Since its debut in 2015, one of the Apple Watch‘s most popular features has been the ability to customize the watch face to match your personal style. With over 30 built-in faces ranging from classic analog designs to artsy digital renditions and animated Disney characters, the options span from subdued to flashy.
But while swapping Apple Watch bands lets you change styles in seconds, many users don‘t dig deeper into customizing the face itself. Learning how to change these faces only takes a few minutes, but provides endless possibilities to make your watch uniquely yours!
In this guide, I‘ll walk step-by-step through customizing your Apple Watch faces using the Watch app. You‘ll learn how to:
- Browse and select from different face galleries
- Edit colors, complications, photos and styles
- Use shortcuts to swap faces automatically
- Troubleshoot syncing or changing issues
Follow along to take your standard Apple Watch setup up a notch with faces tailored exactly how you like them. Let‘s dive in to building watch faces as personal as your fingerprint!
A Brief History of Apple Watch Faces
When the original Apple Watch launched, critics and consumers alike were intrigued by the idea of customizable watch faces. Traditional analog watches stayed stagnant with the same bare metal and numbered design. Meanwhile Apple embraced personalization, starting with a gallery of 10 vibrant digital and analog options.
Product developer Imran Chaudhri explains Apple‘s motivation around centering the Apple Watch experience around special moments in users‘ lives:
"We wanted to bring that type of memory, that special thing back. So we thought, how do we make it personal and about you? Well, we could put your own photos in there!"
Apple has expanded the watch face catalog every year since, jumping to over 30 choices by 2022. Users can now select photo faces featuring their own images, artistic jellyfish and butterfly motifs, lunar cycle calendars, dynamic weather data, modular dashboard layouts, and labels oriented for southpaws.
Annual software updates add inventive new faces while retaining customer favorites. With rumors indicating a flat edge and larger display incoming for the Apple Watch Series 8, the palette for personalization grows bigger in 2023.
Now let‘s explore how you can tap into these customization superpowers on your own Apple Watch!
Step 1: Open the Apple Watch App on iPhone
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The key to configuring any Apple Watch settings is the Watch app installed on your paired iPhone. This dedicated app handles everything from initial setup and installing apps to controlling notifications and monitoring fitness.
To connect with your device, ensure Bluetooth is activated on your iPhone. Then open the Watch app from your home screen (it should live inside your Applications folder if not on the main view).
At the bottom, tap the My Watch tab to access all available settings. Now any changes made on the iPhone will instantly sync over to your watch face.
Step 2: Swipe to Your Current Watch Face Gallery
Inside the My Watch screen, select Face Gallery to view small thumbnail previews of the faces saved on your watch.
Swipe left and right horizontally across the Face Gallery to scroll through the entire catalog. Pay attention to see your actual watch face transform live as you browse different thumbnails.
You can also use the Digital Crown dial on the side of your watch to turn back or advance through the Face Gallery one face at a time.
Step 3: Tap a Face to Edit Colors, Complications & Styles
Found the perfect watch face for your mood or outfit? Tap on its thumbnail image to open larger customization and configuration options. Here you can:
- Rearrange complications like date windows, maps, alarms or third-party app shortcuts
- Edit colors on the background, watch hands, numerals and markings
- Add photos from your camera roll for unique personalization
- Modify styles and textures depending on the watch face type
Review all the changes on your watch until you have its look fine-tuned. Press the Digital Crown when everything looks just how you like to set this face as your new active selection!
Step 4: Reorder Faces in Your Gallery
Notice after you activate a customized face, it moves to become the leftmost option in your Face Gallery. You can edit the order of the entire gallery by tapping Edit at the bottom.
Drag and drop thumbnail images to reorder your gallery based on personal preference. Position frequently used go-to options on the far left for quickest access from your watch screen.
Choosing the Best Watch Faces for You
Apple includes over 30 watch faces spanning digital and analog styles to fit any taste. Here are some top picks for popular use cases:
Photo Face
Without question, the Photo face is among the most cherished Apple Watch customizations. Simply select an image from your iPhone camera roll like family portraits, pet pics or vacation snaps to make the background personal.
The watch auto-crops and scales images to fit. But center-focused, close-up shots with bright colors work best. Surprise loved ones by sending your watch face photo!
Modular Face
Modular acts like a digital dashboard where you construct your own watch face layout. Mix and match complication modules of varying sizes displaying maps, calendars, reminder lists and more.
It‘s perfect for business users, those with packed schedules or anyone desiring an at-a-glance view their day. Drag and drop modules until you have just the right information console.
Activity Faces
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The Analog and Digital Activity faces cater to fitness junkies by spotlighting Move, Exercise and Stand ring progress. The bold red/green/blue gauges dominate the display, keeping real-time activity metrics front and center!
Artsy and Animated Faces
Apple stretches creative boundaries with watch faces depicting ocean depths, butterflies, astronauts, liquid metal stylings and even animated Disney characters and Star Wars droids.
If you think of your watch as wearable art rather than a timekeeping tool, have fun expressing your individuality with these conversation-starting style statements!
Pro Tip: Use Automations to Swap Faces
Manually selecting watch faces gives you total control. However, some users enjoy automating the process based on factors like date, time, sunrise/sunset and location using the iOS Shortcuts app.
For example, you could program your watch to:
- Display a photo family face from 9am-5pm while working
- Switch to the bold Stripes style before happy hour events
- Show a different Disney character animation each day of the week
Mix and match triggers to build a custom curated collection matching your daily life and style!
Troubleshooting Common Watch Face Issues
Faces Don‘t Sync Between Devices
If you customize a watch face on your iPhone, but don‘t see the change reflected on your watch, a syncing problem is likely preventing updates between the devices.
First, force quit and restart the Watch app to refresh the connection. If that fails, restart both the iPhone and Apple Watch by holding the side buttons down until you see the power off sliders.
Turning both devices completely off and back on essentially resets the watch pairing. Launch the Watch app afterwards to resync all data from scratch.
Watch Face Changes Unexpectedly
Sometimes your watch face may seem to randomly change without doing anything. This happens if you inadvertently swipe left or right off the edge of the screen.
This gesture cycles through your full face gallery order. To lock your preferred face and prevent accidental swipes, use the Digital Crown button to manually select it again.
Limited Watch Faces on Older Models
Apple expands its built-in first-party watch face suite with every new watchOS annual software update. However, older Apple Watch models may max out with around 20-30 options.
To unlock the full catalog of faces, upgrade your watch to the latest generation device running watchOS 9. Select compatible third-party watch apps can also supply additional customized faces.
Wrap Up
Part of what makes the Apple Watch such a hot smartwatch pick is self-expression flexibility. From mixing and matching bands to custom tailoring personalized faces, you can transform your watch daily to match anything from your wardrobe to your mood.
We just scratched the surface of the possibilities here. Now that you know the steps to access and configure faces, take some time to explore the vast Apple Catalog. Combine complications, colors and styles to craft watches perfect for business meetings, exotic vacations, sport events or everyday adventures!
What custom watch faces are you excited to try next? Let your imagination run wild to make a mini wearable masterpiece on your wrist!
