| Cult of Mac

How to flip your Apple Watch for surprise benefits

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Turn that crown upside down!
Turn that crown upside down!
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch is designed with the Digital Crown in the same place as where traditional watches have their own crown to set the time. It’s a design choice that helps us think of this new tiny computer on our wrist as something comfortable and familiar.

But there’s no reason the Digital Crown should remain on the right, as it defaults to if you’re wearing your Apple Watch on your left wrist.

In fact, flipping it around can make things on your Apple Watch even better. Check it out.

How to keep your Apple Watch display on longer in watchOS 2

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Chances are you'll see quite a few more of these in the coming years.
Don't go anywhere, Apple Watch -- we're not finished yet.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Here’s another tip that’s snuck into watchOS 2: Did you know that you can keep your Apple Watch awake longer now while you’re using it?

Apple hasn’t mentioned this feature much, if at all; we couldn’t even find it on the details screen when we upgraded. But it’s a great addition to the firmware that will save you a little frustration and a lot of wrist-flipping.

Here’s how to do it.

How to fix weak taptic feedback on Apple Watch

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Apple Watch how-to taptic feedback
Here's how to put the tap back into "taptic."
Photo: Apple

Taptic feedback on the Apple Watch felt a little weird at first, but we’ve come to love its gentle nudges to let us know something is going on. But some Cult of Mac staffers have noticed that after time, the taptic feedback has started to feel not so … tappy anymore.

If you’re having this problem, here are a couple quick and easy ways you can try to put the pep back on your wrist.

Weird Digital Crown fix will make you fear for your Apple Watch

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Yikes! Water and electronics still freak me out.
Yikes! Water and electronics still freak me out.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

My Apple Watch is getting a little crufty. I wear it every day, including when I sweat a lot — like during a run, for example.

Recently, the Digital Crown started to get a little tough to turn. It took extra effort to spin the darn thing, and I wasn’t able to rotate it smoothly anymore.

Luckily, Apple had me covered — but I wasn’t prepared for what I had to do to get this Digital Crown fix to work.

Size matters: How to increase text size on Apple Watch

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So much easier to see.
So much easier to see.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

As I get older, I find myself having to get a little closer to my iPhone and Apple Watch to see what it says. It’s a trade-off for still being alive at my advanced age.

If you’re having a hard time seeing the text on your Apple Watch, too, you might consider increasing the font size for apps that use Dynamic Text.

Here’s how.

How to set default Apple Pay cards on iPhone and Apple Watch

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iPhone continues to rock across the globe.
Set your Apple Pay default credit card for your Apple Watch on your iPhone.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If you have more than one credit card, chances are you’ll want to put them all into Apple Pay so you can use any of them when the mood strikes, or your card balance dictates.

If you’ve got an Apple Watch, you’ll need to add them to the Watch via a separate process than the way you added them to the iPhone.

Once you’ve added more than one card, though, you might want to change the default Apple Pay card. Here’s how to do just that.

How to take a screenshot on your Apple Watch

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Apple Watch Sport green
These are the buttons you're looking for.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

So, you’ve got your Apple Watch and you want to show off that cool new watch face customization, or the screen of one of the games you’re playing.

Sure, you could take a picture of your Apple Watch on your wrist with your iPhone, but that’s sorta silly. Plus your arm might be super-hairy and someone will make fun of you.

Here’s how to just take an Apple Watch screenshot so you can show off and yet still remain tease-free.

Apple Watch stuck on update? Here’s how to fix it

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Fix things if your update gets stuck.
Here's how to fix things if your Apple Watch update gets stuck.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

If you’re trying to update your Apple Watch software to the latest version, you might get stuck. Some users are reporting that the update starts and then just seems to hang there, like a diver never quite ready to take the plunge.

If your update is hanging without any error message, the fix might be simpler than you thought.

How to restart Apple Watch when things go wrong

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You might need to force it to restart.
You might need to force it to restart.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch on your wrist is a miniature computer. As such, it might get wonky from time to time. It might freeze, apps might not load all the way or it might just get slow — especially if you haven’t downloaded today’s Apple Watch software upgrade, which brings various performance enhancements and bug fixes.

When your watch is getting wonky, it’s good to know how to force a restart, powering your Apple Watch down and back up again to reset its internal workings. Here’s how.