Smart Stack activates without user input

[robertcoogan]

Smart Stack activates often and frequently on my Apple Watch Ultra. It turns on even though I am not double-tapping my thumb and index finger. I just appears whenever I bring up my watch face to check the time.

Is there a way to turn this off? I love Smart Stack, but I can't get it to stop turning on randomly.

 

[doogm]

watchOS 11 brought the ability to automatically open to the start stack for live activities and media apps (media apps used to open by default before watchOS 11.)

On the iPhone, Watch app, Smart Stack. Either turn off "Auto-launch live activities" or go through the apps listed below that and turn off live activities for any of them that you don't want, including media apps.

 

[jz0309]

Smart Stack activates often and frequently on my Apple Watch Ultra. It turns on even though I am not double-tapping my thumb and index finger. I just appears whenever I bring up my watch face to check the time.

Is there a way to turn this off? I love Smart Stack, but I can't get it to stop turning on randomly.

Yup, been bugging me since watchOS 10, I get this several times per day still but back in 10 I found this setting described in the link below that helped

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/i-like-watch-os-10.2408886/post-32673147

 

[jwzimm]

I sincerely hope they give us a way to fully and completely disable Smart Stack! It has to be the single most annoying thing I have ever had on an Apple product simply because of how it "insists" upon itself. I was able to get it to stop auto-launching itself whenever I would use the timer app but it still shows up when I DO NOT WANT IT.

The primary issue is that it comes up with only the slightest roll of the crown. I have noticed that you have to roll the crown down with a couple haptic clicks to get the notifications screen to show but as soon as it moves even slightly up, BAM!, Smart Stack. And if you want it to go away you have to roll the crown back down quite a bit to dismiss it. This wouldn't irritate me as much but the extreme sensitivity of the crown activation route means that even when I rotate my wrist the crown rolls slightly and I am greeted with the Smart Stack upon rolling my wrist back up. It has gotten to the point where I have to change settings so the watch returns to the clock face immediately even though I would prefer that when I launch an app it stays for a while just so I don't have to see that stupid Smart Stack.

Please please please give me the ability to either fully disable this thing or at least control how it is invoked.

 

[jz0309]

I sincerely hope they give us a way to fully and completely disable Smart Stack! It has to be the single most annoying thing I have ever had on an Apple product simply because of how it "insists" upon itself. I was able to get it to stop auto-launching itself whenever I would use the timer app but it still shows up when I DO NOT WANT IT.

The primary issue is that it comes up with only the slightest roll of the crown. I have noticed that you have to roll the crown down with a couple haptic clicks to get the notifications screen to show but as soon as it moves even slightly up, BAM!, Smart Stack. And if you want it to go away you have to roll the crown back down quite a bit to dismiss it. This wouldn't irritate me as much but the extreme sensitivity of the crown activation route means that even when I rotate my wrist the crown rolls slightly and I am greeted with the Smart Stack upon rolling my wrist back up. It has gotten to the point where I have to change settings so the watch returns to the clock face immediately even though I would prefer that when I launch an app it stays for a while just so I don't have to see that stupid Smart Stack.

Please please please give me the ability to either fully disable this thing or at least control how it is invoked.

did you look at the link I posted above? helped me ...

 

[jwzimm]

did you look at the link I posted above? helped me ...

I did and have that setting (wake on crown movement) disabled. That does not solve the problem though. Since the crown is rolling as I lower my wrist the watch is still awake during this movement. The end result is that the Smart Stack is activated as I look away from my watch and the watch goes to sleep. The next time I raise my wrist to look at it again the Smart Stack is present instead of my expected watch face.

The bottom line here is, I would like to control how and when this "feature" is activated and there is limited ways to do that. It really smacks of someone at Apple thinking something like "this is a great idea and the users will absolutely love it so we should make it automatically activate via multiple means!". Then when the feature actually hits prime time that opinion was not shared by the end users who are now stuck with this intrusive thing with limited ways to control it. I should not have to modify how I use the watch in order to avoid a new feature that I didn't ask for and don't want.

 

[Night Spring]

even when I rotate my wrist the crown rolls slightly

That sounds like a defective unit. Perhaps contact Apple support and see if they'll swap it out for another unit.

 

[doogm]

I have noticed that you have to roll the crown down with a couple haptic clicks to get the notifications screen to show but as soon as it moves even slightly up, BAM!, Smart Stack. And if you want it to go away you have to roll the crown back down quite a bit to dismiss it.

FWIW, a press of the Digital Crown goes right back to the watch face. (It animates to the top of the stack and then goes to the watch face, but it's pretty fast.)

This wouldn't irritate me as much but the extreme sensitivity of the crown activation route means that even when I rotate my wrist the crown rolls slightly and I am greeted with the Smart Stack upon rolling my wrist back up.

You really may be a good candidate for changing the orientation - wearing the watch so the crown is facing your elbow rather than your wrist.

 

[BigBlur]

Since the crown is rolling as I lower my wrist the watch is still awake during this movement. The end result is that the Smart Stack is activated as I look away from my watch and the watch goes to sleep. The next time I raise my wrist to look at it again the Smart Stack is present instead of my expected watch face.

Are you positive your wrist is rolling the crown? Do you have it too tight or too low on the wrist? If you have the S9, S10, or Ultra 2, check to make sure you aren't activating the Smart Stack through the double tap gesture.

