Skip to main content

WatchOS 10: how to add widgets to your Apple Watch

WatchOS 10 is a welcome update for Apple Watch users. It not only adds new good-to-have features but also gives more functionality to the Apple Watch. One of these features is widgets that allow you to see information like the weather, calendar appointments, and more at a glance on your Apple Watch. These are immensely useful when you need to see such information on the go without needing to pick up your iPhone.

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

As mentioned above, Apple Watch widgets are part of Apple's watchOS 10 update. You can download watchOS 10 now if you want, but the software is currently a developer beta — and that means it's very buggy. You're probably better off waiting for the public beta later in the summer or the full release this fall, but if you do download watchOS 10 now and want to use the new widgets, this is how they work.

How to add watchOS 10 widgets to your Apple Watch

When you install watchOS 10, you get access to Weather, Compass, Activity, and Workout app widgets by default. But you can add more with a few taps. Here's how you can add widgets to your Apple Watch.

Step 1: Unlock your Apple Watch.

Unlock your Apple Watch.
Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends

Step 2: Swipe up to access the widgets menu, and you'll see the pre-installed widgets.

Swipe up to access the Widgets menu and you'll see the pre-installed widgets.
Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends

Step 3: Long press on one of the pinned widgets.

Long press on one of the pinned widgets.
Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends

Step 4: You will see a new menu with a + icon and a list of widgets.

You will see a new menu with "+" icon and list of widgets.
Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends

Step 5: You might need to remove one of the pre-installed widgets to add a new one. To do this, tap on the top right corner of the widget to unpin it and tap on the - sign in the top left corner to remove it.

You might need to remove one of the pre-installed widgets to add a new one. To do this, tap on the top right corner of the widget to unpin it and tap on the "-" sign on the top left corner to remove it.
Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends

Step 6: Tap on the + icon to add a new widget.

Tap the "+" icon to add a new widget.
Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends

Step 7: Tap on the widget you want to add. Reposition it by holding and dragging it, and tap on Done at the top right corner.

Tap on the widget you want to add and tap Done.
Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends

All the widgets available in watchOS 10

With watchOS 10, you get access to a lot of widgets. You can choose from the following:

  • Activity
  • Alarms
  • Astronomy
  • Audiobooks
  • Calendar
  • Compass
  • Heart Rate
  • Medications
  • Mindfulness
  • Music
  • Noise
  • Now Playing
  • Podcasts
  • Reminders
  • Shortcuts
  • Sleep
  • Stocks
  • Stopwatch
  • Timers
  • Tips
  • Wallet
  • Weather
  • Workout
  • World Clock

This list is bound to keep growing as more developers support the feature, but even this early on, it's a very strong start.

Your Apple Watch is now more powerful with watchOS 10. But Apple Watch Series 3 won't get the upcoming watchOS update, and Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, and first Generation SE will miss out on the Time in Daylight feature to help parents to keep track of their kids spending time in the sun.

Other than that, most of the new features will roll out to Apple Watch Series 4 and later — including the new widgets.

Editors' Recommendations

Prakhar Khanna
Prakhar writes news, reviews and features for Digital Trends. He is an independent tech journalist who has been a part of the…
How to fix the ‘No SIM Card Installed’ error on your iPhone
iPhone 14 Pro Max showing No SIM Available error.

Once you’ve activated your iPhone with your carrier, it should continue to work on the cellular network without any problems as long as you’re within range of a tower.

Nevertheless, the vagaries of technology mean that not everything always works the way it should, and sometimes you may encounter problems with your cellular connection. In most cases, these will manifest as not being able to place calls or get online with your data plan — conditions that are usually accompanied by a low signal indicator or a “No Service” message in the status bar.

Read more
Here are the 7 new emoji coming to your iPhone with iOS 18
2024 emoji.

It's that time of year again! The Unicode Consortium has released a preview of new emoji that will likely be included in a version of iOS 18 later this year or early next year. It will be up to Apple to officially add them to the next iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, and visionOS versions.

The new emoji announced today include ones for a sleepy face, fingerprint, leafless tree, vegetable root, harp, shovel, and splatter. The emoji examples provided by Unicode serve as starting points for Apple designers to create finished designs and are not the final images Apple will use. Google and other platform users will also work with these emoji as a starting point.

Read more
Best Apple Watch Memorial Day deals: Series 9, Ultra 2, and more
Someone wearing an Apple Watch Ultra 2, showing the Modular Ultra watch face.

Some of the best smartwatch deals are around during the Memorial Day sales. Even with the early Memorial Day deals going on right now, there are some excellent discounts on all things Apple Watch. Whatever you buy, you’re getting one of the best smartwatches, since the Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Apple Watch Series 9 are all excellent in different ways. If you’re keen to see all the early Apple Watch Memorial Day deals, we’ve rounded them up below.
Best Apple Watch SE Memorial Day deals
Apple Watch SE 2 Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The Apple Watch SE is best described as “simple, cheap, and brilliant”. The watch offers comprehensive yet simple-to-use fitness tracking and will be more than sufficient for most people. Already great value, the price gets even lower when on sale making it an irresistible buy. Here are all the best Apple Watch SE Memorial Day deals currently available.

Read more