15 Best Apple Watch SE 2 Tips, Tricks and Hacks of 2024

The new Apple Watch SE 2 (2022) pairs an up-to-date processor with many of Apple’s latest smartwatch features, including watchOS 9 and low power mode. Check out all Apple Watch SE 2 tips, tricks and hacks below.

Even if you know how to use the Apple Watch for the basics (ie. fitness tracking, making calls, checking notifications) there are hidden Apple Watch SE 2 tips and tricks that make it even better. While we wouldn’t go as far as to call all of them “Apple Watch SE hacks,” these features are the lesser-known ways to upgrade your smartwatch experience.

Whether you’ve owned an Apple Watch SE 2 for a while or recently acquired one, there’s more to the device than meets the eye. Some of the most useful Apple Watch SE 2 features are ones that you might not see during setup or everyday use. Many of these Apple Watch SE hacks are buried deep in the settings menu or hidden within certain apps or tools.

All of our favorite Apple Watch SE 2 hidden features work on other Watch models as well.

But where should you start? Below are the best Apple Watch SE 2 tips, tricks and hacks we discovered this year.

1. Favorite frequently used timers

One of the most well-known Apple Watch features — setting a timer — offers a hidden tool you didn’t know about. You can create a list of favorite timers on your Apple Watch that appears at the top of the timer app. This way, the timers you use on a regular basis are conveniently located in the app.

Follow the steps below to favorite a timer:

1. Swipe left on a timer in ‘recents’.
2. Tap the orange star button.

Yes, it’s really that simple. When you’ve favorited a timer, it will appear in a new menu above ‘recents’ called ‘favorites.’ You can even favorite multiple timers for quick access.

2. See step count on your watch face

If you haven’t seen a step-count complication when changing your Apple Watch face before, it’s because there isn’t one — not natively, at least. While there are complications for the weather, timers, your Apple Watch rings and other useful tidbits of information, there isn’t a built-in way to see your step count on your Apple Watch face. But with the help of a third-party Apple Watch app, you can hack it.

1. Download a pedometer app of choice on your Apple Watch. I’ve found the easiest way is to download the app on your iPhone, then sync your Apple Watch. You can check that the app is downloaded to your smartwatch if you scroll down within the “My Watch” tab in the Watch app.
2. Now, edit your Apple Watch face to add the third-party complication.

3. Optimize charging for battery health

The Apple Watch SE 2 (2022)supports optimized battery charging, a setting that’s perhaps better known for preserving the iPhone’s battery health. But ever since watchOS 7, the Apple Watch has offered optimized battery charging, too. Over time, the Apple Watch’s battery health is prone to deteriorate due to a combination of factors. Optimized charging can help the battery health last longer.

The feature is enabled on the new Apple Watch SE by default, but it’s good to check that it is enabled. Follow the steps below:

1. Open the settings menu on Apple Watch
2. Tap on Battery.
3. Select battery health.
4. Toggle on Optimized Battery Charging.

When optimized charging is enabled on your new Apple Watch SE, you might notice your watch pauses charging between 75% and 80% capacity. This should only happen when your watch believes you’ll leave it charging for an extended period of time. It will predict when to complete the charge based on your past charging schedule and location.

4. Enable Low Power Mode

Another Apple Watch SE 2 trick to maximize Watch’s battery life is with the new Apple Watch low power mode. The low power mode feature disables certain battery-draining features such as the always-on display and background health sensor readings. When you track a work out while low power mode is enabled, GPS and heart rate readings are limited, too.

To turn on low power mode, follow the steps below:

1. Swipe up to open the Control Center on your Apple Watch.
2. Tap the bubble that shows your battery percentage.
3. Toggle on low power mode.
4. You’ll be prompted to review the impact of low power mode, with the option to turn the feature on or turn it on for a certain duration. You can turn on low power mode for 1 Day, 2 Days or up to 3 Days.

5. Control your watch with hand gestures

Learning how to control the new Apple Watch SE with hand gestures will let you use certain features of your smartwatch without touching the display or pressing either of the buttons. With this Apple Watch SE 2 trick, you won’t even need to use your opposite hand. You’ll be able to control your Apple Watch by pinching your fingers or clenching your fists. Hand gestures are part of the Apple Watch’s AssistiveTouch features, which primarily exist to make the Apple Watch experience more inclusive. Simply follow the steps below:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down and tap Accessibility from the menu on the My Watch tab.
3. Tap AssistiveTouch from the Motor menu.
4. Toggle on AssistiveTouch.
5. Tap Hand Gestures from the Inputs menu.
6. Toggle on Hand Gestures.

