If you know how to control your Apple Watch with hand gestures, you can use certain functions of your smartwatch without touching the screen or pressing any of the buttons. You don’t even have to use your other hand. You can control your Apple Watch by squeezing your fingers or clenching your fists.
Hand gestures are part of the Apple Watch’s AssistiveTouch features, which exist primarily to make the Apple Watch experience more inclusive. One of the reasons the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch every year is because it can be used in multiple ways. For example, if you know how to use the Apple Watch, you may know that you can ask Siri to start workouts or give you the weather hands-free.
But if you don’t want to (or maybe can’t) use your voice and you want (or need) to navigate without the other hand, gestures can help. Hand gestures are one of the most underrated features of the Apple Watch in my opinion, and while I may not need them on a daily basis, they’ve come in handy a few times.
To get started with the Apple Watch hand gestures, you’ll first need to enable the appropriate settings in the Accessibility menu in your iPhone’s Watch app. Here’s how to enable Apple Watch hand gestures and how to control your Apple Watch with hand gestures.
Enable Apple Watch hand gestures
Before you get started, keep in mind that hand gestures only work on Apple Watch 4 and newer, including the Apple Watch 7 and Apple Watch SE. Here’s how to enable Apple Watch hand gestures.
1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone and click Accessibility from the menu on the My Watch tab.
2. Click AssistiveTouch in the Engine menu.
3. Enable AssistiveTouch.
4. Click Hand Gestures in the Inputs menu.
5. Enable hand gestures.
Control your Apple Watch with hand gestures
In the same menu you used to enable hand gestures, you can view the navigation features associated with each gesture. There are four gestures: Pinch, Double Pinch, Pinch, and Double Pinch. These are the preset functions:
- pinch: forward
- Double squeeze: backwards
- clamp: Crane
- Double clamp: Action menu
You can customize the gestures if you want, with the option to revert to defaults at any time. You can set a certain gesture to open the Apple Watch Control Center, activate Siri, or show the best Apple Watch apps in a menu. You can even assign a gesture to mimic a scrolling motion.
You can also change the gesture assignments in the AssistiveTouch menu right on your Apple Watch.
Looking for more ways to get the most out of your Apple Watch? See our guide to the Apple Watch settings you should turn on and off right now. We also recently shared the steps on how to change the orientation of the digital crown on your Apple Watch.
And if you’re in the market for a new smartwatch, we can help you pick the best Apple Watch model for you — and the best Apple Watch deals available right now, because who doesn’t love to save money. ?
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