How to use an Apple Watch: The complete guide

The Apple Watch has officially gone on sale and even with limited stock, people are starting to receive their Apple Watch orders. The Apple Watch is the first device of its kind by Apple, and there will be questions that need to be answered about how to use the smartwatch – questions that we have answered. 

See also:  Apple Watch review – Why you should wait for Apple Watch 2

Where to buy the Apple Watch

The Apple Watch went on sale on the 24 April, with pre-orders kicking off on the 10 April. Usually you’d be able to head into store and buy one, as with most other Apple products on launch day, but not the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch was regulated to an online only release, with no iconic Apple Store queues on launch day – and that’s still how it stands.

There aren’t any Apple Stores that stock the Apple Watch, with this unlikely to change until at least June. So if you want to buy an Apple Watch, you can do so through its Online Store or via the Apple Store app for iOS. You may be waiting a while though, as pre-orders haven’t yet been fulfilled and the delivery date for those that order an Apple Watch today is June. 

How much does the Apple Watch cost? 

The Apple Watch varies in price depending on a number of choices. The first is whether you want an Apple Watch Sport, an Apple Watch or an Apple Watch Edition. The Apple Watch Sport is crafted from aluminium, is available in silver or space grey and uses Ion-X cover glass. It also comes with the Sports Band, Apple’s cheapest Apple Watch strap collection which is made from a custom high-performance fluoroelastomer and is available in white, blue, green, pink and black. The pricing for the Apple Watch sport with a Sport Band strap is as follows:

• 38mm silver aluminium Apple Watch Sport with Sport Band strap (white, blue, green, pink): £299
• 38mm Space Grey aluminium Apple Watch Sport with Sport Band strap (black): £299
• 42mm silver aluminium Apple Watch Sport with Sport Band strap (white, blue, green, pink): £339
• 42mm Space Grey aluminium Apple Watch Sport with Sport Band strap (black): £339

The Apple Watch is Apple’s mid-range smartwatch, which uses stainless steel instead of aluminium and sapphire instead of Ion-X for its cover glass. It also comes with a wider range of more stylish and premium watch straps, including the Milanese Loop, Classic Buckle, Modern Buckle, Leather Loop and Link Bracelet with most straps available in a number of different colours. The pricing for the Apple Watch depends largely on the strap you choose, with the Sports Band being the cheapest option at £479 and the Link Bracelet being the most expensive at £949.

• 38mm stainless steel Apple Watch with Sport Band strap (white, black): £479
• 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with Sport Band strap (white, black): £519
• 38mm stainless steel Apple Watch with Milanese Loop strap: £559
• 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with Milanese Loop strap: £599
• 38mm stainless steel Apple Watch with black Classic Buckle strap: £559
• 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with black Classic Buckle strap: £599
• 38mm stainless steel Apple Watch with black Modern Buckle strap: £649
• 38mm stainless steel Apple Watch with midnight blue Modern Buckle strap: £649
• 38mm stainless steel Apple Watch with soft pink Modern Buckle strap: £649
• 38mm stainless steel Apple Watch with brown Modern Buckle strap: £649
• 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with black Leather Loop strap: £599
• 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with bright blue Leather Loop strap: £599
• 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with stone Leather Loop strap: £599
• 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with brown Leather Loop strap: £599
• 38mm stainless steel Apple Watch with Link Bracelet strap: £819
• 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with Link Bracelet strap: £859
• 38mm space black Apple Watch with Link Bracelet strap: £899
• 42mm space black Apple Watch with Link Bracelet strap: £949

The Apple Watch Edition is Apple’s most expensive smartwatch offering, ranging between £8000 and £13,500 depending on the watch and strap combination you choose. For that kind of money, you’re getting something of value; the Edition is made from either 18-carat gold or rose gold, and some are paired with different coloured straps (namely the bright red Modern Buckle) that aren’t available for purchase with the Apple Watch Sport or Apple Watch.

• 38mm 18-carat rose gold Apple Watch Edition with Sport Band strap (white, black): £8,000
• 42mm 18-carat rose gold Apple Watch Edition with Sport Band strap (white, black): £9,500
• 38mm 18-carat rose gold Apple Watch Edition with rose grey Modern Buckle strap: £13,500
• 38mm 18-carat yellow gold Apple Watch Edition with bright red Modern Buckle strap: £13,500
• 42mm 18-carat yellow gold Apple Watch Edition with black Classic Buckle strap: £12,000
• 42mm 18-carat yellow gold Apple Watch Edition with midnight blue Classic Buckle strap: £12,000

It’s important to note that even though there’s a huge price difference between the Apple Watch Sport and the Apple Watch Edition, there’s no difference in the functionality of the smartwatch. The only real difference between the three are changes in the materials used and the available straps.

