Sure, watchOS 26 is bringing Apple’s Liquid Glass looks to your wrist, a ‘Workout Buddy’ to give you a vote of confidence or a nudge to hit a personal best during a workout, and a bunch of new Messages features. All that is cool, but it’s one of the more basic updates has me the most jazzed, and I’ve had a chance to try it out already.
If you’re anything like me, when a barrage of Slack alerts comes through, or really any notifications that aren’t super urgent, I’ll feel the buzz on my wrist and ignore it or place my other hand’s palm over the Apple Watch to dismiss them. So far that’s worked well, but Apple’s latest gesture is taking things to the next level.
‘Wrist Flick’ is precisely what it sounds like – when a notification comes through, you’ll just flick your wrist backwards to dismiss it. You can also use it to go one step back anywhere within the Apple Watch’s interface, or to close out or silence incoming calls, whether they’re cellular or FaceTime ones.
So, say you’re checking the Weather app for the forecast but need to go back, just flick your wrist twice. Once takes you back to the launcher, and another brings you back to your watch face.
It’ll join the likes of Double Tap when it arrives with watchOS 26, which is set to arrive this fall (likely in September or October). Although it’s available in developer beta now, it’ll ship with the public beta, expected this month, July 2025.
To be clear, the developer beta is very much what the name implies – it’s an early version of the software and is not recommended for installation on your primary device, as you can expect bugs, slowdowns, speedups, and instability. Simply, it’s not final software, but rather an early look.
In my quick demo at Apple Park in a briefing after the WWDC keynote, I quickly got the hang of using ‘Wrist Flick’, and I suspect once it arrives on your wrist, it’ll become a daily habit. It’s simply pairing something you’d expect with a gesture, making it easier to navigate the Apple Watch without needing to touch the screen or dismiss a notification or two.
You will need a relatively new Apple Watch to see ‘Wrist Flick’ appear with the watchOS 26 update: it will work on the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Interestingly, there is no support for either the Apple Watch SE or the original Apple Watch Ultra, as the feature requires the S9 or S10 chip inside. For some, that could be a reason to upgrade to a newer Apple Watch.
Further features
I’m excited about ‘Wrist Flick’, but in Apple’s eyes it’s probably not one of the flagship additions for watchOS 26. There’s also ‘Workout Buddy’, which I got to see in action – this upgrade only requires the Apple Watch to be paired with an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone.
In a demo, I saw the AI-powered trainer speak in a style similar to some of the best Fitness+ Trainers (shout out to Jessica Skye), who were used to train the model. They interject at key moments during the workout: at the beginning to set the stage, in the middle at various milestones, and at the end.
The feature is there to provide a nudge at times, but more so a dose of encouragement. The trainer I heard was very peppy; she knew the day and time, noting we were going for a Monday evening workout, and at the end told me I brought it all the way home. It’s a nice upgrade, which, for me, I think will get me working out more.
There’s also the Liquid Glass interface and smart hints – subtle icons that’ll appear on the bottom of your watch face or at the top of the interface, suggesting actions. So if you’re using the camera app on your iPhone, a notification on your wrist might remind you that you can control the shutter that way.
It all comes together for a pretty compelling software upgrade for Apple’s chief wearable, but I think you’ll find Wrist Flick to be a standout. And if you’re keen to have an Apple Watch capable of this feature, thanks to Amazon Prime Day 2025 on the horizon, there’s a deal to be had: the Apple Watch Series 10 is back down to the lowest price we’ve seen.
