As we’re submerging in the AI era, the interaction between humans and smart devices is promised to become even more intuitive and hassle-free. In the case of future smartwatches, you’ll just have to learn a bunch of hand tricks and gestures to operate your timepiece easier.
The new patent findings show several ways to control the future Apple Watch with a new array of gestures.
A notable gesture highlighted in the patent involves starting with a flat palm and fingers extended, followed by a horizontal side-to-side finger movement.
Depicted in the patent, this “side-to-side” movement could serve functions such as responding to text messages or answering calls, and it may be integrated with additional gestures. Many of the innovative user interface features revolve around the use of a clenched fist.
Like pinching, making a clenched fist could be used to press a button or choose a quick text reply. By clenching your fist and twisting your wrist, you can scroll through text suggestions or decide to answer a call or send it to voicemail.
Numerous gestures include safety features like countdown timers to avoid mistakenly accepting unwanted calls. To answer a call, clench your fist, twist your wrist, and keep it there for a few seconds.
The pinch gesture on the Apple Watch seemed more like an initial step towards an interface system than a complete UI solution. These additional gestures enhance the control of the Apple Watch by incorporating more intuitive actions.
Apple’s upcoming gestures have no official date for introduction; it could still be years away. However, once these new features are implemented, they could greatly enrich your interaction with the Apple Watch.
Back at the end of October 2023, double tap gestures landed on the Apple Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2.
There are 10 major watchOS interface actions you can induce on your Watch 9 or Watch Ultra 2 with a simple double tap finger pinch gesture and Apple lists them as follows:
- Answer and end calls.
- Snooze an alarm.
- Play or pause music, podcasts, and audiobooks.
- Initiate a primary notification action (message reply, snooze reminders) also from third party apps.
- Take an iPhone photo with the Camera Remote in the Camera app.
- View a message from notification, scroll through longer ones with an extra double tap, dictate to reply, and send.
- Open the Smart Stack from any watch face and scroll through widgets in the stack.
- Pause, resume, or end a timer or a stopwatch.
- Switch to the new Elevation view in the Compass app.
- Start or pause automatic Workout reminders.