See also: Th e best smartwatches of 2015

Which size Apple Watch do I need?

The Apple Watch is available in two sizes; 38mm and 42mm. The general consensus is that the 38mm is designed to suit women and the 42mm is designed to suit men, but there are no differences in design so it’s more about what you prefer. It’s important to note that the 38mm/42mm measurement isn’t the size of the screen, which is what most people would assume but instead is the measurement of the height of the watch. It’s an odd way of measuring the size of a device, as we usually measure the screen from corner to corner, but hey ho – smartphone rules can’t apply to a smartwatch. 

The exact dimensions of the 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch are as follows (height x width x depth):

38mm Apple Watch: 38.6mm x 33.3mm x 10.5mm

42mm Apple Watch: 42mm x 35.9mm x 10.5mm

Deciding on the size of Apple Watch that you should buy is an important decision, and so we advise booking an appointment at an Apple Store to try on different Apple Watches with different straps to help you make your decision. Also, it’s important to remember that your size will slightly affect your choice of straps – the Leather Loop is a 42mm exclusive and the Modern Buckle is a 38mm exclusive.

How to set up an Apple Watch

The Apple Watch setup is a straightforward, if not slightly exciting experience. Unlike other smartwatches that you connect via your iPhone’s Bluetooth Settings, the Apple Watch setup process is slightly different. The Apple Watch still communicates using Bluetooth, so make sure that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi/cellular are both enabled before you start the setup.  

Firstly, turn on your Apple Watch by holding the side button (beneath the Digital Crown). When prompted, select your chosen language, then open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and tap “Start Pairing”. Your Apple Watch will then display a cluster of what can only be described as atoms, then, using your iPhone’s camera (it’ll open automatically) you have to align the smartwatch display with the orange viewfinder. 

After a second or two, the pairing process should be complete and you can continue with the setup of your Apple Watch by tapping “Set up Apple Watch”. That’ll take you through a number of options including screen orientation and whether you want to install all Apple Watch companion apps that are currently installed on your iPhone, or whether you want to do add them manually. Once you’ve gone through this process, the iPhone and Apple Watch will sync and upon completion, you’ll be able to start using your Apple Watch. 

How to use the Apple Watch Digital Crown

The crown is an integral part of traditional watches and is typically used to adjust the time on mechanical watches, but as the Apple Watch is digital, there’s no need for it. Apple decided that using the typical “pinch to zoom” on such a small display makes no sense, as your fingers would cover most of the display. So instead, Apple designed the Digital Crown to be used for scrolling and zooming on the Apple Watch. 

If you need to zoom in the Maps app, or zoom out of a photo on the Photos app, simply use the Digital Crown. It’s a very precise mechanism that enables intricate control over the scroll/zoom speed.

The Digital Crown works like the Home Button on an iPhone, and is used to access the home screen and close apps. From your watch face, simply press in the Digital Crown to access the home screen. You can also press in the Digital Crown to leave an app, or double press the Digital Crown to swap between your two most recently opened apps. It can also be held to manually activate Siri, instead of saying “Hey Siri”. 

See also: Apple Watch buying guide

How to read the time on an Apple Watch

When you raise your wrist, the time should automatically be displayed on your Apple Watch, much like a traditional smartwatch. If you’ve changed your Apple Watch settings from opening the watch face by default to opening the last app you were using, don’t worry. If you’re in an app, simply press in the Digital Crown to go back to the home screen and then tap on the Clock icon, which will take you back to the main watch face. 

How to set an alarm on the Apple Watch

Setting an alarm on the Apple Watch is a fairly straight forward process. From the watch face, simply press the Digital Crown and then tap on the orange Alarm icon on the home screen. If you’ve set alarms before, these will be listed when you first open the app but if you want to set a new alarm, all you need to do is force touch (press firmly) on the screen to access the menu, and tap “new”. 

You then tap on the hour, and using the digital crown, you can select the hour of your alarm. Repeat this process for the minutes, and then click done. The next menu is where you can personalise the alarm, including whether to repeat the alarm on certain days,what the alarm tone should be and whether Snooze should be enabled.

