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Do you like to be able to swipe left and right to switch watch faces?

  • Yes. I like the way it was in WatchOS 9 and earlier (swipe left and right for watch faces).

    Votes: 244 66.8%
  • No. I like the way it is in WatchOS 10 (swiping left and right has no function)

    Votes: 80 21.9%
  • I don't care.

    Votes: 41 11.2%

  • Total voters
    365

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,858
8,037
I agree. It’s not that hard.

But it’s like having a toilet flush handle that’s starting to degrade and you have to hold it down for a few seconds to flush. It’s only a couple of extra seconds but very annoying.
Exactly. If you inadvertently switch faces, how hard is it to swipe back? This is, at best, exchanging one inconvenience for another.
 

PhillyGuy72

macrumors 68040
Sep 13, 2014
3,073
4,650
Philadelphia, PA USA
You have to long press the watch face like you are going to edit it. Then swipe and select. It sucks if you change watch faces often.
Um, ok..just seeing this now. Explains now why I can swipe from watch face to watch face. I just added the new watch faces and wanted to wipe back to another one.

Not a massive deal, just not quite sure why they got rid of that? 🤷🏻‍♂️
 

PhotonJeff

macrumors newbie
Apr 24, 2015
13
10
This was a horrible change. I have watch faces customized (different complications) for different activities (work, exercise, home) and could quickly swipe between. It is so frustrating not being able to quickly do that.

I don't see the Smart Stack as a replacement for quickly getting to different applications. It's too slow and many of the apps I use aren't available in the stack, but did have complications (e.g. Audible).
 

tomtattoo

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2013
545
889
Berlin
Just cancelled my order for the Watch9.
I made the mistake to update my 7 yesterday evening - too curious - and what I see is horrible.
No more swiping is the worst idea they ever had.

And offtopic: what the hell have they done to the weather app? :mad:
 

wba1990

macrumors 6502
Oct 1, 2015
482
282
Birmingham, England
Didn’t know this was part of the update, but god it is an awful decision!

I swap faces on a regular basis - have different faces for work, gym and everyday life. I usually change watch faces at least 3/4 times a day, it was easy to just swipe left and right to do this

No idea what the logic could even have been by removing this
 

Howard2k

macrumors 603
Mar 10, 2016
5,671
5,587
I change watch faces with automations. Sometimes manually, but that's pretty rare. Less than once per month I'd say. I haven't upgraded yet but this doesn't seem like a big issue for me. In fact it's the least of my worries. I get it though - if that was a feature I used often then it seems like it's extra cumbersome.
 

hyperreal

macrumors member
Oct 18, 2021
94
134
Finland
The old swiping gesture could be finicky and I often had to fiddle with it a bit. The new way feels more robust. Still, I don't like the fact it adds an extra step.
I've had an AW for only a year and I don't change faces very often, so I'll probably get used to the change, even though I fail to see the reasoning behind it.

Unfortunately most of the update feels like that. Change for the sake of change.
 
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aevan

macrumors 601
Feb 5, 2015
4,532
7,227
Serbia
Would you say that if Apple removed face and touch ID and required you to enter an 8 digit password to unlock your phone? Making anything unnecessarily take longer is an inconvenience.

No he wouldn't, because that would've been an actual inconvenience.

This one isn't. I preferred it before, but it's not really a problem.
 
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Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,858
8,037
No he wouldn't, because that would've been an actual inconvenience.

This one isn't. I preferred it before, but it's not really a problem.
For me, it's a huge problem. I have 4-5 watch faces I switch among multiple times a day, often multiple times in a matter of minutes. Like, when getting ready to go for a walk, I swipe to my weather face to check the weather, then swipe to my activity face to start a walking workout, When I return, I swipe to my timer face to make tea, then to my meditation face to do breathing exercises. Then I swipe to my communications face to text my friends, then back to my activity face to check my activity circles, then to the timer face to time the laundry. Now each of these switches is going to take two-three steps, instead of a simple swipe?

Like I said before, it's like if switching between apps on a Mac took 2-3 stops instead of a single click. It will be a huge degradation in my watch use experience.
 

CharlesShaw

macrumors 68000
May 8, 2015
1,688
2,794
This was a horrible change. I have watch faces customized (different complications) for different activities (work, exercise, home) and could quickly swipe between. It is so frustrating not being able to quickly do that.

I don't see the Smart Stack as a replacement for quickly getting to different applications. It's too slow and many of the apps I use aren't available in the stack, but did have complications (e.g. Audible).
I have been using mine the same way for years and share your frustration, including smart stack. For those of us who allowed the watch to become an integral tool for many tasks, significant changes like these are disruptive and discouraging.
 

CharlesShaw

macrumors 68000
May 8, 2015
1,688
2,794
No he wouldn't, because that would've been an actual inconvenience.

This one isn't. I preferred it before, but it's not really a problem.
Unless Apple is preparing for side swipe to serve a different/better function, there is no need for the long press. The Watch is a mature product now, and growing more popular with mature users who wish to have an emergency device on their wrist for many safety and monitoring reasons, so changing the functions of buttons is also a problem for some.

Imagine finally getting your elderly loved-one to wear a Watch, having patiently trained them how to navigate and find control panel, or whatever, then they have to re-learn stuff and get frustrated.
 

RPhoto

macrumors 65816
Jul 18, 2010
1,130
2,294
Surrey, UK
I'm a big fan of the change in OS10. I don't know how I was doing it, but I was one of those folks that used to accidentally change watch faces on a regular basis. That problem is now gone for me in OS10.
Same. If I folded my arms I would sometimes end up with a different watch face. Maybe I’m just folding my arms wrong, though 😄
 
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