watchOS 10.2 Beta Reintroduces Option to Change Apple Watch Faces With a Swipe

The third watchOS 10.2 beta that Apple released this week reintroduces an Apple Watch feature for swapping watch faces that was initially removed with the upgrade to watchOS 10.

apple watch ultra blue
Users can now choose to use a swipe gesture to switch the active Apple Watch face by enabling the option in the Apple Watch Settings app. With the feature turned on, swiping left or right on the watch face scrolls through the available watch faces that have been set up.

Switching watch faces with a swipe gesture was the default in watchOS 9, but Apple updated the interaction because of complaints that it was too easy to accidentally change watch faces. The current gesture requires long pressing before swiping to change the active watch face.


With watchOS 10.2, Apple Watch owners who preferred the prior method of changing their watch faces can choose to enable the setting if desired. The option is under Settings > Clock in the third beta.

watchOS 10.2 is available to both developers and public beta testers at this time, and it is expected to see a public launch in December.

Related Roundup: watchOS 26
Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
macOS Tahoe 26 Thumb

Apple Releases macOS Tahoe 26.2 With Edge Light

Friday December 12, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2, the second major update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out in September. macOS Tahoe 26.2 comes five weeks after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.1. Mac users can download the macOS Tahoe update by using the Software Update section of System Settings. macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes Edge Light, a feature that illuminates your face with soft...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
maxresdefault

iOS 26 Code Leak Reveals Apple Smart Home Hub Details

Thursday December 11, 2025 4:02 pm PST by
Apple is working on a smart home hub that will rely heavily on the more capable version of Siri that's coming next year. We've heard quite a bit about the hub over the last two years, but a recent iOS 26 code leak provides additional insight into what we can expect and confirms rumored features. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Macworld claims to have access to an ...

Top Rated Comments

rostehea Avatar
27 months ago
THANK YOU! This change has bothered me SO much.
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cobra Kai Avatar
27 months ago
How about they let give us our side button back. Why they moved control center (something I don’t even use) to the side button and removing the ability to have a favorites dock is beyond me. Feels like this years OS’s updates have been worse.
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Osxguy Avatar
27 months ago
Unpopular option but the push side button for control center is stupid!!! What happened in the watch team? Like a new team came in and made unnecessary changes? I’d understand it if it wasn’t a swipe for all the rest of the devices but it’s always been a swipe. At least make it a customizable option.
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MallardDuck Avatar
27 months ago

Really don't know why they changed it, it was perfect for many years. The layout is now stupid, you scroll the crown up for the smart stack, swipe up for the smart stack and tap your fingers for the smart stack on the newer watches, so three ways to get to the same damn thing ?‍♂️

And then they moved the control center swipe up to the side button which I still hate, ridiculous change.

I would have had it like this, swipe up for the control center as it used to be, crown up for the smart stack and finger tap for the smart stack.

And as as the side button on a single press now does nothing, maybe we could customise it to make it a second shortcut button. Or we could press the side button once to bring up the apps instead of double pressing the crown which is annoying.
Best option of all: Let the user customize what button does what function.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
haruhiko Avatar
27 months ago

Unpopular option but the push side button for control center is stupid!!! What happened in the watch team? Like a new team came in and made unnecessary changes? I’d understand it if it wasn’t a swipe for all the rest of the devices but it’s always been a swipe. At least make it a customizable option.
Totally agree. As if they find that the side button is used too rarely and purposefully force us to use it.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrGimper Avatar
27 months ago
Agree with others .... pointless change and glad it's back.

And also agree with changing side button back to a dock and swipe up for CC .... absolute numpty changes!
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)