Economy / IT "Apple Watch" New OS further evolves usability
The "Apple Watch Series 7", which has a larger display, a different design, and more durability, will be released on October 15th. With iOS 14.5, there is a function that can unlock Face ID even with a mask when wearing an Apple Watch, so many people should be paying attention to the new model. Prior to the introduction of the new model, watchOS 8 began to be distributed to existing Apple Watch on September 20th. In addition to the addition of "mindfulness" for workouts and spiritual unification, the variation of the dial, which is the face of the watch, is also increasing.
Also, watchOS 8 has added accessibility gestures that were announced earlier. With this feature, you can operate the Apple Watch with just one hand gesture without touching the other. Originally, it is a function for people with disabilities, but there are surprisingly many scenes where you want to operate the Apple Watch with one hand. This feature is useful to different users depending on the settings.
Similarly, within the accessibility of the Apple Watch, there are various useful features. By reviewing this setting, you can take your Apple Watch one step further. The setting menu, which does not open easily when used normally, is worth reviewing again when updating the OS. This time, let's introduce the features that enhance the convenience of Apple Watch hidden in accessibility.
It is possible to operate with only one hand
It is a very convenient Apple Watch that you can check notifications without having to take the iPhone out of your bag or pocket, and you can pay with Apple Pay, but since it is in the shape of a wristwatch, you absolutely need both hands to operate it. Will end up. You have to wrap it around one arm and use the other hand to touch the screen. Therefore, it is difficult to operate if you have a bag such as a tote bag or briefcase. Especially when using Apple Pay, you have to double-click the side key, which can be difficult to call due to heavy luggage.
In such a case, I would like to utilize the gesture operation installed in watchOS 8. This function allows the person wearing the Apple Watch to perform certain actions without touching the display. It's a feature developed for people with disabilities, but it's also useful when one hand is occupied. However, it is quite difficult to complete the operation with just gestures. So it's a good idea to use gestures to call certain features, such as Apple Pay and Siri.
Learn 4 different gestures
Settings are made on the iPhone. First, open the "Watch" app and select "Accessibility". After selecting "Assistive Touch", turn on "Assistive Touch" on the next screen. If you select "Hand Gesture" on the same screen and turn on "Hand Gesture" on the next screen, you can operate with gestures. There are 4 types of gestures. "Pinch," "double pinch," "clench," and "double crench" are those. Pinch is an operation like hitting your thumb and index finger. Clench is like squeezing your fingers. "Double" means to repeat it twice.
After enabling "Hand Gesture" in "Assistive Touch" of "Accessibility", assign an operation to each gesture (photo by the author)By default, it is set to move the cursor after opening the action menu, but since it is not necessary to perform all operations with gestures, it is good to set the function you want to call with gestures. Here, I assigned "Pinch" to "Press Crown", "Double Pinch" to "Apple Pay", and "Crunch" to "Siri". You can also decide what to do to turn on AssistiveTouch in the "Activate Gesture" on the same screen. Here, AssistiveTouch is activated by "double pinch".
This completes the setting. Let's make the gesture that you actually set with the hand that wears the Apple Watch. With the above settings, AssistiveTouch will be enabled if you double-pinch when the screen is lit, and Apple Pay will start if you double-pinch again. However, if this is the case, payment will not be possible. If you want to pay as it is, you need to turn on "Approve with AssistiveTouch" on the "AssistiveTouch" screen just before setting the gesture.If you set this, you can use Apple Pay with just a gesture.
AssistiveTouch can also be enabled at all times, which is smoother if you want to call Apple Pay quickly. However, when AssistiveTouch is enabled, the cursor is displayed in the tapable place. Therefore, it does not look very good depending on the dial. Cursors don't appear on dials that don't have tappable complications, so if you want AssistiveTouch to be enabled all the time, you should limit it to those you're using.
The difficulty is that gesture operation is always required. You must approve with Assistive Touch when using Apple Pay, even when your hands aren't occupied. It's hard to say which one is more convenient, but if your other hand is often occupied when using Apple Pay, AssistiveTouch is the quickest way to go. It's a good idea to review the settings according to your own usage.
"Warning" the loud volume flowing from the headphones
The Apple Watch is a device that manages a user's health through activities and workouts, but physical activity is not the only thing that manages health. In fact, the Apple Watch has a variety of features, such as sleep detection and hand-washing detection, that you can only wear on your wrist. Headphone notifications to protect your hearing are one such feature.
Headphone notification is not a function to check how loud the volume is. Notifications appear on your Apple Watch only if the sound is too loud and is likely to affect your ears. It's nice to listen to music at a loud volume, but the damage to your ears is not small for a long time. For your health, it's a good idea to enable this feature and reduce the volume to a volume that is gentle on your ears.
The criteria for displaying notifications is if you have been listening to over 80 decibels for 40 hours in the last 7 days. The iPhone has similar functions, but the Apple Watch can be used alone to connect to AirPods and play music. If you listen to music only on your Apple Watch when running, you'll want to turn on headphone notifications on your Apple Watch.
When listening to music on Apple Watch, I want to enable headphone notification (taken by the author)The setting method is as follows. Open the "Watch" app on your iPhone and select "Accessibility". Accessibility is long vertically, so scroll down and you'll find an item called "headphone notifications" at the bottom. When turned on, your Apple Watch will display notifications when you're listening to music at a loud volume that can be detrimental to your ears for extended periods of time.
By the way, you can check how loud it is while playing music on your Apple Watch. While playing music, open the Apple Watch control panel and tap the button with the ear mark. Here, the volume is displayed in dB. If you think the sound is too loud, you can turn down the volume directly. Check it out to protect your ear health.
Since the Apple Watch is a device that wraps around your wrist, the size of the Series 7 has a larger display, but there is a limit to its size. If you have bad eyesight, it may be difficult to understand what is written. You can increase the size of the characters by setting "Screen display and brightness", but the bottleneck is that the amount of information is reduced depending on the application. In such a case, it is advisable to use the "zoom function" that enlarges only a part.
"Zoom function" that is convenient when you want to enlarge a part
This setting can also be enabled from "Accessibility". Open "Accessibility" in the "Watch" app, tap "Zoom Function" and switch on "Zoom Function". The maximum zoom level can be adjusted by moving the slider below the switch left or right. Once you've enabled the zoom feature, you can call it when you need it on your Apple Watch.
It's easy to call, just double-tap the display with two fingers. If you swipe with two fingers as it is, you can move the enlarged position. You can change the magnification by double-tapping with two fingers and then dragging up or down. However, if you zoom in too much, it will be difficult to see what is written, so I would like to set the above maximum zoom level to a moderate magnification.
The zoom function, which allows you to magnify only part of the screen, can also be set within accessibility (taken by the author).This zoom function can also be called with a gesture. If you want to use it, tap "Hand Gesture" in the screen with "Zoom Function" enabled and switch on "Hand Gesture". If you have assigned gestures such as Apple Pay or Siri, it's a good idea to set the gestures so they don't wear. In the setting example introduced earlier, the gesture of "double crench" was set to "none", but when using the zoom function, I want to make a space.
There are many settings behind accessibility that may not open easily, but there are many features that you can usually use, such as gesture operations and headphone notifications. In particular, gesture operations can be performed in various ways depending on the combination, and there is a wide range of customization. It's a feature you'll definitely want to try to get the most out of your Apple Watch.