The Apple Watch is great for health and fitness use, but that’s not all. Here are some other uses of an Apple Watch that you might not know about.
We’ve spent the last year digging into all of the weird and wonderful things that the best fitness trackers, like the Apple Watch, can offer, and we’ve discovered some important uses of an Apple Watch we think everyone should be aware of.
Without further ado, here are the best uses of an Apple Watch that you should know about.
1. Detailed sleep quality reports
Most people know this, but thought it worthy of a highlight at the top in any case. An Apple Watch offers the best way to track sleep outside of a professional study, as it can track things and offer trend reports that a phone app just can’t.
Apple’s sleep tracking is one of the best, offering 14-day trends, weekday and weekend sleep schedules, goals, sleep focus mode and a whole lot more. We love the ‘wind down’ feature that reminds us to wrap up our day and prepare our body and mind for bedtime.
2. Auto workout playlists (for Apple Music)
If you don’t want to bother carrying your iPhone with you during workout but still want to listen to your Apple Music playlist, you can do so with your Apple Watch—even if you’re offline!
it’s perhaps understandable that an Apple Music subscription opens up a whole new set of integrations. The best one might be the ability to tie a particular playlist with a workout, eliminating the need to jump around apps just when you want to set off.
3. Hand washing timer
Be honest, has your ‘happy birthday’ singing been lacking while washing your hands lately? While we were all diligent about hand hygiene just a couple of years ago, like any habit it can be difficult to stick to it long-term. Thankfully the Apple Watch has a timer specially designed for hand-washing, so you can be sure that you’re doing a thorough job – no singing required.
4. Cardio fitness alerts
Unless you’ve splashed out on a personal trainer, it’s likely that you only have a rough idea of your cardio fitness levels based on how you feel during and after a period of activity. The Apple Watch makes this a lot more precise, using data like your age, sex, weight, height, medications, and your VO² max range. You will even get an alert when this data indicates your fitness is lower than average.
5. Fall detection
Smartwatches aren’t just for athletes – they also have many functions for everyday safety and well-being. Apple Watch’s Fall Detection feature, for example, is a way to ensure an accident doesn’t go unnoticed. If the device detects that you have fallen down, it will display an option to call emergency services or press the ‘I’m OK’ button if things aren’t that serious. After a minute, help will be called automatically. You can also choose key contacts to be notified.
6. Access Siri from anywhere
Siri might not be as much of a household name as Google Assistant or Alexa, but it’s a great smart assistant if you’re an Apple user. Being able to access Siri from your Apple Watch is a bit of a gamechanger, as it means you have the helpful robot with you at all times (don’t worry, you can stop her from listening if you want), even without a HomePod Mini in the vicinity. Ask her questions, translate conversations on the go, or set timers and alerts with your voice.
7. Decompress with ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode
The ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode might be our favorite thing about the Apple Watch and iPhone, allowing us to literally switch off unnecessary distractions either when we want to get down to some focused work or wind down for the evening. Just a few taps on your wrist and precious silence is achievable. This mode silences everything except alarms, and you can also set certain contacts to be able to get through in an emergency. Otherwise, your time and attention are yours.
8. Get some ‘me time’ with apps like Headspace
Apple Health has its own meditation and mindfulness features, but we’re big fans of Headspace for its approachable tone and abundance of content. We’ve found that having Headspace (and other apps like Calm or Simple Habit) on your Apple Watch means you’re much more likely to fire up a guided meditation or calming video than if you had to unlock your phone in the morning.
9. Accessorise with different straps
Let’s face it, smartwatches are fantastic in a lot of ways, but they aren’t always the most stylish. Thankfully, there are a ton of third-party brands that have brought out their own straps that you can retrofit onto the Apple Watch face.sure the band matches your model.
10. Control Your iPhone’s Camera With Your Apple Watch
One of the coolest features on your Apple Watch is that you can use it as a camera remote to control your iPhone’s camera.
Those times when you are alone, and want to position your iPhone for a photo and then take the photo from a distance, you can use your Apple Watch to view the iPhone camera image and take the photo. You can also use your Apple Watch to set a shutter timer—this gives you time to lower your wrist and raise your eyes when you’re in the shot.
Use Your Apple Watch to Its Fullest
If you own an Apple Watch, you probably know all about its fitness-related uses, but there’s a lot more to smartwatches than that. With these 10 lesser-known uses of an Apple Watch, you can be sure to make the most out of it.