Double Tap is arguably the headline feature of the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. The gesture is Apple’s answer to the problem of wearing a smartwatch when the opposite hand is holding a grocery bag, dog leash, a flashlight or anything else. . Additionally, it can be a great accessibility feature for people with disabilities that might limit arm or hand mobility. Although the company only offers limited customization of the feature at launch, you can tweak a couple of settings to fine-tune Double Tap to your liking.
Update to watchOS 10.1
Before you can use Double Tap, you’ll need to make sure your Apple Watch is updated. Requires at least watchOS 10.1, which Apple released to customers on October 25. First, you need to update your paired iPhone to at least iOS 17.1, which became available the same day. You can do it on your phone at Settings > General > Software Update.
After updating your phone firmware, open the Apple Watch app on your paired phone and then go to General > Software Update. Tap “Install” and wait for the update to complete. Your watch must be at least 50 percent charged while on its charger to begin installation.
How to customize Double Tap on your Apple Watch
Although Apple may offer more customization in future software updates, Double Tap currently only lets you change how it handles audio playback and Smart Stack. The latter, new in watchOS 10, is the stack of widgets that you can view from your watch face by swiping up from the bottom of the screen or by scrolling up with the Digital Crown.
First, open the Apple Watch app on your paired iPhone to customize these categories. Select Gestures > Double tapand then choose from the available options:
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Reproduction allows you to choose between pinching your fingers or play pause (the default value) or skip to the next track while listening to music or podcasts.
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smart stack Choose how Double Taps navigates the widget stack. “Advance” means that each touch moves to the next widgets (default), while “Select” will select the first widget with a subsequent tap.
Everything you can do with Double Tap on Apple Watch
After activating Double Tap, you can play with all the things it can do. They include:
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Audio playback: Pause/resume or (after changing the previous settings) skip to the next track.
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Phone calls: Answer or hang up a call.
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Notifications– Start the main action from any alert. For example, reply to a message or snooze a reminder. (Also works with third-party apps.)
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smart stack– Scroll through widgets from any watch face.
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View messages– Read a complete message when you receive a new text.
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Reply to messages: Reply with voice dictation when you reach the end of the message. Another double tap will confirm sending after you finish speaking.
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Read longer notifications– After opening an alert that doesn’t completely fit on the screen, double-tap again to scroll through one that’s too long to display on your Apple Watch screen. You can repeat this until you reach the end.
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Alarm: snooze an alarm.
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Chronograph: stop or restart a stopwatch.
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Timers: When viewing a timer, pause (if running), resume (if paused), or end the timer.
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Remote shutter: Take a photo on your iPhone when you use the Apple Watch camera remote.
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Exercise: Start or stop automatic workout reminders if it detects that you’re exercising without having started a workout on your watch.
When you use Double Tap, a blue hand icon appears at the top of your watch screen. If you try to double-tap something that doesn’t support the feature, the icon will appear and move back and forth as if to say “No.”
How to disable double tap on Apple Watch
If you navigate back to Settings > Gestures > Double tap On your paired iPhone, you’ll see an option to turn off the feature if you’re in a situation where you’re worried about accidentally turning it on. If you do that, you can always go back to the same settings screen to re-enable Double Tap.
If you’re still unsure about which Apple Watch models support Double Tap, you can visit Engadget’s Apple Watch Series 9 review and our Apple Watch Ultra 2 impressions.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-watch-is-now-live-with-double-tap–heres-how-to-customize-the-gesture-on-watchos- 101-133021753.html?src=rss
