Listen to Music

The process of playing audio is mostly the same with music, podcasts, and audiobooks, so I’ll use the watch’s Music app as the example. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the app, choose a source for your music; this could look different based on whether you’ve synced files to the watch’s internal storage or subscribe to Apple Music (Figure 112).

   

   The On iPhone option plays audio through the iPhone’s speakers or connected headphones; Library accesses your music collection and then plays audio through the watch to AirPods or another connected Bluetooth device. If you subscribe to Apple Music, the For You option echoes the service’s recommendations based on your library and listening history.

   For example, to start playing an album on your iPhone, tap On iPhone, choose the Album category, and navigate to the item you want. From there, you can tap the Play button to play the album from the beginning; tap the Shuffle button to play the albums in random order, or tap the More button for actions such as downloading the tracks to the watch or tapping the Love button to mark the album as a favorite. Or scroll down to play individual songs (Figure 113).

   

2. While music is playing, use the following controls:

   • Play or pause

   • Skip to the previous or next track

   • Change the volume by turning the Digital Crown.

   • View the Up Next queue, a list of tracks to be played, and optionally Shuffle or Repeat songs

   • Send music to an AirPlay device.

   • Tap to Love/Unlove the current track, Download or Remove the file from the watch, or suggest fewer songs like that one (Figure 114).

Listen to Podcasts and Audiobooks

The Podcasts and Audiobooks apps follow a similar framework to browse content. When listening to an episode or a book, the Now Playing screen adds a playback speed button: tap it to cycle among 1× (real time), 1½× (sped up one and a half times), 2× (twice as fast), or ½× (slowed to half speed) if you’d prefer to get through the tracks quicker or slower. You’re also able to go back 15 seconds or forward (30 seconds for podcasts, 15 seconds for audiobooks) (Figure 115).

Listen to the Radio

If you have an Apple Music subscription, open the Radio app to listen to live audio from Apple’s Beats 1 radio station or curated streaming stations (Figure 116).

You can use the Radio app without a subscription to keep up with your favorite broadcast radio stations. Use Siri to ask to play stations by their frequency, call sign, name, or nickname.

Sync Media to the Watch

When you want to listen to music but not be tethered to the iPhone, you can sync a playlist to the watch. The watch won’t play it back through its built-in speaker; you have to use Bluetooth headphones or speakers (see Pair Bluetooth Headphones or Speakers):

1. In the Watch app on the iPhone, tap the Music item.

2. Under Playlists & Albums, tap Add Music.

3. Navigate your library and locate the audio you want to add, such as a playlist.

4. Tap the Add button to add it to the list. It will be marked with a cloud icon to denote that syncing is pending (Figure 117).

   

5. Attach the watch to its charger; the songs transfer only when the watch is receiving power.

You can also download content using the watch. When you’re viewing items in your library, tap the More button and then tap the Download button.

Pair the Remote App

To control Music or iTunes on your computer, or an Apple TV, you must first set up pairing:

1. Open the Remote app on the Apple Watch.

2. On the main Remote screen, tap the Add Device button, which brings up a 4-digit code.

3. In the Music app on macOS Catalina or later, select the name of your watch in the sidebar under Devices.

   In iTunes, click the Apple Watch remote icon that appears (Figure 118).

   

   On the Apple TV, in Settings > General > Remotes, select the watch name. (4th-generation Apple TV: go to Settings > Remotes and Devices).

4. Enter the code to pair the devices.

To control the Music app or iTunes on a computer, open the Remote app on the watch, and choose a computer running (under macOS Catalina or later) Apple’s Music app (under macOS Catalina or later) or iTunes; the currently playing song—or video—appears. Use the same playback controls discussed in Listen to Music.

Control an Apple TV

How many times have you lost the slim Apple TV remote? Or you know it’s across the room, but the couch is so comfortable, why go to all the trouble of getting up? The Remote app on your watch can take over (Figure 119).

In the Remote app’s Remote screen, choose your paired Apple TV and then do any of the following:

• Move the highlight: Swipe in the desired direction.

• Select the highlighted option: Tap the screen.

• Go up one level: Tap Menu.

• Go to the Apple TV’s Home screen: Touch and hold Menu.

• Start/Stop: Tap the Play/Pause button.

• Fast-forward video: Swipe right once to speed ahead. Swipe again for twice the speed, and once more to advance three times faster. Swiping left slows things down. Tap to Play.

• Rewind video: Follow the same procedure as above, but swipe left.

View Photos

In the Photos app, turn the Digital Crown to zoom in and out of your photos, and swipe to pan across them. Or, tap a thumbnail to enlarge (Figure 120) it incrementally.

When a single photo is being viewed, the image fills the watch’s screen; double-tap it to see the entire image with borders (Figure 121). If the image is a Live Photo shot with the iPhone, touch and hold the screen (not force-touch) to view the short video.

Choose Which Photos Appear

Normally, your Favorites album is copied to the watch, but you can pick a different one, including the automatic albums created by the Photos app, such as All Photos or Recently Added:

1. In the Watch app on the iPhone, go to Photos.

2. Tap Synced Album.

3. Choose an album from the list, and then return to the previous screen.

4. Tap Photos Limit.

5. Choose how many photos to transfer.

The watch stores the photos in its built-in memory—up to 500 photos, occupying 75 MB of storage (of the watch’s total, which ranges from 8 GB to 32 GB depending on the model). If the selected album has more than the photo limit, only the most recent photos are kept on the watch.

Control the iPhone Camera with Your Watch

To take a photo from the Apple Watch, do the following:

1. On the watch, open the Camera app, which automatically opens the Camera app on the iPhone (even if the phone is locked). The watch app displays what the iPhone’s camera sees (Figure 122).

   

2. Tap the preview area to set focus and sample an area for exposure. Turn the Digital Crown to zoom in or out.

3. To take a single photo right away, tap the Shutter button on the watch.

   Or, to take a 10-shot burst with a 3-second delay, tap the Timer button.

4. Tap the thumbnail in the lower-left corner to review the shot.

The photos are stored in the iPhone’s Photos app (and, if you use iCloud Photos, copied to the cloud and to your other devices as well).

From the Camera app on the watch, you can also turn the flash on or off, activate Live Photos, and switch between the front and back cameras: force-touch and tap one of the associated buttons. You can also turn the HDR (high dynamic range) mode on or off from the watch; however, if the iPhone’s Camera app is set to shoot using Smart HDR (in Settings > Camera), this option is disabled, because the phone chooses when to use HDR automatically.

On the iPhone, the Photos app looks at burst groups and chooses what it thinks is the best shot, but you can review the entire set and pick some keepers: Tap the Select button, tap the frames you want to keep, and then tap Done.