Apple Watch too slow? 15 tips to speed up your Apple Watch

The unspoken rule is that gadgets tend to slow down with age. The Apple Watch is no exception. While high-end Apple Watches will always run smoothly, older generations will have battery issues and stutters. Read along to find out the solution to the last problem.

1. Restart your watch

Whenever smartphones slow down, rebooting the device solves the problem. I’m sure most of us do this to flush the cache and free up RAM. And that’s why I suggest you restart your Apple Watch as a first step.

Restart your Apple Watch and see if you notice any changes. Also, for those who don’t know, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you reset your Apple Watch.

2. Don’t keep too many apps open in the dock

The iPhone has excellent memory management and we’re not used to removing apps from the background. However, Apple Watches, especially older models, do not have this kind of hardware. So, removing apps from the background is what I recommend.

Here is how you can remove apps from the background,

1. Unlock your Apple Watch.
2. Press the side button once.
3. Swipe left on the app cards and close them one by one.

3. Reduce movement

Apple products are well-received for their fluid animations. However, this is where the device’s GPU comes into play, and this takes a toll on your device’s battery life. And since certain resources are allocated to run these animations, this can lead to choppy playback.

To avoid this, you can turn off animations on your Apple Watch. And here’s how you can do it,

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to Availability.
3. Tap Reduce Motion.
4. Turn off the “Reduce Motion”toggle on the next page.

You can do the same on iPhone as well.

4. Turn off automatic installation of applications.

Some iPhone apps have compatible Apple Watch companion apps. Whenever you install one of these apps, the companion app is installed on your Apple Watch by default. Follow these steps to turn off automatic app installs and save space on your Apple Watch.

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Touch General.
3. Turn off the “App Install Automatically”toggle.

5. Remove unwanted apps

We have disabled the setting that automatically installs companion apps in previous settings. But what about the unwanted apps that are already installed and taking up your Apple Watch’s memory? I recommend that you delete them and free up storage space.

Follow this guide to help you uninstall apps from your Apple Watch. It also has steps to help you hide apps from your Apple Watch so they look clutter-free.

6. Disable background app refresh.

The name Background App Refresh speaks for itself. Applications are constantly running and updating in the background. This is one of those features that will drain your battery very quickly, so it’s a good idea to turn it off to preserve performance and extend battery life.

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Touch General.
3. Select Background App Refresh.
4. Turn off the switch at the top. Or you can even disable the toggle switch for selected apps individually.

7. Disable automatic photo sync

You can do multiple tasks on your Apple Watch, and sometimes it replaces your iPhone. One such feature is automatic photo syncing, which allows you to view images from your iPhone to your Apple Watch. However, this comes at the cost of space on your Apple Watch.

Follow these steps to disable this feature and save space on your Apple Watch.

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to photos.
3. Turn off the Photo Sync toggle.

8. Delete Apple Music Playlists

Just like photos are synced to Apple Watch, you can also store your Apple Music playlists on Apple Watch and use them without iPhone. And by now, we know that storage on the Apple Watch is limited. Here’s how to disable this feature and save disk space:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Move on to music.
3. Turn off the switch for all or some playlists of your choice.

9. Clear website data

Considering the Apple Watch doesn’t have the Safari web browser, what website data are we talking about? Well, while the Apple Watch lacks browser support, whenever you get a link in iMessage, you can preview the link on the Apple Watch, and that’s the data that’s stored on the Apple Watch.

1. Open Settings on your Apple Watch.
2. Touch General.
3. Select Website Data.
4. Click Clear Website Data.
5. Confirm your choice by clicking “Clear data”.

PS There is a secret way to use the Safari browser on Apple Watch; check out this hack to find out more.

10. Turn off the handwash timer

Apple introduced handwashing detection in watchOS 7. While this is a useful feature, it consumes a lot of resources. And here is how you can disable this feature,

1. Open Settings on your Apple Watch.
2. Move on to washing your hands.
3. Turn off the hand wash timer switch.

11. Disable Workout Reminder

Apple Watch is a combination of smartwatch and fitness tracker. One of its main functions is to help people improve their health. And the Workout Reminder on Apple Watch serves just that purpose. But if you already have a routine and want the Apple Watch to invest its resources, follow this guide to disable the feature.

12. Turn off app updates

Yes, deleting an app is the best solution to save space on your Apple Watch. However, if you need to keep certain apps and they work fine, disabling automatic app updates is a recipe for failure. You can update the application if it has any bugs, or it should be on the current stable version. Here’s how to disable automatic app updates.

13. Update to the latest watchOS

Sometimes the version of watchOS running on your Apple Watch can be buggy. And as we know, Apple has a good track record of providing software updates for most of its devices.

We currently have watchOS 9 in beta, and watchOS 8 is stable as a rock. Follow this step-by-step guide to update your Apple Watch to the latest watchOS.

14. Reset your Apple Watch.

The final troubleshooting step you can take on your own is resetting the device. And this is exactly what you should do if none of the above methods helped solve your problem. Here is a guide to help you reset your Apple Watch.

15. Contact Apple Support

When all else fails, Apple support is your last resort. If your Apple Watch is under AppleCare or AppleCare Plus, you have nothing to worry about. Even if you don’t have a warranty, Apple Support will certainly be able to serve you and work out the best solution for you. Follow these steps to contact Apple Support.

I hope this article helped solve your problem. Apple Watch ages gracefully; however, they are electronic gadgets with an expiration date and will begin to malfunction after a certain period. It might be time to update your Apple Watch if it keeps causing problems. Also, what series of Apple Watch do you use?