Use double tap to perform common actions on Apple Watch

On compatible Apple Watch models, tap your index finger and thumb together twice to perform common actions.

support.apple.com

The next time I raise my wrist to look at it again the Smart Stack is present instead of my expected watch face.

When I bring up the Smart Stack and then lower my wrist, it goes back to the watch face on its own after a few seconds as long as there are no Live Activities going on, such as a timer. (I'm using all default settings and haven't changed anything.)

In a nutshell, the Smart Stack behaves differently if there's a Live Activity going on. In your case, are you just seeing your regular widgets in your Smart Stack, or is there a Live Activity showing at the top of your stack? If there's a Live Activity, that would probably explain why it still shows. You can disable Live Activities altogether if you haven't already...or disable it for the apps that are causing the Smart Stack to show for you.

And if you want it to go away you have to roll the crown back down quite a bit to dismiss it.

There are other ways to dismiss the Smart Stack. You can swipe down from the top of the screen or press the Digital Crown. If there are no Live Activities displaying, covering the watch face with your palm will also dismiss the Smart Stack. (If there's a Live Activity going on, then covering the watch face brings you to the top of the stack.)

 

[jwzimm]

FWIW, a press of the Digital Crown goes right back to the watch face. (It animates to the top of the stack and then goes to the watch face, but it's pretty fast.)



You really may be a good candidate for changing the orientation - wearing the watch so the crown is facing your elbow rather than your wrist.

Actually, my preferred orientation is for the crown to be on the left (toward the elbow). That is the orientation that causes the undesired crown roll and subsequent activation of the Smart Stack. The prefer this orientation as I use the watch while I am wearing gloves during my sport (outrigger canoe paddling). The glove will press the crown or the button while I paddle causing the watch to tap me to tell me that water lock is on. With the crown towards my elbow this is avoided but then this new feature happens during normal everyday wear so I have to swap orientations.

Are you positive your wrist is rolling the crown? Do you have it too tight or too low on the wrist? If you have the S9, S10, or Ultra 2, check to make sure you aren't activating the Smart Stack through the double tap gesture.

Use double tap to perform common actions on Apple Watch

On compatible Apple Watch models, tap your index finger and thumb together twice to perform common actions.

support.apple.com

When I bring up the Smart Stack and then lower my wrist, it goes back to the watch face on its own after a few seconds as long as there are no Live Activities going on, such as a timer. (I'm using all default settings and haven't changed anything.)

In a nutshell, the Smart Stack behaves differently if there's a Live Activity going on. In your case, are you just seeing your regular widgets in your Smart Stack, or is there a Live Activity showing at the top of your stack? If there's a Live Activity, that would probably explain why it still shows. You can disable Live Activities altogether if you haven't already...or disable it for the apps that are causing the Smart Stack to show for you.


There are other ways to dismiss the Smart Stack. You can swipe down from the top of the screen or press the Digital Crown. If there are no Live Activities displaying, covering the watch face with your palm will also dismiss the Smart Stack. (If there's a Live Activity going on, then covering the watch face brings you to the top of the stack.)

Thank you for the tips and I do understand all of these. The issue, though, is that I don't want to have to take actions to dismiss something I never wanted to activate in the first place. I do not want anything to do with Smart Stack and would prefer to fully deactivate it. That is where my frustration lies, this feature just insists on presenting itself and I would rather it not.

 

[Night Spring]

Did you leave feedback asking for a feature to turn Smart Stacks off? Perhaps if enough people ask for it, Apple will listen.

Product Feedback

We would love to hear your comments about any of our hardware and software products. Send us your thoughts.

www.apple.com

 

[jz0309]

Actually, my preferred orientation is for the crown to be on the left (toward the elbow). That is the orientation that causes the undesired crown roll and subsequent activation of the Smart Stack. The prefer this orientation as I use the watch while I am wearing gloves during my sport (outrigger canoe paddling). The glove will press the crown or the button while I paddle causing the watch to tap me to tell me that water lock is on. With the crown towards my elbow this is avoided but then this new feature happens during normal everyday wear so I have to swap orientations.


Thank you for the tips and I do understand all of these. The issue, though, is that I don't want to have to take actions to dismiss something I never wanted to activate in the first place. I do not want anything to do with Smart Stack and would prefer to fully deactivate it. That is where my frustration lies, this feature just insists on presenting itself and I would rather it not.

I am not happy about this "feature" either but learned to live with it, it is not going to go away.
I did provide feedback to Apple though, look at @Night Spring post above for how to do that, basically I asked for a toggle

 

[jwzimm]

I am not happy about this "feature" either but learned to live with it, it is not going to go away.
I did provide feedback to Apple though, look at @Night Spring post above for how to do that, basically I asked for a toggle

I did submit feedback as well. I do understand that some folks do like this feature and I have no issue with it. The issue I have is that it is being activated automatically or inadvertently enough to make me need to change how I use my watch. It come across as very arrogant and that chaps me.

 

[Night Spring]

I did submit feedback as well. I do understand that some folks do like this feature and I have no issue with it. The issue I have is that it is being activated automatically or inadvertently enough to make me need to change how I use my watch. It come across as very arrogant and that chaps me.

I happen to like it, and managed to deactivate the few instances where I didn't want it to activate. But I can totally see how it could be annoying if you don't want it. I hope Apple implements an option to disable this.