{"id":54967,"date":"2025-08-02T12:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T12:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/54967\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T12:39:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T12:39:12","slug":"how-to-use-the-apple-watch-wrist-flick-gesture-in-watchos-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/54967\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use the Apple Watch wrist flick gesture in watchOS 26"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new Apple Watch wrist flick gesture<\/a> is one of the more subtle updates introduced with the latest watchOS 26 public beta release. Yet, even as features like the AI-powered Workout Buddy and refreshed Liquid Glass<\/a> aesthetic garner the most public interest, I\u2019m quickly finding Apple\u2019s latest gesture control to be my favorite part of watchOS 26.<\/p>\n

The concept behind wrist flick is simple. Rather than having to swipe away incoming notifications on your Apple Watch<\/a> when they pop up on the screen, the new gesture lets you dismiss them hands-free with, as the name suggests, a quick flick of the wrist.<\/p>\n

Want to try Apple\u2019s new wrist flick gesture yourself? I\u2019ll walk you through the relatively straightforward setup process (four steps) and give you a quick overview of the ins and outs of flicking your Apple Watch-worn wrist like a pro.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

How to use the Apple Watch wrist flick gesture in watchOS 26Make sure your Apple Watch is compatible with the new wrist flick gestureDownload and install watchOS 26 beta on your Apple WatchHead to settings, gestures, and turn on the wrist flick gestureWait for a notification to come in and practice flicking your wrist to dismiss<\/p>\n

Read on to see full illustrated instructions for each step. <\/p>\n

1. Make sure your Apple Watch is compatible with the new wrist flick gesture<\/p>\n

\n\"Apple\n<\/p>\n

(Image: \u00a9 Future)<\/p>\n

First, to use Apple\u2019s new wrist flick gesture, you\u2019ll need to ensure that you have a compatible Apple Watch model. The watchOS 26 public beta is for Apple Watch Series 6<\/a> devices and newer, including the newest Apple Watch SE (2022)<\/a> and both Apple Watch Ultra<\/a> models.<\/p>\n

However, only the Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple Watch Series 10<\/a> and Apple Watch Series 9<\/a> are wrist flick compatible. You\u2019ll also need an iPhone 11 or newer to download and install the newest iOS software (more on that in the next step).<\/p>\n

2. Download and install watchOS 26 beta on your Apple Watch<\/p>\n

\n\"Close-up\n<\/p>\n

(Image: \u00a9 Dan Bracaglia\/Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve verified that your devices are eligible for the latest software, it\u2019s time to download and install the iOS 26 public beta on your iPhone<\/a>. You\u2019ll need to do this before you can install the latest Apple Watch software.<\/p>\n

With iOS 26 beta up and running on your iPhone, it\u2019s now time to download and install watchOS 26 beta on your Apple Watch 9, 10 or Ultra 2. The whole process takes about 45 minutes and is pretty simple, but if you need some help, here’s a step-by-step guide to the watchOS 26 beta installation process<\/a>. <\/p>\n

3. Head to settings, gestures, and turn on the wrist flick gesture<\/p>\n

\n\"Close-up\n<\/p>\n

(Image: \u00a9 Dan Bracaglia\/Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve got watchOS 26 beta loaded up, it’s nearly time to start wrist-flicking, but first, let’s make sure the gesture is switched on. To do this, head to the app screen and open Settings. From there, scroll down until you see Gestures; tap on it. <\/p>\n

Once in Gestures, scroll down past Double Tap until you see Wrist Flick. Ensure the slider to the right is in the on position (showing green). You\u2019re now ready to use the new wrist flick gesture!<\/p>\n

4. Wait for a notification to come in and practice flicking your wrist to dismiss it<\/p>\n

\n\"Close-up\n<\/p>\n

(Image: \u00a9 Dan Bracaglia\/Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

With the feature turned on, exit the settings menu and wait for a notification to come in. When one does, glance down to read the incoming alert as you normally would, but don’t touch the screen or watch buttons. <\/p>\n

When you’re done reading the notification, turn your watch-worn wrist away from your body and then back toward you in quick succession. This should dismiss the notification and return the screen to the main watch face view.<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Dan Bracaglia\/Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

In addition to app notifications, the wrist flick gesture can also be used to manage incoming phone calls, alarms, timers and even the Smart Stack. Simple to master, I can assure that after a few days of flicking away notifications on your Apple Watch, you\u2019ll wonder how you ever got by without this nifty new feature.<\/p>\n

Want to learn about more cool things you can do with your Apple Watch thanks to the latest software release? Here are my five favorite watchOS 26 upgrades<\/a> so far. The list includes Apple\u2019s new personalized, AI-powered Workout Buddy<\/a>, the refreshed Liquid Glass<\/a> aesthetic, live message translations and more.<\/p>\n

More from Tom’s Guide<\/p>\n

Today’s best Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 10 deals<\/p>\n

Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new Apple Watch wrist flick gesture is one of the more subtle updates introduced with the latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[166,74],"class_list":["post-54967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-gadgets","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}