Once you’ve finished personalising your alarm, simply tap in the top left hand corner to go back to the list of your alarms. You should notice your new alarm in the list, already enabled and ready to wake you up!

If you want a quicker way to set an alarm, you can use Siri. Activate Siri by raising your wrist and saying “Hey Siri” or holding in the Digital Crown, then say “Set an alarm for X”. You’ll then be taken to the Alarm app, where your newly added alarm should be displayed.

How to change the watch face on the Apple Watch

One of the biggest selling points of the Apple Watch was about how customisable it is, from the design to the strap to the watch face. To change the watch face on the Apple Watch, simply force touch on the watch face. This will take you to a menu where you can swipe left and right to choose between a variety of watch faces, some traditional, some unique. Once you’ve found a watch face that you’re happy with, simply tap it to select it.

If that’s not enough for you, there’s more options available. From the watch face, force touch and tap “Customize” underneath the watch face design that you want to use. You’ll then be taken to the customisation screen, with dots along the top representing how many customisation panels there are for the face you’ve chosen. These vary between faces, so experiment a bit! You can customise anything that has a green outline by tapping it to select it, then scrolling through the available options using the Digital Crown. Swipe between the panels for different areas of customisation.

Once you’re happy with the design of your watch face, simply press the digital crown to save the customisation and then tap the watch face to select it. 

How to install apps on an Apple Watch

The Apple Watch doesn’t use native apps, but instead uses companion apps of apps installed on your iPhone. During setup, you’re given the option to automatically install all available companion apps on your Apple Watch, with new companion apps being added automatically when the app is downloaded to your iPhone.

If you made the decision to manually choose which companion apps are installed on your Apple Watch, don’t worry – it’s a straight forward process. Open the Apple Watch companion app on your iPhone and scroll down to the last segment, which should be a list of all available third-party companion apps. To install one, simply tap on it and turn on the “Show App on Apple Watch” option. The app will then be installed on your Apple Watch. See, we said it was easy! 

How to read and respond to notifications on the Apple Watch

The notification system is an integral part to the Apple Watch, but could also one that users are confused about. When you get a notification, you’ll be alerted with a subtle ‘tap’ on the wrist (using haptic feedback) and if your Apple Watch isn’t on mute, you’ll hear a ping too.

The icon of the app that the notification is then displayed on screen, before a short animation that displays the notification text, along with actions underneath. The actions are a great way to interact with a notification quickly without needing to get your iPhone out of your pocket. Actions include anything from favouriting a tweet that you’ve been mentioned in to archiving an email you’ve received. Actions may not appear for all notifications though, as app developers have to add actions manually.

If you’ve got an unread notification, you’ll see a red dot in the centre at the top of your watch face display. To access your unread notifications, simply swipe down from the watch face display and you’ll access a menu similar to the Notification Centre on the iPhone. Here you can go through your notifications, and if you clear them, they’ll also be cleared from your iPhone’s notification centre too.

How to read and respond to emails on the Apple Watch

There are two ways to read and respond to emails on the Apple Watch. If you get an email notification on your Apple Watch, you can tap on it to open the email in the Mail app for Apple Watch. You can also access the Mail app directly from the Apple Watch home screen. 

Once the Mail app is open, you can select an email and read it, scrolling through using the Digital Crown. It’s important to keep in mind that the Apple Watch can’t display certain elements of emails, but if this affects your email the Apple Watch will display a message letting you know.

Even though you have access to your email on the Apple Watch and you can dictate replies to text messages, you can’t dictate a response to an email. These jobs, it seems, are regulated to your iPhone. It’s not all bad news as the Apple Watch supports Handoff, which means that you can unlock your iPhone and have the email you’re reading on the Apple Watch displayed on your iPhone.

How to make phone calls on the Apple Watch

There are a number of ways to make phone calls on the Apple Watch. If the person you want to speak to is on your Favourite contacts, simply press the side button (underneath the Digital Crown) to access your favourite contacts and select the person you want to call. Once you’ve selected the person to call, just tap the Phone icon in the bottom left hand corner of the display to initiate the call directly from your Apple Watch.

Another way to make a call from the Apple Watch is to call via the Phone app, accessible on the home screen. When you open the Phone app, much like the iPhone app, it offers you four categories: Recents, Favourites, Contacts and Voicemail.  Just select the category you need, select the contact (and the number if there’s more than one number associated with the contact) and the call will initiate from your Apple Watch. 

