Apple in watchOS 26 has added a new one-handed wrist-flick gesture to easily dismiss notifications, but the gesture only works on newer Apple Watch models.
When you raise your wrist to check a notification but aren’t ready to respond, you can now simply flick your wrist – turn it over and back – to dismiss it. The quick gesture lets you dismiss notifications and incoming calls, silence timers and alarms, and return to the watch face.
It works by using the accelerometer and gyroscope in your watch, along with a machine learning model that analyzes your wrist movement. However, the functionality is limited to Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
The watchOS 26 interface adopts Apple's new Liquid Glass design, while Apple Intelligence powers a new Workout Buddy feature that provides personalized, spoken motivation. There's also a new layout for the Workout app, and it now offers music to listen to based on your tastes and workout type. Apple Watch now also supports Live Translation in Messages.
watchOS 26 is available for testing now through the Apple Developer Program, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month.
Thursday September 10, 2026 11:57 am PDT by Juli Clover
Some Apple Watch users who upgrade to the Series 12 or the Ultra 4 might temporarily lose access to hypertension notifications.
On the watchOS feature availability page, Apple says notifications might not be available on the Series 12 or Ultra 4 at launch because regulatory clearances are in process.
Hypertension Notifications may not be available on Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4 in your ...
Monday September 14, 2026 10:03 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released watchOS 27, the newest version of the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 27 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 9 and later, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later, and the Apple Watch SE 3.
watchOS 27 can be downloaded for free on a compatible device through the Settings app on the watch.
The update introduces support for Siri AI, a more capable...
Wednesday September 9, 2026 12:06 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of watchOS 27, visionOS 27, and tvOS 27 to developers and public beta testers. The release candidates are the final versions of the updates that will be seeded to the public as long as no final bugs are found during this last round of testing.
The updates can be installed through the Software Update section in the Settings app on each...
[Y]ou can now simply flick your wrist – turn it over and back – to [...] dismiss notifications and incoming calls, silence timers and alarms, and return to the watch face.
The functionality is limited to Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2
Wow. Not a good wow, though. One might, naively, expect such a feature to work even on much older models.
Wow. Not a good wow, though. One might, naively, expect such a feature to work even on much older models.
Agreed, this is complete BS. All Apple Watch models from the series 0 have had Lift to Wake, which uses the exact same accelerometer as this feature given the gesture required to activate it. Limiting it to the 9 and newer is 100% artificial gatekeeping out of greed.