In the same menu you used to toggle on hand gestures, you can review the navigation functions associated with each gesture. There are four gestures: Pinch, Double Pinch, Clench and Double Clench — you can select which actions you want assigned to each motion.

6. Change the digital crown orientation

You may not be aware that there’s a hidden Apple Watch SE 2 trick that allows you to switch the orientation of your Watch so the digital crown faces a different direction. While most people with an Apple Watch wear it with the digital crown located on the upper right side next to the display, there’s a way to turn the button around. If you wear your Apple Watch on your right wrist, the digital crown probably already faces your forearm. But if you wear it on your left wrist, the digital crown probably points toward your hand. Follow the steps below:

1. Open the settings menu on your Apple Watch.
2. Tap General.
3. Select orientation.
4. Select Left or Right depending on which way you want your Apple Watch digital crown to face.

When you switch from right to left, or vice versa, the display will turn upside down. Play around with these settings to figure out which orientation is the most comfortable for you.

7. Keep apps open longer

By default, your Apple Watch will return to your clock or watch face from an app after two minutes when you lower your wrist or idle. So if you’re reading a message or have an app open, your Apple Watch might go back to your current watch face shortly after entering always-on mode, closing whatever app you have open. Some people might find this annoying, but luckily there’s a cool Apple Watch SE 2 trick that allows you to change it.

1. Open the settings menu on your Apple Watch.
2. Tap General.
3. Select Return to Clock.
4. Change from ‘Always’ or ‘After 2 minutes’ to ‘After 1 hour.’

Alternatively, you can scroll down and customize the return to clock setting for each individual app downloaded on your Apple Watch.

8. Use Siri as a translator

Whether you’re traveling to a foreign country or trying to learn a new language, you can use this hidden Apple Watch SE 2 trick to help you with the translations. With real-time translation support for 11 different languages, the Apple Watch’s built-in voice assistant can tell you how to say almost anything instantly.

Just activate Siri and say: “how do I say {word or phrase} in {language}” to use Siri’s real-time translation tool. Not only does Siri display the translation typed out, but it will also speak the translated word or phrase out loud. That way you can theoretically use it to give a cab driver instructions, or simply work on your enunciations.

9. Find out what song is playing

You might’ve heard of Shazam, an app that can identify songs playing out loud. Say you’re at a restaurant or bar and hear a tune you want to save for later, but don’t want to bug the server or bartender for the playlist information. Most people are familiar with the smartphone version of the app, but Shazam actually works on Apple Watch, too.

To use this hidden Apple Watch SE 2 hack, you need to download Shazam on your Apple Watch. From there, you can open the Shazam app on your wrist when you want to find out what song is playing. You can ask Siri to identify the song, too: Press your Apple Watch’s digital crown and ask, “What song is playing?” Siri will listen and name the song it identifies.

10. Make Apple Watch Text Larger

Apple Watch text can be tiny, taking int account the new Apple Watch SE compact size. You can make it bigger by following the steps below:

1. Open the Settings menu on Apple Watch.
2. Scroll down and tap on “Display & Brightness”.
3. Tap on “Text Size.”
4. Tap on the “Aa” on the right side of the display to make the text bigger, and tap on the “Aa” icon on the left side to make it smaller again.

When you adjust the text size, any app that supports Dynamic Type will show your preferred text size. If you want to make text even more visible, toggle on the “Bold Text” option below text size.

11. Control Your Apple TV With Your Watch

If you own an Apple TV set-top box, you can easily control it using the Remote app on your Apple Watch, which can come in handy if you lose your remote.

1. Press on the Digital Crown to get to your App List or App Grid, depending on your App View.
2. Look for the “Remote” app, which is labeled as Remote and has a blue icon with a triangle in the center.
3. Tap on it.
4. Wait a moment as the watch syncs to the ‌Apple TV‌ sets in your home.
5. Choose the ‌Apple TV‌ you want to control.
6. Now, you can turn on the ‌Apple TV‌ by tapping on the little TV icon in the bottom left of the display, and scroll through the interface using swipe gestures. To launch an app or make a selection, just tap.

Tip: Tap on the “ ” button to add an ‌Apple TV‌ that your watch is not linked to and go to Settings > General > Remotes on the ‌Apple TV‌ set. The Remote feature is compatible with the third-generation ‌Apple TV‌ and later.

12. Get Help in an Emergency

This hidden Apple Watch SE 2 trick lets you get help quick in an emergency. You just need to enable an SOS feature on the new Apple Watch SE that will call emergency services with the press of a button.