You can also answer calls from your Apple Watch. When you get a call from your iPhone, your Apple Watch will also ring. This can be muted by placing your palm over the screen, or you can tap the green icon to answer the call on your Watch. If you don’t want to answer the call on your Watch, you can use the Digital Crown to scroll down and select “Answer on iPhone”. This transfers the call to your iPhone and puts the person on hold until you unlock your iPhone to take the call. 

How to mute the Apple Watch

By default, your Apple Watch settings mirror those of your iPhone. This means that if you mute your iPhone (not switch it to vibrate – they’re different settings) your Apple Watch should also be muted. There are a handful of ways to manually do it though. The quickest and easiest way to mute your Apple Watch is to swipe up from the watch face to access your Glances, then swipe until you find the Glance that is reminiscent of the iOS Control Centre. Then all you need to do is tap the Mute icon, and your Apple Watch is muted. 

You can also access your volume settings from within the Settings app, accessible via the home screen of the Apple Watch. Just open Settings, tap on “Sound & Haptics” and turn the volume down to your ideal level using the Digital Crown. You can also follow a similar process by opening the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, selecting “Sound & Haptics” and turning down the volume slide to your desired volume (or toggle the “mute” option). 

How to use Apple Watch Glances

Glances are an innovative way of getting snapshots of information at a ‘glance’. Many third party apps include a Glance, which can be accessed by swiping up from the watch face. It’s worth mentioning at this point that Glances can’t be accessed on any app apart from the watch face.

By default, you’ll have access to stock Glances that come with the Apple Watch, including glances for Maps, Apple Watch battery life, Activity and Music (or “Now Playing”). If you chose to automatically add Apple Watch companion apps to your Apple Watch, your third party glances will automatically be added whenever one is installed. 

If you chose to manually control which apps are installed on your Apple Watch, the Glances have to be manually enabled. To do this, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, scroll to the bottom section which should be a list of third party apps, and tap on the app you want to install. You can’t have a Glance without installing the app itself, so tap “Show App on Apple Watch” and once its installed, select “Show in Glances”. The Glance should now appear when you access your Glances on your Apple Watch.

If you’ve got a large number of apps installed on your Apple Watch, there may be too many Glances for you to sift through. To cull the less popular Glances from your collection, firstly open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Then all you need to do is select My Watch and then Glances. You’ll be shown a list of your current Glances, and by tapping “–“ next to the Glance you want to remove will remove it from your list. You can also press and hold the icon with three lines to reorganise the order of your Glances.

How to use Apple Watch with iTunes

The Apple Watch includes the Remote app as a stock app for the Apple Watch, even though it’s not on the iPhone. Anyway, the Remote app is generally used to control the Apple TV but it can also control your iTunes library. The first step is to make sure that Home Sharing is enabled for your iTunes library (File > Home Sharing > Turn on Home Sharing), and that your computer is connected to the same network as your iPhone.

Once you’ve enabled Home Sharing, access the Remote app via the Apple Watch home screen. If you’re connected to the same network, the name of your iTunes library should appear on screen. To access that library, just tap on it. Once you’ve connected to your library, you can easily browse your music collection and have full control of the music that’s currently playing, including the volume that it’s played at. 

See also:  Apple Watch vs Huawei Watch comparison preview

How to use Maps on the Apple Watch

The use of Apple Maps on the Apple Maps was a huge part of the Apple Watch announcement, and enables users to concentrate more on their surroundings rather than stare at their iPhones find directions. You can quickly access your current location by swiping up to access your Maps Glance, but if you want to interact with it then you have to tap on it to open the full Maps app. The Maps app is also accessible from the Apple Watch home screen, or by asking Siri for directions.

Once you’ve opened the Maps app, your current location will be displayed. You can zoom in and out using the Digital Crown, or pan around using your fingers. If you want to get directions/search for a location, simply force touch (press firmly) on the screen and select “Search”. A list of recently searched places (from both iPhone and Apple Watch) will be displayed, along with the option of dictating your search term. 

Once you’ve searched for/selected your desired location, the Apple Watch will display all relevant information about the location including contact information, opening times and reviews. You can then select whether you want walking or driving directions, with an estimated journey time next to both, and then tap “Start” to initiate the turn-by-turn navigation.

