

There is a dedicated Voice Memos app on the Apple Watch Home screen or you can add a Voice Memo complication (see Chapter 4) to your favorite watch face so you can quickly tap and leave yourself a voice recording via the Apple Watch microphone. If wireless earbuds or headphones are connected to Apple Watch, you hear the voice recordings there and not through Apple Watch itself.

Tap the Voice Memos app to open it. Or raise your wrist and instruct Siri to open the app (“Open Voice Memos”). You can then perform the following tasks:

• Record a voice memo. Tap the large red Record button, as shown in Figure 6-21, and begin talking into your wrist.
• Stop recording a voice memo. To stop the recording, tap the red Stop button to end.
• Play back a previously recorded voice memo. Tap the name of it below the Red record button. If you didn’t rename it, it’s listed as Recording 1, Recording 2, and so on. Press Pause to pause the playback, or skip forward or back 15 seconds, as shown in Figure 6-21.
• Edit the name of the recording. Tap it (such as Recording 3) and you have the option to use your voice or Scribble to create a custom name.
• Erase the voice memo. Tap the three little dots in the bottom right of the screen to erase the voice recording. You’re asked to confirm this is what you want to do.

Recordings are also in Voice Memos on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

In fact, if you press and hold on the screen inside the Voice Memos app on Apple Watch, you’ll have a choice to play back recordings stored on the Apple Watch itself (section is called Watch Recordings), or tap All Recordings (to hear recordings from other Apple devices, too).

Navigating the Maps App

Apple Maps — or simply Maps — is a standard Apple Watch app that allows you to get directions for the best route from your current location to a destination of your choosing. Because all Apple Watch models have integrated GPS (except for the first model from 2015), the app talks with satellites to help determine your exact location. Think about that for a moment: Your wristwatch is talking to satellites in space. Crazy! Pairing GPS with mapping software means you can easily find your destination or share your location. What’s more, Apple Watch Series 5 has a Compass feature, which can also help you navigate accurately. More on this shortly.

When you’re en route somewhere, you should see — and feel — the turn-by-turn navigation instructions to guide you along the way, and you can always search for nearby businesses, such as a restaurant or a gas station, simply by asking Siri for it.

To use the Maps app on your Apple Watch, follow these steps:

1. Press the Digital Crown button to go to the Home screen.
2. Tap Maps.

   The Maps app launches. Depending on where you left the app last, you see one of two things on your Apple Watch screen:

   • A menu: This asks you to search for a location, identify your location, or view your most recent searches (see Figure 6-22). Simply tap the option you want.
   • An overhead map of your current location: Here you simply swipe in a given direction to move the map around, or you can twist the Digital Crown button if you want to see nearby streets or businesses.

   

   

3. In Maps view, tap the blue icon in the lower left of the screen — as shown in Figure 6-23 — to return to your current location.

   This recenters the map to your specific location. You can also zoom in and out by twisting the Digital Crown button.

4. Find a location in Maps view by pressing and holding the screen.

   You’re presented with two options:

   • Search Here: Select this to search (Figure 6-24) for something nearby (like a coffee shop or gas station). You’re prompted with options. Search by Dictation (use your voice to say what you’re looking for and want directions to), use Scribble (write a word using your fingertip), or select Contacts to find someone in your address book. You also have the option of pulling up nearby information divided into the categories: Food, Shopping, Fun, and Travel. Whatever you select, the app pulls up relevant information around your location.
   • Transit Map: Pressing and holding this option allows you to view a new map overlaid with bus, train, and/or subway information. You can tap the colored line to pull up additional information, as shown in Figure 6-25.

   The next time you search in Maps, you should also see your last searched addresses, as mentioned in Step 2 (see Figure 6-26).

   

   

5. Firmly press on the screen to use Apple Watch’s Digital Touch feature.

   If the location is a business, you can tap it on the map to bring up information, such as the address and phone number (which you can call), hours of operation, and its star rating (average user rating out of five stars — via Yelp). You should also see an estimate on how long it might take to get there by foot or by car. Figure 6-27 shows information about a restaurant and how long it might take to travel there.

   

   

6. Tap which mode of transportation you’re using.

   You should also see the destination as a pushpin on the map.

   And if you own an Apple Watch Series 5 or later, don’t forget to look at the little compass dial in the lower-left corner of the Maps screen to see where north is.

   Addresses in Messages, Email, Calendar, and other apps are highlighted in blue and underlined, which means they’re tappable. Tapping the address, such as 123 Yonge St., launches that address in the Maps app for you. Neat, huh?

7. Tap Start to map your route.

   And you’re off! Now follow the instructions as you make your way to your destination. If you need to turn right, you feel a steady series of a dozen taps on your wrist at the intersection you’re approaching. To turn left, you feel three pairs of two taps. Of course, you can also look down at your screen for visual cues (while on foot and not while driving of course!).

As you can with all other built-in apps, use Siri to access Maps information whenever you like. Either raise your wrist and say “Hey, Siri” followed by something like, “Show me 5 Main Street in Beverly, Kansas” to see it on a map, or “Hey, Siri, give me directions to the Golden Gate Bridge.” You can also press the Digital Crown button to activate Siri. See Chapter 7 for more on using Siri to help you perform tasks with your Apple Watch.

Using the Compass

If you own Apple Watch Series 5 or later or Apple Watch SE, there’s a built-in compass that points north inside the Maps app to help you get to where you’re going.

This is all thanks to an integrated sensor called a magnetometer that detects levels of magnetism.

As shown in Figure 6-28, the little blue compass is in the lower-left corner of the screen.

Figure 6-29 shows how you can add a Compass complication to most watch faces on Apple Watch in case you like seeing this information all the time.

You can go into the standalone Compass app for a deeper dive of magnetometer info, displaying your heading along with elevation, latitude, longitude, and incline; see Figure 6-30.

Also, introduced in Apple Watch Series 6 (2020), an always-on altimeter in the Compass app can also give you real-time elevation data, as well. You can add the elevation complication to select watch faces that enables you to glance at your current elevation whenever you want, as shown in Figure 6-31.

To add it to your watch face:

1. Tap and hold the watch face screen, and then tap Edit at the bottom.

2. Swipe left all the way to the end to get to complications.

   See Chapter 4 to find out how to work with complications.

3. Tap a complication area to select it, turn the Digital Crown to Compass, and then choose Elevation.
4. Press the Digital Crown to save your changes, and then tap the face to switch to it.

Note: Compass won’t display elevation or coordinates if Location Services is turned off. To turn Location Services on or off, open the Settings app on your Apple Watch, tap Privacy, and then tap Location Services.

Pro tip: To use true north rather than magnetic north, open the Settings app on your Apple Watch, tap Compass, and turn on Use True North.