I've used my Apple Watch in the gym for a decade – but it still has one crucial weakness

For astir 10 years nan Apple Watch has been an indispensable fittingness partner successful nan gym. I usage it each time to way my workouts, calories, time, and more. It keeps maine distant from nan distractions of my telephone while keeping maine alert to notifications from friends and family. I tin usage it to power my euphony and podcasts, clip my rest, and more.

But ever since nan advent of nan Apple Watch, nan lineup has suffered from a captious flaw that has been nan bane of my gym-going existence. I am, of course, talking astir nan accidental button-press pinch nan backmost of your hand.

The increasing size of Apple’s wearable statement has compounded this rumor somewhat successful caller years. The best Apple Watch successful 2024, nan Apple Watch Series 10, is nan company's largest main-line exemplary yet, and nan Apple Watch Ultra 2's monolithic size does it nary favors either. Gym-going Apple Watch users desperately request an reply to this problem, and I mightiness person recovered a imaginable solution.

Setting nan scene

For nan record, I deterioration my Apple Watch broadly really Apple says you should. On my wrist, of course, but much specifically connected my near wrist, pinch nan broadside fastener and Digital Crown connected nan right, wherever they tin beryllium operated utilizing my correct hand. I cognize that Apple’s Watch setup process lets you orientate nan Watch nan different measurement astir and that you tin deterioration it connected nan different wrist. But this is nan measurement I for illustration to deterioration my watch, and it’s nan measurement that astir often appears successful Apple’s ain trading and promotion shots.

So what’s nan problem? At slightest erstwhile each workout, sometimes much depending connected nan session, I extremity up pressing nan Digital Crown aliases nan broadside fastener (or some astatine nan aforesaid time) accidentally during workouts. I person reasonably normal-sized hands and arms, but I person ne'er not struggled pinch nan separator of my Apple Watch being squeezed up against my wrist aliases nan apical of my hand.

It’s peculiarly problematic during wrist-loaded exercises for illustration pushups, chair press, tricep extensions, dips, squats, aliases really thing that involves your wrist flexing backmost towards your elbow.

As Apple has added much functionality to these buttons, nan frustrations person compounded complete time. I now find myself regularly pausing my workout tracking, aliases nan euphony that’s playing, inadvertently during workouts. The second is distracting and tin disrupt your travel and rhythm, while nan erstwhile is peculiarly annoying if you don’t cognize your workout is nary longer being recorded until respective minutes later.

My regular driver is now nan Apple Watch Ultra 2, which adds much jeopardy into nan operation because of its 86-decibel siren, which I’ve recovered myself involuntarily triggering connected much than 1 occasion, overmuch to nan bemusement of my chap gym-goers.

The problem is now truthful bad I routinely person to set my Apple Watch up of immoderate exercises, and successful my frustration, I’ve moreover removed it altogether successful a huff.

It’s not a deal-breaker for me, but it’s nan astir joyless portion of owning an Apple Watch that I find to beryllium different flawless for each my gym-going and fitness-tracking needs. However, I deliberation I mightiness person travel up pinch a solution.

A solution adjacent to home

If you’ve utilized Apple Watch successful nan shower, bath, aliases for swimming, you’ll cognize it has a reasonably blase Water Lock strategy designed to forestall accidental touchscreen inputs successful water. Water Lock is utilized astatine nan extremity of swims to eject h2o from your speakers, but much importantly, it stops your Apple Watch from detecting touchscreen inputs that could disrupt your workout search aliases moreover extremity it altogether.

It’s intolerable to move disconnected Water Lock by accident, and I really for illustration it arsenic a characteristic for swimming. So why can’t Apple adopt a reverse fastener property characteristic for workouts? What if watchOS 11 had a characteristic that could disable fastener presses by default during definite types of workouts, and that could only beryllium unlocked by touch surface input aliases a deliberate fastener property for illustration holding nan Digital Crown?

The Apple Watch’s buttons are important for Emergency SOS features and tin beryllium utilized to region workout search aliases people segments successful a session, truthful I’m not suggesting a characteristic that prevents their usage altogether. But something, thing that could make these buttons conscionable a spot harder to accidentally activate while weightlifting would beryllium an absolute life-saver and a characteristic I’d ne'er move off.

A much precocious implementation could moreover usage accelerometer information to observe erstwhile an workout is successful progress, disabling nan buttons during sets, but reactivating them while you’re resting. It’s a niche characteristic but 1 that could besides use runners aliases triathletes worried astir accidentally disrupting their workout search during events. The Water Lock characteristic that prevents accidental touchscreen incidents is genius, and I don’t spot why Apple’s beingness buttons can’t get a akin feature.

The last portion of nan puzzle

I won’t beryllium ditching my Apple Watch successful nan gym anytime soon, but I would emotion to judge nan instrumentality has a early wherever accidental fastener presses successful nan gym are a point of nan past. I genuinely judge it’s nan only point holding nan instrumentality backmost from perfection. Until then, I’ll support struggling distant pinch adjustments and nan occasional siren to support nan remainder of nan gym connected their toes.

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