Apple brings double tap to Watch 9 and Ultra 2 with watchOS 10.1: Details

watchOS 10.1 is available for Watch Series 4 or later. It brings double tap gesture control, announced in September, to Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2

The double tap gesture for Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 is available with the watchOS 10.1, which is now rolling out globally. Announced at the Wonderlust event in September, double tap gesture allows the Apple Watch series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 users to control and access multiple features using one hand without touching the display.

Apple said the double tap gesture is helpful in situations when the user’s other hand is occupied. Users can tap the index finger and thumb of their watch hand together twice to initiate common actions such as answering and ending phone calls, viewing notifications, snoozing an alarm, and more.

 

Users can select the primary action for double tap gesture among the watchOS apps and notifications. These include:

Opening the Smart Stack and scrolling through widgets in the stack.

Answering and ending phone calls.

Viewing a message from a notification and scrolling through longer notifications with an additional double tap

Pausing, resuming, and ending a timer.

Stopping and resuming a stopwatch.

Snoozing an alarm.

Playing and pausing music

Clicking a picture using an iPhone with the Camera Remote in the Camera app.

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Currently, the double tap gesture control is limited to above utilities. It does not work with certain apps and do not support features – ECG, Heart Rate, Blood Oxygen, Sleep Focus, Walkie-Talkie, Maps (during navigation), Mindfulness (during an active session), SOS features (Emergency SOS, Fall Detection, Crash Detection), and Workout (during an active session).

How-to enable double tap gesture

The double tap gesture is enabled by default on the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 with no additional setup required. However, follow the steps below to make sure it is enabled:

Make sure that the Apple Watch is updated to watchOS 10.1

Restart your Apple watch

Open settings on the watch then tap on gestures

Go to the double tap option in the gesture menu and turn it on, if not

Make sure that you are wearing your watch on the wrist that you have selected in the settings. To check, open settings then go to general settings and tap on orientation.

watchOS 10.1: Features

Apart from the double tap gesture control, watchOS 10.1 brings NameDrop feature to Apple watches. It allows users to exchange contact information by bringing the Apple watch near their iPhone with iOS 17 or another Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1. watchOS 10.1 also fixes bugs in the Weather app.

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watchOS 10.1: Compatible devices

The watchOS 10.1 is available for Apple Watch Series 4 or later watches and requires an iPhone running on iOS 17. The list of watches that will get the iOS 10.1 update:

Apple Watch Series 4

Apple Watch Series 5

Apple Watch SE

Apple Watch Series 6

Apple Watch Series 7

Apple Watch Series 8

Apple Watch Series 9

Apple Watch Ultra

Apple Watch Ultra 2

It should be noted that the double tap gesture is available for the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 only.