How to use Siri on the Apple Watch

Siri, of course, makes an appearance on the Apple Watch. With a lack of keyboard, Siri and the voice-to-text software it runs on are very important to interacting with the Apple Watch. To activate Siri, you can either raise your wrist and say “Hey Siri” or press and hold the Digital Crown.

Unlike Siri on the iPhone, Siri on the Apple Watch doesn’t speak to you and instead relies on text to reply to your commands. With that being said, Siri is usually the faster option when performing a wide range of tasks, such as sending texts or setting an alarm. Instead of having to go into the Alarm app, force touch, add a new alarm and then manually set the time of the alarm, you can say “Hey Siri, set an alarm for 7:30am” and it’ll be done almost instantly.

Siri seems to be limited on the Apple Watch though. With the iPhone version of Siri, you can ask it almost anything and it’ll generate an answer using its Wolfram Alpha integration. This isn’t the case with the Apple Watch, as when you ask a general knowledge question, Siri prompts you to use your iPhone.

How to use Apple Pay on the Apple Watch in the UK

Apple Pay was another big part of the Apple Watch announcement, enabling users to be able to pay for their purchases using their Apple Watch. Before you get too eager and try to pay for your McDonalds with your Apple Watch, it’s worth noting that there’s no UK support for Apple Pay – yet. 

How to use the Apple Watch with Android

Android users may be excited to get their hands on an Apple Watch, but much like Google’s Android Wear that is only compatible with Android devices, the Apple Watch is only compatible with the iPhone. You could still use the Apple Watch to measure your fitness, but a) that’s one expensive fitness tracker and b) you still need an iPhone to complete the initial setup.

How to use the Apple Watch with Windows Phone

As we mentioned above, the Apple Watch is only compatible with the iPhone so you won’t be able to use it with a Windows Phone. 

How to measure your heart rate on the Apple Watch

The Apple Watch boasts heart rate sensors, which it uses to keep track of your active calories, among other things. To manually measure your heart rate, first make sure that the Apple Watch is tight (but comfortable) on your wrist. Then all you need to do is swipe up from the watch face to access your Glances, then swipe over to the heart rate monitor glance. Your heart rate should then be taken and displayed. Recent reports are suggesting that if you have a tattoo on your wrist, especially a dark one, the heart rate sensor may not work as intended.

Strangely, there’s only one way to take your heart rate – there’s no accompanying Apple Watch app that allows you to look over previous measurement results. If you want to review your BPM (beats per minute) range for the day, you can have to revert to the Health app on your iPhone. Simply tap Health Data > Vitals > Heart Rate and toggle “Show on Dashboard” which enables you to see your heart rate readings whenever you open the Health app.

How to monitor activity on the Apple Watch

One of the Apple Watch’s biggest selling points is that it doubles up as a fitness tracker, meaning you don’t have to wear two separate devices at the same time. It has a host of on board technology that allows it to track your movement/exercise, active calories and how often you’re stood up. But before it starts to track your activity, it requires a short setup.

Access the Activity app via the home screen and fill out all your basic information, including Sex, Age and Weight. It’ll then ask you how active your lifestyle is – Apple advises you to aim on the low side if you’re not too sure. Then, using all this information, the Apple Watch will generate a suggested daily calorie burn goal. You don’t have to accept this though, as scrolling up and down with the Digital Crown will allow you to fine tune your target. Then tap “Start Moving” to complete the setup and initiate activity tracking.

You’ll then be able to browse through the Activity app, swiping between the panels to display how well (or badly) you’re doing for each of the three measurements: active calories, exercise and standing. By using the Digital Crown to scroll down on each panel, you’ll be able to access extra information – such as how far you’ve travelled in a day, how many steps you’ve taken, etc.

You can view your progress at any time easily by accessing the Glances menu on your Apple Watch, and swiping to the Activity glance. This will display three rings, representing the three measurements – when a circle is complete, your target is complete. You can also get a more in-depth look at your activity by accessing the accompanying Activity app on your iPhone, which should appear once you set up the Activity app on your Watch.

How to use Apple Watch Digital Touches: send your heart beat, draw a picture, tap friends on the Apple Watch

Digital Touches are unique interactions that you can send to other friends that also have an Apple Watch. To send your friend a Digital Touch, you must first make sure that they have been added to your ‘Friends’ list on your Apple Watch, which can be done via the ‘Friends’ menu on the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Once they’ve been added, press the side button (underneath the Digital Crown) to access your Friends, and select the friend you want to message.

