Wrist detection is a feature on the Apple Watch that uses sensors on the back of the Apple Watch to detect whether or not your wrist is attached to it. However, many people see this feature as more annoying than helpful, especially when it turns your watch off every time you take it off.
To turn off wrist detection on Apple Watch, turn on the screen, go to Settings and then select Passcode. You should see the toggle to turn on or off the Wrist Detection setting in the Passcode menu. You can also find this toggle in the Passcode menu in your iPhone’s Watch app.
One thing you might not know about the wrist detection setting is it also does other things, like read your heart rate and blood oxygen levels. So let’s get into the topic of wrist detection on the Apple Watch and the pros and cons of the feature to help you decide if you want to turn it off.
How to Toggle Wrist Detection on Apple Watch
First, if you’re worried that this guide won’t work if you’re using a certain kind of Apple Watch, let your fears be assuaged. This guide will work no matter what version of Apple Watch you’re using or what version of the OS it’s running on.
To toggle the wrist detection feature in your Apple Watch:
- First, turn on the screen by lifting your wrist or tapping the digital crown. This should bring you to the home screen, where you should find and select the Settings app.
- Once the Settings app is open, scroll down until you see an option that says Passcode.
- Select this option and then scroll to the bottom of the menu that shows up. Here, you should see a toggle for the Wrist Detection setting.
- Just turn off the Wrist Detection toggle, and the wrist detection feature will no longer be activated. This means your Apple Watch won’t shut off as soon as you take it off anymore.
How to Toggle Wrist Detection in the iPhone Watch App
If your Apple Watch is connected to your iPhone, you can toggle wrist detection on your Apple Watch using your iPhone. To do this, we’ll use the iPhone’s Watch App, which should be your first stop for any Apple Watch feature you want to toggle using your iPhone.
- Begin by opening your iPhone’s Watch app and then scroll down until you see an option that says Passcode.
- In the Passcode menu, you should be greeted by the same Wrist Detection toggle that we found on your Apple Watch in the previous section.
- Like last time, if this toggle is turned off, the wrist detection feature on your Apple Watch will also be turned off. This means your watch’s screen won’t be instantly turned off as soon as it leaves your wrist anymore.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Wrist Detection?
If you’re still debating whether or not you want to turn off your Apple Watch’s wrist detection feature, you may be wondering if there’s any reason not to turn it off that you haven’t thought about yet. Let’s review the pros and cons of having the Apple Watch’s wrist detection feature on to help you decide.
Pros
There are several pros to the wrist detection feature, but the main one is security.
Wrist detection ensures that no one can use your Apple Watch without your passcode. So, for example, if someone took your Apple Watch off your wrist, the watch would immediately shut off and ask for the passcode.
Another helpful feature of the Apple Watch’s wrist detection feature is all the health apps that use it. Using this feature, your Apple Watch can detect your heart rate, blood oxygen, and sleep quality.
Cons
Despite those helpful pros, the wrist detection feature has a couple of downsides that may outweigh them for some people.
For example, one of the main problems that cause people to turn off the feature is when these people find the feature annoying. So, if you’re the type of person who likes to take off the watch while using it, it can be annoying for it to shut off instantly and ask for a password.
Another con most people wouldn’t even consider is its effects on the Apple Watch’s battery life. Because the wrist detection feature constantly uses power to detect your wrist, it increases your device’s average battery consumption.
If your Apple Watch has battery problems, you may want to consider turning off wrist detection.