Your Apple Watch Is Getting a Simple Yet Practical New Ability

It’s a neat feature that most Apple Watch wearers can take advantage of.

Automatic Volume Adjustments for Apple WatchPhoto by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

When watchOS 26 is released in September, it will introduce several new and exciting features to your current Apple Watch.

Some of the most notable additions include a wrist flick gesture for managing notifications, a Workout Buddy feature, new Control Center apps, updated Smart Replies for iMessage, and customizable widgets for the Smart Stack.

Additionally, your Apple Watch is introducing a new feature that promises to make notifications less disruptive for those around you (and therefore less awkward for you).

Automatic volume adjustments

When running watchOS 26, your Apple Watch will be able to intuitively adjust the volume level of notifications based on your surroundings.

As noted by Apple’s watchOS 26 press release, your Apple Watch will “automatically adjust the speaker volume based on the ambient noise in a user’s surroundings for notifications, timers, alarms, incoming calls, and Siri, allowing them to stay connected without worrying about disturbing those around them.”

Wrist Flick Gesture for Apple Watch
Along with new settings, watchOS 26 will deliver a neat wrist flick gesture for easily managing notifications.
Apple

Basically, if you’re in a public place or at an intimate gathering with friends, your Apple Watch will be able to detect this and not ring as loudly when somebody calls you or read out loud a message you’ve received. It essentially aims to prevent a social faux pas.

Of course, this won’t affect those who have their Apple Watch permanently in silent mode — which many do — but it could give those same people a good reason to maybe change it back.

When’s it coming?

At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether these automatic volume adjustments will be turned on by default or something you’ll have to enable via Settings.

Apple will officially release watchOS 26 this fall, coinciding with the announcement of the next-generation Apple Watch models.

To learn more about watchOS 26’s upcoming features, check out Apple’s blog post.

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