15 + Best watchOS 8 Tips and Tricks

15 + Â Best watchOS 8 Tips and Tricks.

watchOS 8 doesn’t make any drastic changes to how Apple Watch works. This is a good thing. You don’t fix something that isn’t broken, do you? But Apple’s latest update to watchOS still offers a number of cool features not to be missed.

Read :Â 21 best time management tools and apps you need

Whether you’ve just upgraded to watchOS 8 or bought a new Apple Watch, the tips and tricks below can help you improve your usability.

1. Add Portraits as Watch Faces

With watchOS 8, you can create amazing looking portrait photo watch faces. Your Apple Watch intelligently uses image depth data to make your digital watch hover above and beyond your subject, and even lets you zoom in with the Digital Crown.

To set up a portrait as a watch face, open the Clock app on your iPhone and tap Portraits in the Face Gallery section. You can then select up to 24 portraits (which you can cycle through by tapping the screen later), choose a style (classic, modern, or rounded) and add complexity to spice up the setting.

2. Move Cursor with Digital Crown

watchOS 8 combines the typing experience on the Apple Watch with the ability to seamlessly switch between Scribble and Dictation. Also, if you make a mistake, you can quickly turn the Digital Crown to move the cursor.

3. Send GIFs in Messages

Want to send someone a GIF? You no longer need to reach for your iPhone. With watchOS 8, you can add GIFs to messages right from your Apple Watch.

Just tap the App Store icon to the left of the Compose message box in the Messages app and select the red Search icon to access your GIF library.

4. Find Devices, Items, and People

Apple Watch can quickly help you find your lost iPhone with a ping. But with watchOS 8, smartwatches are expanding their capabilities by adding a dedicated Find Devices app to help you find any Apple device you own.

In addition, you will find applications called “Finding Items” and “Finding People”. Please note that the Find My iPhone app is divided into three distinct sections. Good stuff from Apple.

5. Set Up Separation Alerts

Do you have a habit of leaving Apple devices like iPad by mistake? Then you take advantage of watchOS 8 support for split alerts.

Open Find My Devices, select a device, tap Notify When Left Behind, and turn on the toggle next to Notify When Left Behind. You will then receive a notification the next time you move away from the device. You can also customize safe areas (such as your home or workplace) by adding locations in the Except At field.

6. Use Focus Mode

Apple has significantly improved Do Not Disturb with Focus across its entire product line. As the name suggests, Focus lets you focus on specific activities while still allowing you to receive notifications from your favorite apps and contacts.

Open Control Center and tap the Do Not Disturb icon to toggle between the four default settings: Personal, Work, Drive, and Sleep.

What’s even better is the ability to create your own focus modes. Open the iPhone Settings app and tap Focus> Custom to create Focus from scratch. It should sync instantly with your Apple Watch.

7. Check Respiratory Rate

watchOS 8 gives you more reasons not to take off your Apple Watch when you go to bed. It monitors your breathing rate, which allows you to better understand the quality of your sleep. Check the iPhone Health app and choose Browse> Breathing> Respiratory Rate to access the data.

8. Add Home Keys

The Apple Watch has been used as a digital car key for a while. In watchOS 8, it also supports home keys. You can add them using the iPhone Home app and choose between two options: Express Mode and Require Authentication.

The former allows you to open the door by holding your Apple Watch next to the lock, while the latter requires you to double-press the side button.

9. Try a Reflect Session

If you liked the Breath app, you’ll love the Reflect mode in watchOS 8. Open the Mindfulness app (which now also contains Breath) and click Reflect to focus on the things that matter. The default duration is one minute, but you can increase it by clicking the More icon (three dots) and choosing Duration.

10. Share Songs

You don’t need to switch to iPhone if you want to share songs to Apple Music. Just tap the More icon (three dots) while a track is playing and tap Share. Then you can share it via messages or mail.

11. Share Photos

It’s the same with photographs. Press the Share button when viewing the picture in the Photos app and you can send it via messages or mail.

12. Pilates and Tai Chi

In watchOS 8, Apple Watch supports two new workout types – Pilates and Tai Chi. Don’t forget to select them in the Workout app the next time you head out to the gym.

13. Add Multiple Timers

Ever dreamed of using the Apple Watch Timer app to track multiple activities at once? watchOS 8 finally makes this possible. If you are using Siri, you can even call them.

14. Use AssistiveTouch

watchOS 8 comes with an assistive technology feature called AssistiveTouch, which lets you control your Apple Watch with one hand. It’s aimed at people with disabilities, but the functionality works so well that anyone can use it.

Just open the Watch app and go to Accessibility> AssistiveTouch. You will then go through a quick step-by-step tutorial where you can learn about gestures. Here’s a quick rundown:

Double Squeeze: Activate AssistiveTouch and Action Menu.

Clench: Confirm your choice.

Pinch: move forward.

Double tap: move backward.

15. Search for Contacts

watchOS 8 addresses a major issue for Apple Watch with the introduction of the Contacts app. The next time you want to call, write, or send an email to a person, you can click on the contact in the Contacts app and select the action you want to take.

Improved and Less Reliant on the iPhone

With watchOS 8, Apple Watch can create unique watch faces, can quickly find other Apple devices, and is less reliant on the iPhone for tasks like messaging and sharing. Of course, the tips and tricks above are not exhaustive, so keep using watchOS 8 for even more ways to get the most out of your smartwatch.