You’ll then be presented with a thumbnail and three icons: the left icon is to call them via your Apple Watch, and the right icon is to send them a message. The middle button is used to send the contact a Digital Touch, and will only appear if they also have an Apple Watch. Tap the middle icon, and you’ll be taken to a black screen, which is where you decide on the kind of Digital Touch you want to send.

The first type of Digital Touch is a drawing. Simply draw your picture with your finger, and after a few seconds of inactivity the drawing will animate and disappear, reanimating exactly as it was drawn on your recipients Apple Watch. The second way to communicate via Digital touch is to tap them on the wrist, and this is done by tapping a pattern on your Apple Watch display. This pattern will then be sent to the recipients Apple Watch, where they’ll feel your tap pattern on their wrist.

The third, and probably most intimate Digital Touch of the three options available is to send your recipient your heart rate. To do this, simply place two fingers on the display – you’ll know that it’s working thanks to the animated heart beat on-screen. This will then be sent to the recipient, where they’ll be able to feel your current heart rate on their wrist.

How to change the strap on the Apple Watch

The Apple Watch boasts the ability to easily swap watch straps, so you can find the perfect watch and strap combination. You can buy official watch straps from the UK Apple Store website, or you can opt for third party accessories that allow you to attach any standard watch strap to the Apple Watch. 

Apple has designed the watch straps to be easily removable, and the process of replacing them is fairly straight forward. To remove your current watch strap, simply press the small button on the bottom of the Apple Watch and slide out the strap that’s closest to it, repeating the process with the other button to remove the second half of the strap. Then, to replace it with a new one, simply slide it into place. We told you it was easy. 

How long does the Apple Watch’s battery last?

Apple claims that the Apple Watch has an “all day battery life”, lasting around 18 hours with typical use. Typical use, according to Apple is “90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use and a 30-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth, over the course of 18 hours.” 

There have been reports that the Apple Watch doesn’t quite last that long, and that the Apple Watch also has a negative affect on the iPhone’s battery life. One Twitter user shared a screenshot of the Apple Watch app being responsible for 31 percent of their iPhone’s power usage. While this may be an issue that Apple could fix via a software update, it could also be down to the fact that the Apple Watch is a new device and new users are using it more frequently than they usually would. 

How to charge the Apple Watch: Can I use any wireless charger with the Apple Watch?

The Apple Watch uses a form of wireless charging known as “inductive charging”, using magnets to snap the charger into place directly on the heart rate sensor on the bottom of Apple’s first wearable. It’s the first time that Apple has added wireless charging to a device as standard, which is surprising as in 2012 marketing chief Phil Schiller said “Having to create another device you have to plug into the wall is actually, for most situations, more complicated”.

To charge your Apple Watch, simply plug the supplied charger into a wall (or USB port using just the cable) and place your Apple Watch on top of the circular port at the end of the cable. When your Apple Watch gets near, the charger should snap into place, thanks to the magnets inside the charger and watch.

If you think that this means the Apple Watch can be charged using a Qi charger, you’d be mistaken. The Apple Watch charger was designed to supply a constant voltage to the Apple Watch and the use of any other wireless charger risks damaging your Apple Watch, and will void your warranty.

How to fix a water-damaged Apple Watch

The Apple Watch comes with an IPX7 water resistance rating, which means that it can be submerged in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes. This means that taking a shower, getting caught in the rain or washing your hands won’t cause any damage, but activities like swimming would be harmful. Even though it has an IPX7 water resistance rating, Apple doesn’t recommend that you submerge the Apple Watch as water damage voids the Apple warranty.

If you end up with a water-damaged Apple Watch, there are a handful of options available to you. The important thing is to make sure you don’t turn on your Apple Watch if its water-damaged. Instead, wait until you think the Watch has dried out before you see if it works.

The first (and best) option you have is to put the Apple Watch in a bowl of rice for 24 hours. Rice is great at absorbing water, and should extract any water from your Apple Watch. If after 24 hours your device is still unresponsive, place it back into the bowl of rice for another 24 hours, but if it still doesn’t work after three or four days, it’s probably time note down the time of death.

There are other options available if you don’t have rice to hand, such as placing your Apple Watch in a warm airing cupboard in your house to help draw out any moisture inside the device. It’s important that it’s warm and not hot or damp, as that could make the situation worse. You could also substitute rice for silica gel, the random white pack that seems to be in every box of new trainers. 

See also: How to dry out a phone, smartwatch or activity tracker