Sending out an SOS: the Apple Watch feature I hope I never have to use

A reader question from Steve M., about how to use the Apple Watch to keep an elderly, ladder-climbing parent safe, reminded me of how great Apple’s Emergency SOS service is. If you enable fall detection or crash detection on your Apple Watch, this life-saving feature will automatically call emergency services if you need it. If there’s no cell service available, your iPhone can call for help via satellite.

Guess which one of these three “emergencies” a real life Apple user thought merited using Emergency SOS for. Then scroll down to find out if you got the answer right!

1. The caller was worried they might run out of gas ⛽
2. A car accident was making the caller late for Jeopardy 📺
3. A pigeon the caller hit with their car needed an EMT 🚑

🆘 Now that you know how to set up Emergency SOS, make sure you designate an emergency contact
Add their info in your Health app and they’ll be alerted if you call 911.

🔎 This might be the number one thing I use my Apple Watch for
Never lose your iPhone in the couch cushions again, just use your watch to ping your iPhone.

📱 Don’t struggle to take calls on your Apple Watch
It turns out being Inspector Gadget or Dick Tracy isn’t as cool in real life. Learn how to transfer phone calls from your watch to your iPhone, for everyone’s sake.

The easy way to show steps on your Apple Watch face 👟👟

Currently, there’s no built-in option for displaying your daily step count on your Apple Watch face. Pedometer++ (free) is my favorite solution because it’s so simple to set up and use but offers a lot of detailed tracking if you want it. Once you’ve downloaded the app to your Apple Watch, just add the step count complication to your watch face and start tracking.

The only downside is that the complication doesn’t update as often as I’d like and I find myself having to tap on it to see the most up-to-date count. It’s still faster than opening the Activity app to see your step count though.

If you check out Pedometer++ and decide it’s not the step counter for you, Duffy - Steps Complication is a more basic alternative and StepsApp Pedometer is a more comparable one.

What’s the most steps you’ve ever tracked in a day?

My record is 29,918 or 13.19 miles! I remember that day because I was running around getting ready to leave town indefinitely for a family emergency but apparently also managed to fit in an epic elliptical session and a long walk with a friend. Email me at OnTheWatch@iphonelife.com to share your highest step count!

You asked and Olena answered: Low Power Mode issue 🪫

Penny F: Every time I work out, my watch switches to Low Power Mode, even when it’s fully charged. Please help.

Olena: There is a default setting on the Apple Watch that turns on Low Power Mode during workouts. I plan on using this setting for my first marathon this November, because it helps extend battery life. If you have no need for it, it’s easy to turn it off. Press your Digital Crown to see all your Apple Watch apps. Open Settings, scroll down and tap Workout, then toggle off Low Power Mode. I hope this fixes the problem!

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

Let’s get personal! How to customize your Apple Watch face

Switching out your watch band and customizing your watch face is a great way to make sure your watch fits any occasion. When I’m getting ready for a night on the town, I switch to the flower Motion face. When I’m working out, I use the Activity Digital face so my rings are front and center. And it’s always a good time to use a Photos face featuring my dogs or pictures I’ve taken on hikes.

Getting started
First you’ll want to understand the basics of how to customize your watch face, such as selecting fonts and colors, and then go find the watch face of your dreams in the Watch app Face Gallery. If battery life is an issue for you, check out Olena’s list of Apple Watch faces that won’t kill your battery. She also has a list of the coolest third-party watch faces if you’re not impressed with Apple’s offerings.

Perfection is complicated
Complications, those little icons on your watch face that open apps or start an activity, are what make your watch face one you’ll enjoy using regularly. So after you learn how to add a complication to a watch face, it’s worth finding the perfect ones for your watch face’s intended use.

On my own watch, I like to add a weather and a battery or activity complication to every watch face. For my workout watch face, I like to have a weather, step counter, and battery complication. I used to also have a workout complication but now use the Activity button on my Ultra 2 to open the workout app. Likewise, I removed the audio playback complication from my Activity face because I found myself mostly playing music from my phone.

Here are a few ideas to get you started adding complications to your own watch faces:

• Workout face: Consider adding activity ring, workout, weather, and battery complications.
• Everyday use: weather, timer, contacts, audio playback, and daily schedule complications are all good choices.
• Photography enthusiast: definitely add a camera remote complication!
• People who lose their iPhone a lot: Add a Find My complication.
• Complication connoisseur: Use a Modular or Infograph watch face to get the most complication options.
• There’s even a lot of fun third-party complications if you’re not happy with Apple’s built-in options.

The easiest way to switch between watch faces
After you set up your watch faces, there’s no need to return to the iPhone Watch app when you're ready to switch things up. Here’s how to change faces directly on the Apple Watch. If you want to learn more about how to customize your Apple Watch, check out our in-depth Apple Watch class!

Which Apple Watch faces and complications do you use the most?
Email me at OnTheWatch@iPhoneLife.com and let me know!

• 📱 It’s not just for Apple Watch faces. Customize your iPhone Home Screen too!
• ⌚ vs ⌚ Ever wondered how the Apple Watch compares to the Galaxy Watch?
• 😱 Not creepy at all! Said absolutely no one about this wearable AI companion
• 🍎 There would be no iPhone without him: check out the Steve Jobs archive
• 📷 Our picks for the best iPhone Photography gear of 2024
• 🙏 Help me make this the most interesting and relevant newsletter possible by taking this poll

And the answer is, A! 🏅🆘🏅

OK. I cheated. All of the answers were taken from real 911 calls. But only the person whose gas tank was almost empty used Emergency SOS to reach out for help.