Double Tap comes to Apple Watch Ultra 2 & Series 9 with today's watchOS 10.1 update

News
By Oliver Haslam
published

It's finally here.

Apple Watch Series 9, Double Tap feature
(Image credit: Apple)

Owners of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 can now take advantage of the Double Tap feature that was shown off during both of their unveilings back in September. That's after Apple released watchOS 10.1 to the public, adding that feature and more to the mix.

The new update is now available for download by everyone who has a compatible Apple Watch, but you'll need to be using the latest models to take advantage of double tap. The feature allows users to double-tap their fingers to interact with apps on their Apple Watch which makes it perfect for use when you only have one hand free.

The new update has been in beta for weeks now, but everyone who wants it can install the update via the Watch app on their iPhone right now.

Convenient and delightful

Apple confirmed the arrival of the double tap in an announcement press release, saying that it is a "convenient, delightful experience" to use. It goes on to say that the double tap gesture " is helpful in common situations when the user’s other hand is occupied, such as when walking the dog, cooking, or holding a cup of coffee."

In terms of when the double tap gesture can be used, Apple outlined a handful of options that will be available to users right out of the gate. Those options include answering and ending calls, stopping and resuming a stopwatch, snoozing an alarm, and more. You are even able to use a double-tap gesture to take a photo on your iPhone, too.

It's of course a shame that this feature isn't officially supported by older Apple Watches, but Apple says that's down to the new S9 SIP used in the latest models and its ability to perform machine learning tasks twice as fast as older generations.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

2 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Just_Me_D
    I’ll go ahead and update my Watch Ultra 2 and give it a try.
    Reply
  • Just_Me_D
    My initial experience is that it doesn’t always register the double-taps, but it. It improved quickly however. I’ve just been using it with the Music app and I changed the default from “stop/play” to “skip”. Double-tapping to go to the next song is you’re nice.

    Still, I don’t know how often I’ll use the double-tap feature, only time will tell.
    Reply