{"id":112810,"date":"2025-08-02T11:14:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T11:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/112810\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T11:14:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T11:14:27","slug":"how-to-use-the-apple-watch-wrist-flick-gesture-in-watchos-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/112810\/","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 26<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Make sure your Apple Watch is compatible with the new wrist flick gesture<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Download and install watchOS 26 beta on your Apple Watch<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Head to settings, gestures, and turn on the wrist flick gesture<\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. Wait for a notification to come in and practice flicking your wrist to dismiss<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\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<\/strong> 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, <\/strong>Apple Watch Series 10<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>Apple Watch Series 9<\/strong><\/a> are wrist flick compatible<\/strong>. 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<\/strong><\/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<\/strong> 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<\/strong>. From there, scroll down until you see Gestures; tap on it.<\/strong> <\/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<\/strong> (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<\/strong>. When one does, glance down to read the incoming alert<\/strong> as you normally would, but don’t touch the screen or watch buttons<\/strong>. <\/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<\/strong>. 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":3,"featured_media":112811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[705,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-112810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114958885128079294","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}