Apple Is About to Solve My Biggest Gripe with the Apple Watch Ultra

At its big iPhone 16 event, Apple officially announced the date it’s going to roll out watchOS 11, the next big software update coming to your Apple Watch. It’s coming Monday, September 16.

It’s a big deal — specifically for endurance athletes — because watchOS 11 delivers several much-hyped workout features, including a new Vitals app, Training Load (a feature for judging your effort during workouts), and the ability to pause your Activity Rings on rest, travel or sick days. Finally.

I’ve been using the public beta of watchOS 11 for several weeks and have been pleasantly surprised to find out one of its standout features hasn’t really been talked about. It’s a feature that fixes one of my biggest frustrations with the Apple Watch Ultra (and Ultra 2).

Specifically, it allows you to quickly change the function of the Action Button directly from the Apple Watch Ultra itself. It’s been a long time coming.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

Customize the Ultra’s Action Button directly from your wrist

Since the Apple Watch Ultra was released two years ago, changing the function of its Action Button has been pretty tedious. You’ve had to use your iPhone, go through the Apple Watch app, select the Action Button, and then choose what you want it to do. There was no way to change it directly from the smartwatch.

However, when watchOS 11 rolls out, that’s changing entirely.

A quick long press of the Action Button prompts you to a screen that lets you pick between the various different actions. You can switch it from a Workout to a Stopwatch or Flashlight, for example. It takes two seconds. It’s wonderful.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

In the past, because the Action Button has been so tedious to change, I’ve found that I rarely ever changed it. I set it to an Outdoor Run workout and really never changed it over the past two years.

But since it’s been so much easier to switch the function of the Action Button with watchOS 11, I’ve found that I’m using it a lot more. I’ve been using the Stopwatch feature while grilling and even the Flashlight feature when get I get up in the middle of the night.

This simple ability is kind of a game changer for the Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2.

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