1. Go to the Settings menu on the Apple Watch.
2. Scroll down to “SOS.”
3. Enable “Hold Side Button.”

With the SOS feature toggled on, your Apple Watch SE will begin dialing emergency services in the country where you’re located if you hold down the side button. The side button is the rounded rectangular button located below the Digital Crown.

By holding down this button, your Apple Watch will call emergency services, but you will have a countdown to stop the call in case it gets activated by accident.
Tip: If you want the new Apple Watch SE to be able to automatically call emergency services if you take a hard fall, enable Fall Detection in this same section, and make sure Crash Detection is turned on too. If you slip and are knocked unconscious or have an accident on a bike, skateboard, car or other mode of transportation, your Apple Watch can get you help.

13. Remove Apps From Your Apple Watch

If you have a bunch of apps on your new Apple Watch SE that you don’t need, you can delete them.

1. Unlock your Apple Watch and go to the App View.
2. Long press on the Apple Watch display.
3. Tap on “Edit Apps.”
4. Scroll through the list or swipe through the grid (depending on your view choice) to locate apps you don’t want.
5. Tap on the small “x” on the app to delete an app or swipe to get to the delete interface if you use the List view.
6. Confirm that you want to delete the app.

Please Note: there are native apps that cannot be removed from the Apple Watch including Activity, Compass, App Store, Heart Rate, Maps, Mail, and Messages, but there are a number that you can get rid of to have a cleaner look.

You can remove Alarms, ECG, Blood Oxygen, Memoji, Find Items, Cycle Tracking, Mindfulness, Sleep, and other similar apps. If you want them back later after deleting them, you will need to redownload them from the ‌App Store‌.

14. Share a Photo From Your Apple Watch

Another cool Apple Watch SE 2 trick lets you share photos right from your wrist without having to open up your ‌iPhone‌, which can be useful for a quick image transfer. If you come across an image on your Apple watch that you want to share, you can send it to someone else right from your wrist.

1. Launch the ‌‌Photos‌ app on your Apple Watch.
2. Select a photo that you want to share and tap it.
3. Tap on the small share icon located at the bottom right of the photo.

You’ll be presented with the most recent contacts to send it to, or you can scroll down and send it to anyone using Messages or Mail.
Select a contact, and then write a message if you want to add one.
Tip: The ‌Photos‌ app on Apple Watch can display one album from your ‌iPhone‌ photos. To change it, open up the Watch app on ‌iPhone‌, scroll down and select ‌‌Photos‌, and tap on “Sync Album” to choose an album to sync to your Apple Watch.

Apple allows you to sync up to 500 photos, but be aware that the number of photos that you choose affects the storage space on your Apple Watch. In the Watch app under ‌Photos‌, you can also choose to sync memories and sync featured photos. With these options enabled, your featured memories and images will show up in the ‌Photos‌ app, and the selection will change daily.

15. Set a Photo as Your Watch Face

Another hidden Apple Watch SE 2 trick lets you set one of your own photos as your watch face so you can glance down at your favorite places, people, or pets whenever you go to check the time. It’s easiest to set a photo as a watch face on ‌iPhone‌, following these instructions:

1. Launch the Watch app on ‌your iPhone.
2. Tap on ”Face Gallery.”
3. Scroll down and tap on ”Photos”.
4. You can select an album of photos, such as your Favorites, or choose to select up to 24 individual photos from your Camera Roll. There’s also an option for Dynamic, which uses photos from your Memories.
5. Tap on ”Album” to choose an album, select ”Choose ‌Photos‌…” to choose photos, or tap on ”Dynamic” to have it pull from Memories.
6. If you want to add a tint to your photos, pick a color from the top bar.
7. Scroll down to ”Time Position” and choose ”Top” or ”Bottom,” and then select your Complications if you want to use them.
8. Scroll back up to see a preview of your watch face, and tap ”Add” if it looks good.
9. Tap on the ”My Watch” tab.
10. Tap on the “‌Photos‌” watch face that you created.
11. Choose ”Set as Current Watch Face.”

Tip: There’s also a “Portraits” watch face that accompanies the ‌Photos‌ face. With the Portraits face, you can choose a photo that you’ve captured using Portrait mode and set it as a watch face. With the data from the portrait photo, there is a sense of depth to the watch face, with the time able to be placed behind the subject in some images. To set it, follow the steps above, but choose Portraits instead of ‌Photos‌ at step 3.

Note that this effect only works with photos of people, and not pets or objects captured in Portrait mode.

Your favorite Apple Watch SE Tips and tricks?

These are our favorites Apple Watch SE 2 (2022) tips and tricks. What are your favorite tips and tricks for the new Apple Watch SE? Drop a comment and let us know.