Every Apple Watch release includes new watch faces, and we expect more to come when the upcoming watchOS 11 arrives this fall. But after almost 10 years of Apple’s smartwatch, there’s still one glaring limitation — we can’t add any faces we want.
Well, that’s officially it.
it IS it is possible to install other watch faces and you don’t even need to hack or modify the Apple Watch. Third-party apps have figured out how to work around Apple’s limitations — in an approved way — to greatly expand the options for watch faces. If you’re bored with the current options and have been thinking about giving your Apple Watch a facelift, it’s time to look at alternatives.
Read more: Old clock in the drawer? Use Apple Watch as a smart home remote.
First, let’s show you how to switch between Apple Watch faces
Apple’s collection of watch faces includes dozens of designs and variations, from simulated analog faces that evoke minimal real-world watches to information-dense displays that pack as much data into as little space as possible. You can have up to 50 faces ready, which are easily switched by swiping from the left or right edge of the Apple Watch screen. (If this doesn’t work, make sure you’ve updated to WatchOS 10.6. The initial release of 10.0 removed this handy feature.)
There are two ways to add faces, through the watch itself or your iPhone.
On your watch:
- Touch and hold the watch face until you see the picker interface — the face shrinks to make room for its name, a share button, and an Edit button.
- Swipe left until you see New screen and tap on + the button.
- Scroll through the options. They’re listed alphabetically, so if you know which one you want, scroll quickly using the Digital Crown to skip through the alphabet. touch Submit for what you want.
- Change any of the face options, such as color and complications (features built into some faces).
- Press the Digital Crown to finish editing and activate the face.
Adding a new watch face using Apple’s built-in faces.
On your iPhone, do this:
- Open the Watch app and tap Gallery of Faces in the end.
- Select and configure the face you want.
- touch Submit the button.
Thanks to complementary complications, custom faces are possible
A record number of complications in the Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260.
In traditional hours, a complication it is usually an additional mechanism in addition to the main clock hands, such as a built-in stopwatch or a smaller watch that you can set to a different time zone for your jet setting lifestyle.
On the Apple Watch, complications are assigned to dedicated areas and display information such as current weather conditions, activity rings, or the current compass direction. Tapping a complication usually opens an associated app, such as Weather or Calendar.
Third-party developers have seized this opening, creating their own complications to run in those spaces. In fact, the apps I’m referring to here provide a framework that allows anyone to make their own designs — resulting in hundreds of possibilities.
Note that some of the app’s faces are free to use, but to access most of the designs you will need to sign up for a paid subscription.
Change complications with Facer
Facer replaces its own complications on existing Apple faces. An Atari licensed design, for example, is built on the Portrait face, using its own images for the background. Many other faces take advantage of Apple’s Modular face, adding custom designs and functions to complications.
Facer uses existing Apple Watch faces and complications to display other designs for data.
Under the hood, the Facer app lives on your iPhone and communicates with a companion Apple Watch app that populates faces. To add a new face, do the following:
- Open Facer on iPhone and tap the one you want to activate.
- Tap the blue Add button with an arrow icon on a clock. This switches to the Watch app.
- touch Add to My Faces.
After a few moments, the face is activated on your watch and the custom complications are loaded.
Choose watch face designs in Facer app on iPhone.
Facer also has an app for Android smartwatches. Some of the faces, especially those that mimic high-end watches, like the official designs from MVMT, are only available for circular Android models and don’t show up for the Apple Watch.
Take on the entire clock face with Clockology
Like Facer, the Clockology app includes faces that work with Apple’s existing frames. However, some of the faces use a “Full Screen” option that exits that form, with some limitations.
Instead of forcing functionality onto existing complications, a full-screen face in Clockology takes over the entire watch. But wait, didn’t I say it’s not allowed on WatchOS?
Yes, but there is nothing stopping Clockology APPLICATION to display whatever it wants. To override the default clock — which is a separate Clock app that has special system privileges — Clockology runs as the foreground app. So you’re running a separate app on top of the Clock app that also happens to be a clock.
Clockology works as a separate app and can use the entire clock screen for creative clock faces.
Installing a face in Clockology is similar to Facer’s approach:
- Open the Clockology app on your iPhone and tap the design you want to add.
- Make sure the Clockology app is open on the clock.
- touch sync button on the iPhone.
Select a clock face in the Clockology app on iPhone.
To prevent the regular Watch app from taking over every time you put your wrist down, you need to change an important preference. On your Apple Watch or in the Watch app on your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Back to Clock and select After 1 hour. This keeps the last app you opened active. If you don’t happen to check your clock or activate it in some way after an hour, the Clock app will appear in the foreground. Open Clockology to start the timer and keep it visible: double-press the Digital Crown to reveal recent apps and tap Clockology.
Keep these trade-offs in mind when replacing watch faces
The novelty of running new watch faces isn’t wearing off anytime soon, but you should know about some downsides to using alternative watch faces. In exchange for shaking up the visuals of the Apple Watch, you give up some functionality.
For faces that create custom complications, tapping them takes you to the Facer or Clockology app, not basic data sources like weather or heart rate. This means there are no quick access tools like the Timers app. However, you can replace any of the complications with those from other apps once the face is installed.
Most full screen watch faces aren’t interactive at all. They’ll display information in different ways — like battery level and daily step count — but tapping the face doesn’t lead to more data. The exceptions are some watch faces that include a button overlay that changes what appears when you tap. You also won’t see the notification indicator (the red dot at the top of the screen) when a full-screen face is active.
And a minor annoyance: Pressing the Digital Crown normally takes you to the list of apps, but if you’re using the Clockology app, pressing it takes you to the Clock app. Press again to go to applications.
The Apple Watch is a constant companion for millions of people, even in the face of competition from Android smartwatches and devices like smart rings. Whether you’re discovering a use for an old watch or finding hidden App Store gems, the watch has proven itself to be more than just a watch — and now you can customize that essential feature in more ways than never.