AssistiveTouch on The Apple Watch

As you may have read in this post, I broke my right wrist a few weeks ago. It’s taken some time to process what happened, and I have been spending most of my energy, appropriately, working on sorting out childcare and making sure my family is okay. My wife is incredible, and our extended family and friends are amazing. Those same people who have been enthusiastic about my recovery are also very supportive of my work here and have encouraged me to continue writing and exploring. I am so thankful for them all.

As things started to settle down, I began to understand better how long I would be in a cast (6 to 8 weeks) with significantly limited use of my dominant hand. I started thinking about how I would interface with my everyday tech.

First on the list for consideration is my Apple Watch.

After a few days of not wearing it, my wife put my watch on for me. I always wear it on my left wrist and was quickly reminded that it is a two-handed device. So, I opened the accessibility pane in the Watch app on my iPhone and started looking around.

Accessibility Options

There are quite a few accessibility features on the Apple Watch, including adding VoiceOver, bold text, reducing transparency, and an hourly chime to indicate the time.

I found AssistiveTouch and remembered reading about it when it launched with WatchOS 8. Given my current situation, the ability to use the watch through one-handed gestures was precisely what I needed.

Activating AssistiveTouch

Turning on AssistiveTouch is easy. Open the accessibility menu in the Watch app on your iPhone, scroll down to the motor section, and toggle AssistiveTouch on. You can even try it out before you activate it.

Customizing Inputs and Appearance

Once enabled, AssistiveTouch offers a variety of settings that you can adjust to fit your needs. I’ve been working with the default for hand gestures, and I’m happy with how they function. It’s taken me a few days for them to feel intuitive.

You can also adjust the contrast and color of the outline that appears on the activated area of the screen. I did not adjust the contrast, but I did change the color to orange from the default blue.

The Motion Pointer

The Motion Pointer allows you to move around the screen by adjusting your wrist. I experimented with this feature briefly but found it too cumbersome to use regularly. I discovered that when scrolling is needed, like when reviewing notifications, the auto-scroll option is presented, and I activate that.

How I Use my Watch

I use my Apple Watch a lot, and primarily in two different ways. The first is for quick data checks. I want to see what time it is (obviously), who sent a recent text, or my progress in closing my rings for the day.

The second is more involved and includes interactions that typically require some voice dictation or several taps to complete. Maybe I’m completing a task in Todoist or responding to a message via Siri dictation.

I’m finding that AssistiveTouch handles my needs well. I can review notifications, navigate my dock, and access my complications easily. I do not doubt that I’ll return to using my other hand when it heals. However, I think it’s likely that I’ll continue using AssistiveTouch.

Learning Something New

I’m thankful to have accessibility options like AssistiveTouch, and a silver lining of this injury is that it’s required me to use some of what Apple has created to continue using the Watch effectively.

I’d like to hear how you’re using accessibility features on your technology, perhaps I can learn something from you too?