Last month, Apple unleashed a cool new feature for the Apple Watch Series 9 at its annual event. This feature is known as ‘double tap’, and it is an attractive way for the people who interact with their watch in a new manner. However, before you jump in the air with excitement, you must know that this feature will not be available to everyone just yet. It will arrive when watchOS 10.1 will be released later in this month. But here is the great news for the people, if you are an early adopter, you can easily try it out right now with public beta of watchOS 10.1. the public beta release came right after the 2nd developer seed release which introduced double tap gesture as well.
Now one must be wondering that what is so special about this new feature? Well, it is actually one of the first new ways for controlling your Apple Watch beyond usual taps and it pinches we are used to. The main idea is to allow the owners of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 control their watch with only one hand without touching the screen. You can do it by quickly tapping the index finger and thumb together two times on the hand wearing the watch. Some testers have also discovered that other fingers can sometimes work as well. When your other hand is occupied, such as when you are holding bags or your hands are messy from cooking, this feature may be useful. Many Apple Watch users have resorted to tapping the screen with their noses in these circumstances. However, a much better option is now available thanks to the double-tap gesture.
A number of routine actions can be performed with a double tap, including taking or ending a call, starting or stopping a timer, snoozing an alarm, checking messages from a notification, controlling music and podcasts, and managing automatic workout reminders. This gesture also enables more complex interactions, such as opening a Smart Stack from any watch face and scrolling through the widgets inside the stack. It also functions for carrying out primary Notification actions, including those from apps from third parties. In these circumstances, the gesture works in conjunction with Apple’s astute guess about your preferred action, such as replying to a message or snoozing a reminder.
The faster Neural Engine in the new devices, which utilizes information from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor all processed with a new machine learning algorithm, powers the double tap. With the help of this cutting-edge technology, the watch can track changes in blood flow and wrist movements as you double-tap. Utilizing the sensors and advancements of the watch, Apple is making a feature that was previously hidden in the Accessibility settings available to everyone.