If you just unwrapped a new Apple Watch this holiday season, there are a
variety of tips and tricks that can help you get the most out of your new
wearable. Read on for some guidance on our favorite Apple Watch features for
health, activity, customization, and more.
Setting up your Apple Watch activity rings
For many people, the Apple Watch is first and foremost a fitness-focused
wearable. The key to this is a trio of rings each represented by a different
color: red for move, green for exercise, and blue for stand.
By default, the green exercise ring closes when you log 30 minutes of
intense activity, the blue stand or roll ring closes when you move around
for at least one minute of 12 different hours, and the red move ring closes
when you meet your personal goal for active calories burned in a day.
This year, however, Apple added the ability to customize your exercise and
stand goals for the first time. Maybe you're recovering from an injury and
12 stand hours paired with 30 minutes of exercise is too much for your body
to handle. People have also been calling on Apple to integrate rest days
into the Apple Watch rings system, and the feature at least gives users more
control over their goals. Here's how to change your Apple Watch move,
exercise, and stand goals with watchOS 7:
1. On your Apple Watch, open the Activity app.
2. Scroll down to the bottom and look for the "Change Goals" button.
3. Use the + or - buttons to adjust your goals, or use the Digital
Crown.
4. Tap "OK" to confirm your changes.
The exercise ring can be lowered or raised in intervals of five, down to a
minimum of 10 minutes or a maximum of 60 minutes. The stand goal can be
changed in single-hour intervals, down to a minimum of six hours. You can't
increase the stand goal beyond the default 12-hour mark.
Customizing your watch face
The centerpiece of your Apple Watch is the watch face. On your watch face,
you can add bits of information known as complications, including things
such as weather, activity data, heart rate information, and much more. The
easiest way to build an Apple Watch face is with the Apple Watch app on
iPhone.
You can find the entire library of watch faces in the "Face Gallery" tab of
the app, and as you build them, you can add faces to your personal
collection. Once you create multiple watch faces, you can swipe between them
from your Apple Watch, making it easy to adjust on the fly for different
scenarios.
Apple Watch App Store
You can find apps built specifically for the Apple Watch in the watchOS App
Store. Simply press the digital crown on your Apple Watch and look for the
App Store icon. Here, you'll be able to easily find and install dedicated
Apple Watch applications without using your iPhone at all.
Sharing your activity
One of the ways I love to stay motivated with my Apple Watch is by sharing
my activity data with friends and family. When you do this, you can see when
your friends complete workouts, how much progress they've made towards their
goals, and when they earn new awards.
To share your Apple Watch activity data with others, follow these steps:
1. Open the Fitness app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the sharing icon in the bottom-right corner.
3. Tap the "+" button in the top corner.
4. Start typing a name, then tap the name you'd like to add. If the
other person has an Apple Watch the name will turn red.
5. Tap the Send button, then wait for your friend to accept your
Activity request. Once accepted, you'll receive a notification on your Apple
Watch.
Set up health monitoring features
The Apple Watch is not only useful for deliberately tracking your fitness
progress, but also for passively monitoring it in the background.
Fall Detection
One such feature is called Fall Detection, and it uses the gyroscope and
accelerometer to detect if you've fallen, and more importantly, if you've
fallen and cannot get back up. By default, Fall Detection is disabled for
users under the age of 65, but you can manually enable it with these steps:
1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Emergency SOS.
3. . Look for the Fall Detection toggle
Apple warns that more physically active users may trigger Fall Detection
even when you haven't fallen. This is due to high impact activity, and may
appear as a fall.
4. Tap Confirm.
Heart
In the Apple Watch app on iPhone, you can also enable a suite of features
that will allow your Apple Watch to help you look after your heart. Simply
open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and look for the Heart category. In
this section, you can enable the following features:
* Install the ECG app for taking electrocardiograms from your Apple
Watch (Series 4 and later).
* Set up Cardio Fitness Levels and notifications, which are a strong
indicator of your overall health.
* Irregular Rhythm notifications for receiving a notification when
Apple Watch identifies multiple heart rhythms that may be atrial
fibrillation.
* High Heart Rate notifications for receiving a notification when
Apple Watch detects a heart rate that rises to a certain level while you
appear inactive.
* Low Heart Rate notifications for receiving notification when Apple
Watch detects a heart rate that falls below 50 bpm for 10 minutes.
Blood oxygen
If you're using an Apple Watch Series 6, you also have support for taking
blood oxygen readings with your device. Apple Watch can also take
measurements in the background so you have data to regularly reflect on.
Simply open the Watch app on your iPhone, look for the Blood Oxygen
category, enable the settings as you desire.
Rein in your notifications
The Apple Watch makes it incredibly easy to stay on top of your
notifications. Every time an app sends a push notification, you'll get a tap
on the wrist and hear a sound. For many people, however, this can actually
be overwhelming and unnecessary.
To manage notifications on your Apple Watch, open the Apple Watch app on
your iPhone and choose the Notifications category. Here, you can see a list
of applications and manage notifications as necessary. My recommendation is
to limit notifications as much as possible on your Apple Watch, otherwise,
you might become overwhelmed.
Check out Apple Fitness+
One of the newest Apple Watch features, launched last year, is deep
integration with Apple's Fitness+ subscription workouts service. Apple
Fitness+ offers access to a library of hundreds of on-demand workouts across
popular categories such as running, cycling, HIIT, rowing, yoga, and more.
Apple Fitness+ features deep integration with Apple Watch, showing live data
from your Apple Watch on the screen during your workout. Plus, if you
recently got a new Apple Watch, you likely have three months of free access
to the service.
You can find Apple Fitness+ in the Fitness app on your iPhone or Apple TV.
It's also available on the iPad, and you can download it from the
<https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fitness/id1208224953> iPadOS App Store to get
started.
Apple Watch accessories
Finally, you might be looking to complement your new Apple Watch with
accessories such as charging docks and watch bands. Here are some of our
favorites.
Best Apple Watch charging docks:
* <https://amzn.to/2sEF9dF> Spigen S350
* <https://amzn.to/2qhtgcQ> Elago W2 Stand
* <https://amzn.to/35UeTdC> Elago W3 Stand
* <https://amzn.to/2sDMuu2> Belkin Powerhouse Charge Dock for iPhone
+ Apple Watch
Best Apple Watch bands:
* <https://amzn.to/2oH1V2k> Apple Watch Sport Band
* <https://amzn.to/2ozGtfY> JEtech stainless steel band for Apple
Watch
* <https://amzn.to/2pv3hxP> Apple Watch Sport Loop
* <https://amzn.to/2nZTyPv> Jisoncase Apple Watch leather bands
By Chance Miller.
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