How to access the new Control Center on watchOS 3

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Control Center is now on Apple Watch.
Control Center is now on Apple Watch.

Navigating and using features on the Apple Watch is getting a lot faster with watchOS 3, and one of the best additions is the new Control Center that puts a bunch of commands just a swipe away.

Here’s how to make the most of Control Center:

watchOS 3 brings some dramatic UI changes to the Apple Watch, the biggest of which is the death of Glances in favor of the Dock. When you swipe up from the bottom of the screen, where Glances used to be, you’ll now see the Control Center.

Apple Watch’s Control Center works a lot like the one on iOS. The card displays your current battery percentage as well as a number of buttons to toggle popular controls on and off.

control center apple watch
Toggle your most used settings from Control Center.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

Tapping the Battery meter brings up an option to put the device in Power Reserve Mode. Scrolling down reveals a button for AirPlay that allows you to connect to your AirPods or other Bluetooth and AirPlay devices.

Other toggles include:

  • Airplane Mode
  • Silent Mode
  • Do Not Disturb
  • Ping iPhone
  • Lock Device

The buttons aren’t customizable, but hopefully Apple’s working on that for a future watchOS update.

Unlike iOS 10, the Apple Watch Control Center only has one card, so you can’t swipe to the left to bring up music controls. For that, you’ll have to click the Dock button and go to the music app.

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