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Apple Watch How-To: Control and use the Stopwatch app

Apple Watch comes with a stopwatch app built into it, which saves you time from grabbing your iPhone, opening up the Clock app and pressing the Stopwatch tab.

There are several different ways to open up Stopwatch on the Apple Watch. You can open the app by tapping on the orange icon with a complete white circle on the home screen, use Siri to open Stopwatch by pressing and holding on the Digital Crown, hands free by saying “Hey Siri open Stopwatch,” or depending on which watch face you are using from the Stopwatch complication on the watch.

When you first open up the Stopwatch, you see the Analog view.

Pressing the green circle in the corner will start the stopwatch. (Note the green circle will be in a different place depending on which hand you wear the Apple Watch as well which side the Digital Crown is on). The red circle stops the stopwatch and pressing the green circle resumes it. Pressing the white circle starts a lap. In the Analog view, swiping up from the bottom of the display gives a detailed view of the information, showing the break down of the laps.

There are different views of the Stopwatch that can be displayed. Switching between the different views requires you to press firmly on the screen for about a second until you feel the haptic feedback. Force Touching the display presents an additional three different views for the Stopwatch: Digital, Graph and Hybrid. Digital displays the stopwatch in a numerical view. Graph conveys how long each lap took on a graph. The last view, Hybrid combines the three different views Analog, Digital and Graph into one stopwatch.

When you are using the Stopwatch on the Apple Watch, the information doesn’t sync to the iPhone, nor does starting the Stopwatch on the iPhone allow you to continue and put laps from the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch How-To: Use Maps for navigation and directions

Apple Watch comes with Apple Maps, which allows you to find your current location, pan and zoom around on the area, search the map, get information about a location, call a location, get directions, and more. One of the benefits of having Maps on the watch is that it allows you to get directions without needing to pull out your iPhone, especially if you happen to be lost or in a sketchy neighborhood. In this how-to article, we will discuss how to use Apple Maps on the Apple Watch.


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Apple announces watchOS 2 with third-party Apple Watch apps, new Timepieces, video playback, much more

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Apple today announced watchOS 2, a new version of the operating system for the increasingly available Apple Watch, promising support for native third-party apps, on-screen video playback, and a collection of many new features for both users and developers. The developer beta for watchOS 2 will be available today, and offered for free to everyone in the fall.

“For us, this is a giant moment,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, discussing opening up the platform to new and powerful third-party uses before introducing Kevin Lynch to detail features, including…

New Timepiece functions: Apple is adding Photo face, Photo Album face, and a Time-Lapse Face covering five different cities to the collection of Watch faces; Photo and Time-Lapse were slated to be part of watchOS 1.0, but didn’t make the cut. Additionally, Complications are being opened to developers; they’ll work on Modular face and others that support Complications currently. Twisting the Digital Crown, a new feature called Time Travel will let you see meetings and other events in the future all getting updated as the clock moves forward. Additionally, a new Nightstand mode will display the time and an alarm, when the Watch is laid on its side during charging on your nightstand.

Communication: You will now be able to add friends directly through the Friends secreen, and use multiple colors in Digital Touch drawings. Mail will let you reply to email, and Phone will let you receive FaceTime Audio calls with superior audio quality to regular phone calls.

Many more new features, including video playback, are discussed below…


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Simple geometric banners depicting iOS, OS X and ‘watchOS’ spotted at WWDC

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MacStories’ Federico Viticci has posted an interesting image of WWDC banners from the second-floor of Moscone West, the WWDC event venue.

These images show Apple highlighting its three platforms: iOS, OS X and watchOS. These banners do not follow the same pattern as previous years with dramatic photography in rectangular banners. These are more like full-height wall posters with simpler geometric logos. Each image has the name of Apple’s OS written in a light font-face (the image is not clear enough to see whether this is Sans Francisco) on a simple background of multicoloured translucent shapes.

What’s particularly striking about this photo is that it confirms a rebranding of Apple’s smartwatch operating system. On Apple’s current public marketing, the Apple Watch is described as running ‘Watch OS’. By these banners, it can be seen that the new name for this platform is actually ‘watchOS’.
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How-To: Install Watch OS updates on your Apple Watch

The Apple Watch received its first official software update today, giving lucky early adopters their first opportunity to see how the Watch OS updating process works. Unlike the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, which can update themselves using iOS’s Software Update feature, the Apple Watch depends upon an iPhone to download the update from Apple’s servers and install it on the Watch. You’ll also need a Wi-Fi network, your Apple Watch charger, and at least 50% battery life in order to do the update.

Here are the full details…


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Apple releases first Apple Watch update with Watch OS 1.0.1, adding new Emoji & languages, app improvements, more

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Apple has released the first software update for Apple Watch today with the release of Watch OS 1.0.1. The update is available through the Apple Watch app on iPhone.
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Developer hacks Watch OS to get a web browser running on Apple Watch

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Prominent community developer and jailbreaker Comex has posted a video showing a successful hack of Watch OS to get the device running a web browser.

In the video, Comex has managed to get the Google homepage to render on the small Watch display. Apple does not include a Safari browser app on the Watch, for obvious reasons. The video shows that scrolling around even basic web pages on a tiny display is impractical.

More importantly, the video shows that it is possible to get the Watch to run arbitrary code. This could be the first step towards a ‘jailbreak’ of the Apple Watch although Comex makes no such promises to ever release the details of his hack.


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Apple publishes the Apple Watch User Guide online, explaining various hardware features and bundled apps

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Update: Now available on iBooks to download on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac.

Apple has today posted its Apple Watch User Guide, as customers begin to receive their Watches starting tomorrow. The guide serves as an accompaniment to the Watch, teaching users how to navigate around the interface and access various features. The guide covers all of the native first-party Apple Watch apps as well as general user-interface tips and tricks.

There is also a section on pairing the Watch, which will prove useful when Watches start being distributed into customers hands from tomorrow morning. There is also information about how to properly take care and clean the Apple Watch bands.


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Apple Watch allows chronically late users to fool themselves with manually adjusted time

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When unveiling the Apple Watch, Apple heavily touted the fact that the device is an incredibly precise timekeeper. As the Watch has rolled out to retail stores we’ve slowly been finding a few features buried within Settings, including one that relates to the accuracy of the time. In Watch OS, Apple has included the ability to manually adjust the time displayed on the watch face of your device.


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Apple invites developers to Cupertino to finish Apple Watch apps, test out device

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Apple has been working with several third-party App Store developers at its Cupertino, California offices to assist developers in finishing up applications for the upcoming Apple Watch. Development and design representatives from dozens of different development firms have visited Apple last week, or are coming to Cupertino this week, to work with Apple engineers to finish up WatchKit-based applications. One source claims that Apple is holding workshops for over 100 different developers across February. Apple also met with a smaller number of developers to assist with WatchKit development and discuss future plans in early January…


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