Got an Apple Watch for Christmas? Here’s how to make the most of it

You’ve been asking for one all year, and yesterday you finally unwrapped it — a glossy Apple Watch ready to help you achieve all your fitness goals in 2023.

Okay, maybe not — but regardless of how that New Year’s resolution goes, there are countless other ways to use a smartwatch that you might not have thought of, from monitoring your heart health to reminding you where you parked your car.

So here’s a few tips and tricks for making the most of your device that go beyond telling the time and tracking your steps.

1. Find your iPhone

When you need help finding your iPhone, swipe up from the bottom of the display to open Control Centre and look for the ping iPhone button. A single tap makes your iPhone ping, and if you touch and hold, your iPhone pings and flashes to help you look for it in the dark.

2. Use your Apple Watch to take a photo on your iPhone

Take a photo at a distance using the Camera Remote app on Apple Watch. First, open the Camera Remote app on your watch and position your iPhone. Use your Apple Watch as the viewfinder to frame your shot. Then tap the timer to give everyone a chance to get ready.

3. Set up Medical ID

Medical ID is literally a lifesaving feature. It allows first responders to access your critical medical information from your iPhone or Apple Watch, without needing your passcode. They can see information like allergies and medical conditions as well as who to contact in case of an emergency. It’s super-easy to set up. Open the Health app on your iPhone, tap the Browse tab, tap your picture at the top right, then tap Medical ID. To view it on your Apple Watch, press and hold the side button until the sliders appear, then slide the Medical ID slider to the right.

4. Apple Watch for wheelchair users

Apple Watch was designed with wheelchair users in mind. Instead of a Stand goal, the Roll goal encourages you to move every hour. And sensors in Apple Watch take into account different pushing techniques for varying speeds and terrain — even transition movements — giving you the most accurate snapshot of your daily activity. To turn on the health and fitness features designed for wheelchair activity, edit the wheelchair preference in the Health section of the Apple Watch app. Tap Health, Edit, Wheelchair, then select Yes.

5. Find your car using the Compass app

The new Compass app is super-handy for navigation if you’re on a hike or trail run. In the Compass app you can also mark waypoints, i.e. the location of your parked car, your hotel in a foreign city, or the amazing waterfall you want to dip in on your return hike. All you need to do is open the Compass app on your Apple Watch and tap the button in the far left corner. You can give your Waypoint a name, i.e. “epic ice cream”, a colour and a symbol, so it’s easy to navigate back to using the Compass app.

Turns out your Apple Watch can track your heart health and your menstrual cycle. Photo / Supplied

6. Identify a song with your Apple Watch

If you hear a song and want to know what it is, just press and hold the Digital Crown and ask Siri. “What song is this?”

7. Stay on top of your heart health

You can enable notifications on your Apple Watch to alert you to high or low heart rates and irregular heart rhythms. To turn heart health notifications on, go to the Watch app on your iPhone, tap Heart and then choose a BPM. Your Apple Watch will notify you if it detects a heart rate that rises above or falls below the BPM thresholds you set. It will do this only during periods of inactivity. If you have Apple Watch Series 3 and later, you can also receive a notification if your Apple Watch identifies multiple heart rhythms that may be atrial fibrillation.

8. Track your cycle and see ovulation estimates

If you’re the lucky owner of a brand-new Apple Watch Series 8 or Ultra, you can benefit from the new temperature sensor, which gathers wrist temperature data while you’re sleeping to give you ovulation estimates. This is incredibly handy to know if you’re family planning or just interested in your cycle. Apple Watch uses wrist temperature data to detect the biphasic shift, which is an increase in temperature that often occurs after ovulation. Advanced algorithms use the wrist temperature data and logged cycle data to estimate the day ovulation probably occurred, which you can view in the Health app on your iPhone. It’s also important to note all this data is encrypted end to end, meaning that Apple does not have the key to decrypt the data and therefore cannot read it.

9. Unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch

Did you know you can use your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac? While you’re wearing your Apple Watch, your Mac can sense when you’re nearby and automatically log you in. You can also use Apple Watch to approve other requests for your administrator password. To turn it on, make sure your Mac has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on and both devices are signed in with the same Apple ID. Choose Apple menu and navigate to System Settings. Then in the sidebar, click Touch ID & Password, then turn on the unlock setting for your Apple Watch.

10. Crash Detection

If you have Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), or an Apple Watch Ultra, it means your Apple Watch is able to detect a severe car crash and connect you to emergency services. Crash Detection is turned on by default, but you should ensure your Medical ID information is up to date so your emergency contacts and emergency responders are notified.