The presentation of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 shows a new feature: the double-tap gesture. The idea is that a user can, for example, take a call on their new watch simply by accidentally bringing their pointer and thumb together.
By promoting this gesture as new, Apple is a bit cunning. Apple Watch control capabilities have been available since 2021, because it was then, with the next watchOS update, that the company added support for the AssistiveTouch function to its smart watches.
Below we will tell you how to activate gesture control, and also explain why Apple positioned the 9-finger control of the Apple Watch as a new feature.
How to enable gesture controls on your Apple Watch
To promote gesture control, I took on the Apple Watch Series 7 editors.
The most important: Make sure you have Apple Watch Series 4 and up and have the latest version of watchOS installed. If you have an older generation smartwatch and an operating system lower than watchOS 8, gesture controls will not work.
Have you checked? Now further:
1. Open the Settings app on Apple Watch.
2. Click Accessibility and then AssistiveTouch.
3. Activate AssistiveTouch and click OK to confirm
Now, when you raise your wrist, you will see a blue frame on the watch screen, which indicates that gesture control is activated. Default The following gestures and functions are available:
● insertion of the index finger and thumb – transition to the next element
● double reduction of index and major value – transition to the previous element.
● squeezing the hands into a squeeze – squeezing the element.
● double fisting – brings up a menu of actions such as scrolling, moving the Digital Crown, etc.
If desired, any of these gestures can be rearranged. There are many options available for running quick commands.
This is how it goes setting up AssistiveTouch gestures:
● implementation in the Apple Watch Settings app
● Tap Accessibility > AssistiveTouch > Hand Gestures.
● Tap a gesture and select the action you want to perform with it.
All these settings can also be done on your iPhone in the Watch app.
That’s it, you can now control the mechanisms of your Apple Watch by squeezing and unclenching your fingers, almost exactly the same as if you had the yet-to-be-released Apple Watch Series 9 on your hand.
Using gestures, you can answer or hang up, snooze an alarm, or turn off a timer. Experiment.
Apple even has an entire section dedicated to the description and capabilities of AssistiveTouch here.
Why did Apple introduce double-tap as a new feature? Now I’ll explain.
New processor – new opportunities
All AW Series 9 news in one picture. In particular, there is a new S9 processor.
AssistiveTouch detects hand gestures using machine learning about how our muscles and tendons move. Since 2018, the Neural Engine coprocessor has been responsible for machine learning in smart watches. The Apple Watch Series 9 features the new S9 processor, which marks the first time in four years that the coprocessor has been updated.
The company says that the Neural Engine in the Apple S9 processor has 4 cores that handle machine learning tasks twice as fast as the Apple Watch Series 8. So I think that gesture control can really be highlighted as a separate, new feature.
From personal impressions, I can say that controlling the AW Series 7 using AssistiveTouch was not very convenient. Gestures are recognized one time out of three, and it is impossible to constantly use this low-voltage mode. However, just trying and evaluating is quite possible.
Try it, surprise others.
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
