10 actually useful Apple Watch hacks from TikTok

There are now more than 1 billion TikTok users globally and it's estimated that Apple has sold 100 million Apple Watches. If you consider how quickly the best smartwatches have advanced since the first Apple Watch was released, it can be easy to find yourself falling behind. 

One of the reasons for the rise in TikTok's popularity is that it is full of potentially life-saving tips and hacks to help make the most of our personal tech.

With this in mind, experts from OnBuy Smartwatches were consulted in a bid to find the most popular Apple Watch hacks on TikTok. Their in-house experts compiled a master list containing ten of the most popular videos concerning Apple Watch features that every owner should be aware of, which have a combined total of 24,106,800 views!

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1. Hand Gesture Replacements

@ellyawesometech

♬ original sound - ellyawesometech

Views - 8 Million
Likes - 572.7k

 By using certain hand gestures, you can easily access features on your Apple Watch. OnBuy Smart Watches found this viral video by @ellyawesometech who instructs how to go into the settings of your smartwatch and assign certain gestures to a particular action. An example seen in the video is clenching your fist to open Apple pay.

2. Secret Spy Camera 

@katamogz

♬ Sneaky Snitch - Kevin MacLeod

Views - 1.9 million
Likes - 65.9k

 This TikTok by @katamogz demonstrates the ‘Spy Camera’ feature. When you connect your iPhone to your Apple Watch, you can open up the watch camera app to access your live iPhone camera feed. This allows you to set up your iPhone elsewhere and — as long as you are within range — take snaps remotely.

3. A Seamless Workout

@cnnunderscored

♬ original sound - Product Reviews

Views - 1.5 million
Likes - 83.4k

 Rather than having to start and stop your workouts, @cnnunderscored illustrates how to create one continuous workout on your Apple Watch. You can do this easily by pressing the ‘+’ button mid-workout rather than the end. This will allow you to proceed onto your next workout whilst keeping all the data from your previous one. When you are finished, press end and you will see all of your activities collectively tracked and stored under the same workout session.

4. Disney Character Time Announcements

@hayls_world

♬ original sound - Hayls World

Views - 673.2k
Likes - 46.6k

 This TikTok tip from @hayls_world shows us a cool trick to not only get your Apple Watch to tell you the time in the standard Siri voice,  but in the voices of Mickey and Minnie Mouse! To do this,  simply hold the screen down with two fingers on the desired clock screen. 

5. Leaving A Tip

@easypaycheckboy

♬ Rasputin (Single Version) - Boney M.

Views - 264.9k
Likes - 3.6k

 When eating at a restaurant, the thought of working out the tip can be daunting for those who struggle with maths. However, @easypaycheckboy highlights Apple’s TIP feature on the calculator, which does all the hard work for you. Not only does it tell you whatever percentage tip you would like to give, but it will also even allow you to input the number of people splitting the bill to work out each individual contribution.

6. Hidden Flashlight 

@ellyawesometech

♬ original sound - ellyawesometech

Views - 173.3k
Likes - 10.5k

 @ellyawesometech demonstrates how to get the most out of the Apple Watch flashlight. Pressing the ‘torch’ icon on your screen emits a bright white light, but this setting also has other colour options, such as a red light, which helps your eyes to adjust easier in the dark! The app also includes a flashing light which can be used as an SOS signal, or can double as a light to use when running or cycling to show vehicles where you are. 

7. Apple Maps

@kate_kozuch

♬ misery 4 u - Nick

Views - 76.1k
Likes - 4.5k

OnBuy Smart Watches discovered this TikTok tip from @kate_kozuch who shows us how to optimise Maps on your Apple Watch. By setting your journey in the maps app, your watch will give you live updates and directions, displaying them on the screen. It will also give you different vibration patterns to indicate to you whether to turn left or right, meaning you don’t need to take your focus away from driving.

8. Tidying up your home screen 

@techoutadam

♬ Home - Edith Whiskers

Views - 60.8k
Likes - 1.7k

 Although simple, these 2 tips from @techoutadam can help your Apple Watch to run more smoothly and with much less clutter. By scrolling up to the very top of your notifications board, there is a ‘clear all’ option that gets rid of every notification you have not yet checked. Or, if you find yourself scrolling through apps or messages but want to go back to the top of the list, simply click the clock icon in the top right of the screen and it will take you to the top of whatever page you are currently on.

9. Medical ID 

@ellyawesometech

♬ original sound - ellyawesometech

Views - 30.5k
Likes - 1.3k

In the health app on your watch, you can set up a ‘medical ID’, where you can input any allergies, conditions or medical requirements. As shown here by @ellyawesometech, if paired to your phone, you just need to hold down the side button on your watch until the “emergency” screen appears. This will allow anybody to access your medical ID in the case of an emergency.

10. SOS

@brendanstechtips

♬ original sound - nanno lover

Views - 28k
Likes - 2k

This simple setting could end up saving your life. There is a feature within your iPhone that can also be activated on your Apple Watch via the same method. Called ‘in case of emergency' it can be located in the shortcuts app. You can add instructions such as sending your current location, coupled with sending an SOS text message to your loved ones or to the emergency services, as shown by @brendanstechtips in this video.

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