What is AssistiveTouch on your Apple Watch and when should you use it?

AssistiveTouch is an accessibility feature on your Apple Watch that allows you to control the device without touching the screen. This feature, built into Apple Watch running the latest watchOS version, uses data from the gyroscope, accelerometer, and optical heart rate sensor to detect subtle movements.

Once enabled, you can perform various actions like tapping buttons, scrolling, and even using Apple Pay, all without directly touching the screen. These actions can be customized to suit your preferences. For instance, a single tap could open the Notification Center, while a double tap might bring up a new feature.

The feature also includes a "Try it out" option in the Hand Gestures settings, which provides a guided animation to help you understand how to use the AssistiveTouch gestures. Once activated, a highlight appears around screen elements, indicating which will be tapped when you make the assigned gesture.

Although primarily designed for accessibility, AssistiveTouch can be beneficial in everyday situations too, such as when your hands are occupied. However, it's important to note that enabling AssistiveTouch will disable Apple's universal double tap gesture, which you'd typically use to answer calls or scroll through widgets.

AssistiveTouch is one of the lesser-known, yet highly useful features on your Apple Watch. It's worth exploring other accessibility settings as well, like Auto-Answer Calls or Show Audio Transcriptions, and even adjusting Text Size for better visibility. For Apple Watch Ultra users, learning to assign different actions to the Action Button could also be beneficial.