Before the original Apple Watch, there was this smartwatch

Apple is known more for perfecting products than inventing them. So you may not be surprised to know that just like the iPod wasn’t the first mp3 player, the Apple Watch wasn’t the first smartwatch. What do you think the first smartwatch was called?

1. Ruputer
2. Wrist Pilot Pro
3. onHand PC
4. A and C

Scroll down to find out what the first smartwatch was called, when it was released, and just how smart it was!

🔑💻 Tired of having to enter a passcode every time you step away from your Mac for a few minutes?
Don’t compromise your Mac’s security by turning off auto lock; use the Apple Watch auto unlock feature instead.

➡️ You’re probably doing a lot of swiping to find the face you want when switching between Apple Watch faces.
Reorder your watch faces to group your favorite ones together and give your swiping finger a break!

🌦️ Want to avoid getting caught in bad weather?
Your Apple Watch can keep you up to date with weather alerts and warnings, even if you leave your iPhone at home.

A lot of you wrote in sharing your step counts!

And it turns out On the Watch readers are no couch potatoes.

Here are your top 3 daily step counts 🏅:

🥇 George Y. sent in a screenshot showing a mind-boggling 61,354 steps. My feet hurt just thinking about walking that much in a day 😱.

🥈 John S. took 24,155 steps in a day while visiting Petra, Jordan.

🥉 And Candace C. recently broke her old record of 17,200 steps in a day by walking 22,130 steps. She says, “I never want to break that [new] record; my back and legs were killing me.”

But step counts can be deceiving, as reader Nancy M. points out, saying: “I can track a huge number of steps on my Apple Watch simply by crocheting 🤣 ha ha!”

I can relate, Nancy! I myself have “walked” a lot of miles putting box braids in my daughters’ hair. Fortunately, when this happened to me, I was able to delete my unearned steps.

You asked and Olena answered: What to do when your Apple Watch won’t shut up 🤐

Q. Why does Apple limit watch faces that show seconds to one watch face with limited complications? – Julian T.

A: Good news! You’re not limited to just one watch face. Most of the Apple Watch faces with analog clocks automatically show seconds on the watch face, but there are a few digital clocks that show seconds too. The Activity watch face shows seconds by default. Plus, all the Infographic and Meridian watch faces let you add a sub-dial complication with Digital Time that shows seconds.

Q. Is there a way to track steps when you are pushing a grocery cart or stroller or a walker? – Anne B.

A: Your Apple Watch should be smart enough to track steps even if you’re not swinging your arms while you walk, but I have also experienced this not always being the case. I make sure to always start a workout when I’m walking, since you might start and stop a lot. I also recommend using the Other workout type so that your watch doesn’t ask you if you’re still exercising every time you stop to look at something. Here are some other steps you can take to improve activity tracking accuracy on your watch.

Q. How do I stop my Apple Watch from making a pinging sound when on the charger? It makes the sound intermittently even when fully charged, waking me up at night. I’m just about ready to get rid of it. – Jodi M.

A: My Apple Watch is permanently silenced so I’ve never experienced any pinging sounds when charging, except when I ping my watch from my iPhone to find it. If your Apple Watch pings regularly, like every 15, 30, or 60 minutes, you might have Chimes enabled. To disable this, Go to Settings on your Apple Watch, tap Clock, and make sure Chimes is toggled off. Read Sarah’s Deep Dive on notifications below to find out how to use Silent Mode on your watch.

✉️ Email your questions to OnTheWatch@iPhoneLife.com and we might answer them in a future edition!

Turn Off the Fire Hose of Apple Watch Notifications

One of my favorite things about the Apple Watch is that it makes it easy to leave your iPhone in your pocket and be present in the here and now instead of sucked into endless scrolling. But that only works if you are ruthless about which apps and notifications you allow on your watch. Here’s how to go about it.

Cut down on the number of apps that send you notifications in the first place

Not every app that has an Apple Watch version actually needs to be on your watch. I will not be budgeting or journaling from my watch any time soon, for example. So I have removed all the apps I don’t use from my Apple Watch.

I find the bigger screen on the Phone easier to use for offloading unwanted apps, but you can also remove them from your watch directly. On the watch, open the Home Screen with all your apps and long press until the apps start jiggling. On the iPhone, remove apps in the My Watch tab in the Watch app.

Customize which of the remaining apps can send you notifications

If you allow every app currently sending you iPhone notifications to also send notifications on your watch, you will quickly be overwhelmed. On my watch, I have limited notifications to apps I might otherwise have to pull out my phone for, such as Messages and Weather, and to apps whose notifications it is essential I don’t miss, such as airline apps that might send a notification about a gate change while I’m already at the airport. On the other hand, I don’t allow Mail app notifications because I get hundreds of emails a day.

Unlike removing apps, customizing Apple Watch notifications must be done in the iPhone Watch app. In the My Watch tab, tap Notifications, and work your way through the apps. They are divided into two sections: Pre-installed Apple apps whose notification settings can be customized, and Apple and third-party apps that can only mirror the notification settings for the corresponding iPhone app.

Enjoy the silence

Next you’ll want to decide what sound, if any, you want your notifications to have. I have chosen to keep my watch in Silent Mode permanently, but I do allow a haptic vibration. This means I can get notifications with minimal disturbance to others. It’s important to note that using Silent Mode will not silence alarm and timer alerts. If you want your Clock app to alert you with a vibration only, you will need to turn off sounds when customizing the Clock app’s notification settings in the steps above.

And finally, you should enable Cover to Mute. That way when the few remaining notifications do come through, but you’re in a meeting or otherwise unable to acknowledge a notification, you can just place your hand over your watch face to quickly and discreetly silence it.

And that’s how to slow your Apple Watch notifications to a trickle. I hope you found this useful!

Which apps do you allow to send you Apple Watch notifications?
Email me at OnTheWatch@iPhoneLife.com and let me know!

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Missed the most recent editions? Now you can go back and read them!

• August 9 edition

And the answer is: D!

The first smartwatch had two names. Initially called the Ruputer, it was released by Seiko in June 1998. The watch then was sold in the U.S. as the onHand PC. Sadly for Seiko, this wrist PC never enjoyed mainstream success, likely due to using non-rechargeable batteries, having a very small watch face, and using a joystick to enter data.