Water is electronics‘ worst enemy, at least not to Apple. Apple Watch boasts several things, like measuring your heart rate, counting steps, and receiving notifications. But is the world’s leading smartwatch immune to water?
The Apple Watch and Apple Watch SE are water resistant, with an IPX7 rating, meaning you can submerge them up to 1 meter underwater for up to 30 minutes. While not fully waterproof, swimming with in shallow waters for a few minutes will do no harm. The Apple Watch Ultra is waterproof, though.
Does it then mean that liquid spills, rain, and other liquid accidents won‘t cause permanent damage to your Apple Watch? It is complicated. Let’s see why.
Are Apple Watches Waterproof?
All models of Apple Watches are at least water-resistant, but none of them is waterproof. What‘s the difference? A waterproof watch is impervious (fully immune) to water. On the other hand, water-resistant watches resist water penetration to some extent.
Apple designed its 1st generation watch splash resistant and highly warned against submerging them in water. However, the company improved this with the newer models. As a result, the newer models are more resistant, and you can use them for shallow water activities such as showering and swimming.
While it’s perfectly okay to shower with your Apple Watch, keep soap, conditioners, detergents, dyes, and shampoos away from the watch. These can negatively impact your watch. A crack in the screen will also affect its water resistance.
However, your watch’s resistance to water is not permanent. Unfortunately, it will diminish with time and everyday wear. So, if your watch isn’t resistant, it may be time to upgrade to a new one.
Can You Go Swimming with an Apple Watch On?
Good news! You can swim with your Apple Watch, provided it‘s not the 1st Gen Apple Watch. Even so, your Apple Watch can only resist water up to a 1-meter depth and for 30 minutes. You cannot use your watch for water skiing and scuba diving.
Note: Not all watch bands are compatible with water. For instance, leather and stainless steel bands are not water resistant, and you shouldn‘t expose them to liquids.
How to Set a Swimming Workout on Your Apple Watch
You can even set up a swimming workout on your watch. Here‘s how to do it:
- First, open the Workout App on your watch.
- Next, tap Open Water Swim if you are swimming in a lake or ocean or Pool Swim if you are in a swimming pool.
- Tap the three-dot (More) buttons to adjust the time goals, distance, or calories.
- For Pool Swim, use the Digital Crown to set the pool length. This helps improve the accuracy of the distance and laps covered.
Apple Watch Series 2 and later models have a water lock feature that automatically locks the screen if it senses you are swimming. The feature helps to prevent accidental taps. Your watch will also measure and record your heart rate as you swim.
How to Clean Water Out of Your Watch
You don’t necessarily have to activate the water lock feature before getting your watch wet. You can clear water out of your watch manually. Here’s how to do it:
- First, swipe your screen up to open the Control Center.
- Next, tap the Water Droplet icon.
- Now, turn the Digital Crown to unlock your watch’s screen and eject water from its speaker. For watchOS 8 or earlier, rotate the Digital Crown instead of pressing.
You’ll hear sounds and vibrations as the water ejects.
Cleaning Out Non-Water Substances
If you expose it to soap, dye, or other substance that is not water, clean it with fresh warm water and dry it with a lint-free cloth. Here are the dos and don‘ts when your watch gets wet:
- Avoid shaking or using sprays and heat to dry your watch.
- Don‘t insert anything in the openings, i.e., speaker ports and microphone.
- Rinse your Apple Watch (Series 2 and newer models) gently using fresh, warm running water when you are done swimming.
- You can also leave it to charge overnight, speeding up the evaporation rate.
Water will affect the barometric altimeter on your Apple Watch Series 3 (on Amazon) and newer models. However, you can expect average performance after all the water has evaporated.
What to Avoid When Wearing Your Apple Watch
A few things can affect the water resistance of your watch. So here are preventive measures to take when wearing your Apple Watch:
- Avoid dropping your Apple Watch and subjecting it to impacts.
- Do not cliff dive or high dive with your watch on.
- Don’t wear your watch in a steam room or sauna with temperatures above 130°F (55°C).
- Don’t expose your Apple Watch to soap, detergents, hair dye, oil, sunscreen, acids, or lotions.