MacFormat UK – June 2019

macformat.com @macformat JUNE 2019 | MACFORMAT | 65

Your Apple Watch

can point you in

the right direction

distractions and get on with your day.

Alternatively, swipe down from the

top of the display to open Notification

Centre. From here, swipe left on a

notification, tap ‘...’, then tap Deliver

Quietly. This will send notifications for

that app to Notification Centre, but

won’t alert you with a sound or buzz.

Haptic strength

You’re not just limited to muting your

notifications. You may find that the

default tap from the Haptic Engine

often isn’t strong enough for you to

notice it. If that’s the case, go to My

Watch > Sounds & Haptics and turn up

the Haptic strength slider on Series 3

or earlier. On all models, you can turn

on prominent haptic feedback here to

feel a stronger and longer buzz before

a regular notification tap.

If you felt a buzz on your wrist but

weren’t able to check it, you don’t have

to miss that notification. Go to My

Watch > General > Wake Screen in the

iPhone companion app and scroll to

the ‘On screen wake show last app’

section. Here you can choose whether

waking the screen will display the last

notification from the last two minutes,

the last hour, until you dismiss it or

only immediately after the notification

arrives on your Watch.

Directions

with Maps

Trying to follow directions

in Maps but it’s unclear

when you need to turn?

Your Watch can lend

you a helping hand.

Go to My Watch >

Notifications > Maps

and switch on Turn

Alerts. This will give

you a gentle tap on the

wrist whenever a turn is

approaching, so you never

have to be confused if two

turnings appear close together.

Your Watch will also display turn

diagrams at the same time.

Go places

with Siri

> On Series 3/4 and watchOS

5, raise your wrist and speak

your route request, such as

“give me directions home”. On

an older Watch, press and

hold the Digital Crown,

then speak.

1

Cover to Mute

Go to My Watch > Sounds & Haptics

and turn on Cover to Mute. Next time

you get an alert, cover your Watch screen

with your hand for three seconds;

a subsequent tap lets you know your

Watch has been muted.

2

Silent Mode

Alternatively, you can put your

Watch into Silent Mode under My Watch >

Sound & Haptics. Note that this won’t

mute alarms and timers while your Watch

is charging, but it will keep it quiet during

that important meeting.

3

Theatre Mode

To really keep things under control,

use Theatre Mode. This silences your

notifications and won’t wake the screen

unless you tap it. To use it, swipe up from

the bottom of your Watch’s display and

tap the icon showing two theatre masks.

HOW TO Take control of sounds

If you tick prominent, you’ll get a longer and more

noticeable buzz when you get a notification.