Rearranging apps on Apple Watch

By Travis Roth, 1 June, 2015

Forum
watchOS and Apple Watch Apps

How does one rearrange apps on the Apple Watch? In the Apple Watch app there is an item that shows a list but how do I drag the apps to new spots? I feel I'm probably missing something simple... Also, is this doable with braille display and not touchscreen?

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By David on Sunday, June 21, 2015 - 23:08

I've had a go at this, and at the moment, I think it's a bit hit and miss. If you go into the App Layout item in the Apple Watch app on your phone, you will get a list of all the apps that appear on the watch home screen.

If you listen to the tips, it says to double tap and hold, and then drag the apps to where you want them to be. However, I find that as you drag the item around, it says things like "left of Messages" or "right of clock Face" for a while. But then, if you continue dragging around enough, it starts to just say "Upper left" or "Lower right".

Worse, when you lift your finger having thought you have put the app where you want, you are surprised to find that the app still seems to be exactly where it was when you started. Panic not. If you double tap the Back button, and then re-enter the App Layout item, you will see that now the apps have been rearranged. Not necessarily as you expected, but they have been moved.

It seems to suffer from some of the similar problems folks have had in Windows 8 when they try to rearrange the Start list tiles. AS you drag them around, all the other tiles shuffle themselves about to make room, not necessarily retaining their previous relationship to each other. I'm wondering if the same happens here.

I've got a couple of apps nearer the Clock app in the middle of the home screen for now, but whenever I try to move more, not only do they not end up where I want, but the ones I had already put where I wanted get moved away somewhere else. It's a bit like one of those old tile puzzles, only someone else keeps moving the other tiles while you're working. :-)