How to Choose and Set Up the Best Apple Watch Face for You

The estimated reading time for this post is 6 minutes

Whether you’re new to Apple Watch or you’ve been wearing one for years, you should take a few minutes to make sure the watch face you’re using is the best one for you. Perhaps you didn’t know you could switch watch faces, or you chose one when you first got your Apple Watch and haven’t thought of it since.

Selecting the Apple Watch face that best suits your needs can make the Watch work much better for you. You’ll be able to get the information you need more swiftly and easily. And your Watch may be able to give you a smile when you need it.

What to Consider When Choosing an Apple Watch Face

Everyone has different needs for their Apple Watch face. Maybe you’d like your Watch to give you as much information as possible, keeping you updated on the weather, stock prices, news, your heart rate and more.

Or perhaps you’d like your Watch face to be plain and simple with minimal information beyond the time of day. Or maybe you’d like your Watch face to bring joy to your world with favorite photos, fun animations, or transformational scenes from around the world.

The good news is that whichever Watch face you choose, you’re not stuck with it. You can change Watch faces easily, as explained below.

All of these Apple Watch faces are free! Note that only faces from Apple are available for the Watch. As of this writing, third-party faces are not an option for the Apple Watch.

Analog or Digital?

Do you like rocking it old school with an analog face or are you more of a modern digital type? The good news is that many of the Watch faces offer both digital and analog options. You can even try both to see which works best for you.

How Much Information vs. Entertainment vs. Simplicity?

Do you want loads of information on your Apple Watch? Then choose a face that offers a lot of data, such as Siri, Infograph or Solar Dial. If you like information, choose a face that offers a lot of complications.

If you want to be entertained by your Watch, choose a face with a fun animation, such as Mickey Mouse or Toy Story. Or see the world pass before your eyes with Timelapse.

You can even set your Watch face to be a favorite photo or a slide show of your favorite photos.

Simple faces tell only the time, with none or one complication available. You can always access your apps by pressing the digital crown on the side.

How Much Does Activity Matter to You?

If a major reason you wear an Apple Watch is to keep track of your Activity, you may want to try one of the Activity Watch faces. Apple offers different Activity faces designed to put Activity front and center on your Watch.

Check out => 13 Reasons Why the Apple Watch May Be Your Best Fitness Tracker

Each of these can help you stay on track with your fitness at a glance.

Apple Watch Faces and What They’re Best For

Apple currently offers over 40 Watch faces, though some faces only work on more recent models of the Watch. Choose the one(s) that work best for you:

If you like a simple face with few complications, check out faces such as Color, Numerals, California, and Gradient.

If you want to be mesmerized by your Watch face, check out Kaleidoscope, Motion, Vapor, Fire and Water, and Liquid Metal.

If you want to be fascinated by photos, check out Timelapse, or Photos which lets you use your own photos as your Watch face.

If you want to see the time as clearly as possible, check out Numerals Duo and X-Large.

If you want an analog and like more complications, check out Simple and Utility.

If you want to relax, check out the Breathe faces that will remind you to take time out of your day to do breathing exercises.

If you want to maximize the data you see on your Watch, check out Infograph, Siri, and Modular.

If you want to know more about the Universe, check out Solar Dial and Astro

If you want to show your pride and/or you’re a fan of rainbows, check out the Pride faces.

Check out the Apple Watch Face Support Page at Apple’s website for more information and available complications for each face.

Complications

Complications are apps that have a place on your Watch face. They may be nestled in the corners or placed in the middle of the face, depending on the face you choose.

Use these complications to have easy access to your favorite Watch apps. Perhaps add a smart home app to control appliances in your home.

Monitor your health with the Heart Rate complication. Check the battery life of your Watch with the Battery complication. Control songs from your Watch with the Music complication. Monitor your day with complications such as Stock Prices and News.

See your Activity rings during the day with the Activity complication. Add the Workout complication to quickly start monitoring your exercise.

Use Weather, Weather Conditions, or Wind to get the weather report at a glance.

Third-party Watch apps can be complications. Check to see if your favorite apps have complications.

How to Change Your Watch Face

You can change your Watch face from either the Watch app on your iPhone or from your Watch.

Using the Watch App

The easiest and most efficient way to choose a Watch face is to open the Watch app on your iPhone and tap the Face Gallery icon in the bottom menu.

Scroll through the faces and choose the one you want to use. You can customize it in the app, such as choosing colors, analog vs. digital, and complications.

When you’re finished customizing the Watch face, tap Add to use it as your current Watch face.

Using Your Watch to Add Faces

To change the face on your Watch, press down on the screen. The current face will shrink and you’ll see a Customize button below. Swipe left to see other faces already on your Watch.

Swipe all the way to the left to add new faces to your Watch. You’ll see a + sign with NEW at the top.

Tap the + sign to see other faces you can add to your Watch. Spin the digital crown to scroll through the options. Tap a face to add it to your Watch. It will be added as your current Watch face.

Press and hold it, then tap Customize to choose options such as color. Swipe to the left to add complications. Tap on a complication, then scroll through the options by turning the digital crown.

When you’re done with your selections, press the digital crown to finalize your Watch face.

How to Easily Switch Between Watch Faces

You may find that you want to use different Apple Watch faces during certain times of your life. Maybe you want to use an Activity Watch face on the weekends when you’re more active. Or maybe you want a Watch face with more information when you’re at work.

Set up several Watch faces so you can switch easily between them. Then, use the Watch app on your iPhone to put them in the order you want. Tap My Watch in the bottom menu. Then tap the Edit button in the MY FACES section.

On the next screen, you can drag and drop the three stacked lines next to the faces to arrange them so your favorite ones are next to each other.  You can also tap the red button to the left of a face to delete it from your Watch. Tap Done to confirm your selections.

Then, when you want to switch faces, swipe right or left on your Watch screen to switch between faces.

Your Thoughts

Have you selected your favorite Apple Watch face or do you switch between several? Do you like a minimalist face or lots of data on your Watch? Which Watch face(s) do you use on your Watch?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!