You’ve Been Wearing Your Apple Watch Wrong All This Time

I’ve been reviewing the Apple Watch Series 6 for the past few days, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty to say about it in the near future. I’ve long thought that the Apple Watch is a valuable productivity tool, and the Series 6 improves on that in a few important ways. 

We’ll have to get to those another day. For now, however, I want to talk about something even more important, because, honestly, most people are wearing their Apple Watch wrong. It’s something I’ve noticed but I’m not sure most people even realize there’s a better way. Hear me out.

Most of you probably orient your watch so that the Digital Crown is in the upper right-hand corner if you are wearing it on your left wrist.  That’s the orientation Apple uses to show the watch on its website and in photos. It makes sense that you would think that’s the normal way to wear a watch. 

Except, it isn’t the best way. 

Instead, you should be wearing it so that if it’s on your left wrist, the Digital Crown is on the lower left side of the display. Technically, what I’m suggesting isn’t wearing your watch upside down, the display will still look correct. In fact, Apple has a simple setting you can change to make this happen. 

Before you tell yourself that this idea is absurd, I assure you this is a real thing. Here’s why it’s the best way to wear an Apple Watch: 

One of the most frustrating things about wearing an Apple Watch has always been the number of times I would inadvertently trigger Siri because the Digital Crown would get pushed in by the back of my hand. It happened a lot. That’s probably because I don’t have small wrists, but it’s also because the position in the upper right-hand corner was a prime location for getting pushed in.

Sure, I could disable the ability to press the Digital Crown to summon Siri, but I shouldn’t have to turn off a feature entirely just to avoid accidentally activating it. Instead, by reorienting the watch, the Digital Crown is in a better location and is protected from getting squished by my hand.

In a similar way, when I wasn’t triggering Siri, I often found that whatever I would listen to would suddenly get very quiet–or, even worse, very loud. That’s because it was easy to nudge the crown just enough to make the watch think I wanted to change the volume.

In the opposite position, the Digital Crown is in the perfect location for using your thumb to quickly adjust the volume. Seriously, it’s so much more convenient and feels more natural than using your pointer finger to move the dial on the outside of the crown. 

Speaking of your thumb, let’s be honest, it isn’t the most effective tool for swiping. It is, however, great for pressing things, like the Digital Crown on your watch. With it on the lower left side, it’s in the perfect location for your thumb to press, unlike the default position where your pointer finger has to do a contortion routine to press it in. 

Plus, your finger is much better at swiping than your thumb anyway. And, in watchOS 7, your watch continues to do more, meaning you’re going to be interacting with it even more than you have in the past. All of those interactions are better when your finger can comfortably swipe through options, and your thumb comes alongside to press in the crown whenever it’s needed. 

Ready to make the change? Thankfully, Apple makes it pretty simple. 

In the Watch app on your iPhone,  tap “General,” then “Watch Orientation,” and then choose “Digital Crown on Left Side” if you’re wearing it on your left wrist. The opposite is true if you wear your watch on your right wrist.