Apple’s latest WatchOS update with new features has started to roll out. The company has released watchOS 10.1 fixing all the bugs and issues with the Apple Watch. The latest update brings a double tap feature for Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2. The double tap feature will allow users to respond to phone calls easily using their index finger and thumb together. Not just this it will also let them reply to messages and do other stuff.
Apple has released watchOS 10.1 for Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2. The new update comes with the latest double tap gesture “bringing a fast and convenient new way to interact with Apple Watch”. The latest tap gesture feature will make it easier for users to control the device with just one hand and without touching the display.
Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 owners can tap the index finger and thumb of their watch hand together twice to quickly perform many of the most common actions. This new feature complements existing gestures like tap, swipe, raise to wake, and cover to mute which make the Apple Watch simple and intuitive to use.
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“The double tap gesture is helpful in common situations when the user’s other hand is occupied, such as when walking the dog, cooking, or holding a cup of coffee,” the company said.
Double tap lets users choose the primary action in a wide variety of watchOS apps and notifications. In addition to answering and ending phone calls, users can open the Smart Stack from any watch face and scroll through widgets in the stack using the double-tap gesture.
Users can also see a message from a notification, scroll through longer notifications with an additional double tap, reply using dictation, and send a message. The new double tap gesture on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 lets users pause, resume and end a timer in addition to stopping and resuming a stopwatch. watchOS 10.1 also enables users to snooze an alarm and play and pause music, podcasts, and audiobooks.
Switching to the new Elevation view in the Compass app also got easier thanks to the new double tap gesture that comes with the latest watchOS update, taking an iPhone photo with the Camera Remote in the Camera app, starting or stopping automatic Workout reminders, performing the primary action from notifications, such as replying to an incoming message from a messaging app and snoozing reminders — including from third parties are some more actions that the latest WatchOS update brings.
The double tap gesture, according to Apple will be accessible throughout the day and doesn’t majorly affect the 18-hour battery life on the Apple Watch Series 9 or the 36-hour battery life on the Apple Watch Ultra 2. It also functions anytime the display is awake.
The double tap feature is not supported in the following apps and experiences: ECG, Heart Rate, Blood Oxygen, Sleep Focus, Walkie-Talkie, Maps (during navigation), Mindfulness (during an active session), SOS features (Emergency SOS, Fall Detection, Crash Detection), and Workout (during an active session).
Availability
According to the company, the double tap gesture is enabled by default on Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 running watchOS 10.1, with no additional setup required. It can be disabled in settings. Additionally, watchOS 10.1 is available for Apple Watch Series 4 and later and requires iPhone XS or later running iOS 17.
