Apple completely redesigned watchOS last year, which is one of the biggest design changes since the Apple Watch debuted. With watchOS 10, Apple made two significant changes to the way you navigate your Apple Watch that I never liked, and there's still no option to change them in watchOS 11.
Control Center
Previously, pressing the side button on your Apple Watch opened the app switcher, but in watchOS 10, Apple changed this to open Control Center. Before the update, you could access Control Center by swiping up from the bottom of the watch.
Apple probably made this change so that you can access Control Center from any app, but personally I don't find myself checking Control Center very often. Sometimes I use it to turn on silent mode, but in most cases I don't need it. Battery life is the main piece of useful data there, and I can get it by looking at the widget on my iPhone.
Apple has also introduced a new Widgets view in watchOS 10, which you can access by swiping up from the bottom of your Apple Watch while on the watch face.
This view shows you a bunch of quick widgets like weather, fitness, stocks, and more. You can also put complications there. With this view, it's easy to quickly monitor things or quickly bounce to another app, and with watchOS 11 it also has support for showing live Activities.
I really like this new interface. However, because of the way it's accessed, it's not very easy to incorporate it into your daily routine.
What Apple should add to watchOS in the future
I think Apple should add an option to switch between these two gestures. Although some people might have to get used to the new navigation methods, I would still prefer the old methods if they were an option.
This way, you can swipe up from the bottom to access Control Center — as was the case in watchOS for several years prior to watchOS 10. This change was a learning curve for many users, and I think Apple is well aware of the fact that this is a learning curve, given the fact that they present a gesture tutorial when you update your Apple Watch.
If the gestures were reversed, you would be able to open the widget view from any app, which could be convenient for taking a quick look at some information without having to leave the app. And the best part is that it would just be an option. If you prefer it the old way, you can keep it that way.
What do you think about this navigation change in watchOS 10? Do you still want Apple to change it, or are you already loving it? Let us know in the comments below.
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