The Apple Watch has a responsive touchscreen that makes it easy to navigate the device. But suppose you have a disability that makes it difficult or impossible to use the touchscreen? Apple has added hand gestures to watchOS and today released a video that shows you how to activate the feature called AssistiveTouch.
The feature is compatible with Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 6 or later. The watch must be running watchOS 8 or later. The feature can be turned on using the accessibility settings on your Apple Watch or turned on using an iPhone running iOS 15 or later. For the latter, open the Watch application on the handset and navigate to Accessibility > Support contact and activate the function.
Once the feature is enabled, you can customize the settings and increase the contrast, customize the menu, etc. Tap the Hand gestures toggle to activate the feature and also allows you to customize the gestures if you want. By default, a pinch will take you to the next item on the screen. A double pinch will bring you back an item.
When you want to select the currently highlighted item, quickly make a fist. Double pressing activates AssistiveTouch and opens the action menu. From the action menu, you can perform more complex actions, including scrolling and pressing the digital crown.
If you forget what each gesture does, you can always go back to the Apple Watch accessibility menu for a quick reminder. Or why not bookmark this story in your browser so you can refer to it whenever you need to?
