5 easy tweaks to turn your distracting Apple Watch into a quiet fitness tracker

I love my Apple Watch, and I know I’m not alone—the device dominates the wearables market and is easily the best smartwatch money can buy.

But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect, and there are plenty of ways that it can feel below par, even irritating at times. Few of those factors are more conspicuous than the way it can sometimes serve as a wrist-worn distraction tool. With the rise of screenless, silent trackers like the Whoop and Fitbit Air, the Apple Watch’s tendency to buzz and bleep all day can be overwhelming. 

If you’re sick of getting constantly pinged by your Apple Watch, I’ve got good news: there are a plethora of ways you can rein in the worst excesses of watchOS and turn your device into a calmer, quieter tracker. Just follow the steps in this guide and relief will be close at hand.

Turn on Silent Mode

When you want to mute everything in a quick, simple way, switch on your Watch’s Silent Mode so there will no longer be an audible sound when you get a notification. This is something of a nuclear option, but it guarantees a peaceful watch experience.

To get started, press the Watch’s side button to open Control Center, then tap the bell button. The button will turn red and a line will be drawn through it to indicate that alerts are muted.

Britta O’Boyle

Note that this does not turn off haptic vibrations. To do that, open the Settings app on your Apple Watch, then scroll down and go to Sounds & Haptics > Haptics. Tap Off.

For a less dramatic change, you can reduce alert volume. For this, you’ll need to return to the Sounds & Haptics section of your Watch’s Settings app. Select Level from the list of options, then tap Quieter.

Use Focus modes

Focus modes are a more tailored way to keep notifications in check. They can block certain alerts at certain times and have a wide array of customizable options.

First, press the side button to open your Apple Watch’s Control Center. Tap the Focus button (it looks like a crescent moon), select a Focus mode, then set how long you want it to be in effect for. The options here are based on the Focus modes created on your iPhone. Any custom Focus modes you create on your iPhone (by going to Settings > Focus) can be used on your Apple Watch.

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When you enable a Focus mode on your Watch, it is automatically enabled on your iPhone too (and vice versa). If you want it to be applied to all of your Apple devices, open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to Focus, then switch on Share Across Devices.

You can go further by adding a Focus watch face. This sets a different face on your Watch whenever a specific Focus mode is active. That’s handy if you want a less distracting watch face while Do Not Disturb is running, for example.

On your iPhone, open the Settings app and go to Focus, then tap a Focus mode. Under Customize Screens, tap Choose under the Apple Watch face. Pick a watch face from the list of options, then tap the checkmark. Now, whenever you enable this Focus mode, your Watch face will change.

Focus modes can also be scheduled. On your Apple Watch, open the Settings app and go to Focus, tap a Focus mode, then choose Add New. Pick start and end times under From and To, then select which days the schedule will be active. Tap the back button to save your schedule. Or you can grab your iPhone and go to Settings > Focus, pick a Focus mode, then tap Add Schedule.

Tame your notifications

When you get a notification on your Apple Watch, you can swipe left on it to see options to mute it. You can mute it for one hour or for the rest of the day. Tapping Add to Summary will send future alerts from the app to your iPhone’s Notification Summary instead of immediately buzzing your wrist. Time-sensitive alerts can also be disabled from this menu, or you can switch off the app’s notifications entirely.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Alternatively, you can control notifications for all your Apple Watch apps in one place. Open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to My Watch > Notifications. Scroll down to Mirror iPhone Alerts From and disable the toggle next to any apps whose notifications you no longer want to see on your wrist.

Or if you’d rather simply get more control over app notifications, scroll up to the list of apps above the Mirror iPhone Alerts From section, tap one, then adjust its settings as needed. Some apps let you set your own notification rules. On an app’s page, scroll down to Notification Settings, then tap Custom. Tap Notifications Off if you want to disable all alerts for that app.

Cull the apps you don’t need

If an app is on your Watch and you haven’t changed its notification settings, it can send you alerts. The more apps you’ve are installed, the more notifications you end up getting, which can be a problem.

Chris Martin / Foundry

A simple way to fix this is to remove apps you don’t use on your Watch. Press the Digital Crown to see the list of apps installed on your Apple Watch. Press and hold an empty area of the display until the apps start to jiggle. Tap the X button on an app you want to remove, then tap Delete App.

Another option is to install apps manually rather than have them automatically transfer across from your iPhone. To do this, open the Watch app on your iPhone and tap General, then disable the toggle next to Automatic App Install.

Prevent watch face takeovers

Some apps automatically take over your entire watch face when they’re active. While this can be useful at time—such as when you use Apple Maps for directions—other times it can be overly distracting.

One way to limit this is to turn off Live Activities. Open the Settings app on your Watch and go to General > Auto-Launch > Live Activities Settings. For a quick fix, turn off the toggle next to Auto-Launch Live Activities. This will keep Live Activities as an option, but it will prevent them from starting by themselves.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Alternatively, you can disable Live Activities completely by switching off the toggle next to Allow Live Activities.

Sometimes, you might also find that Siri has partially obscured the clock when you lift your wrist to check the time. This is due to Siri’s Raise to Wake feature mistaking random conversation for a voice command. This can be turned off by opening the Settings app on your Watch, then tapping Siri and disabling Raise to Speak.

With that, you should get a clearer, less obstructed view of your watch face, keeping you on track and less distracted whenever you glance at your Apple Watch.