Getty You can customize your Apple Watch in a wide variety of ways using complications.
- Apple Watch complications display information from apps and can be directly added to Watch faces.
- You can add complications or change them directly on Apple Watch, or via the Watch app for iPhone.
- Some third-party apps can be added as complications, enabling even further customization of Apple Watch faces.
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Complications are one of the ways you can customize your Apple Watch face (in addition to choosing from a multitude of designs and colors). Complications display information from apps and can be directly added to Watch faces. Some basic examples include the date, weather, and battery life.
Adding complications to a Watch face is a convenient way to view the information you're looking for with just a quick glance at your Apple Watch. Additionally, you can have multiple Watch faces on your device, each with different combinations of complications to best suit your needs for specific activities.
For example, I have a Modular watch face (which has five complication slots) that displays the date, weather, and battery life, plus shortcuts to the Activity and Heart Rate apps; and an Activity watch face (which has three complication slots, of which I've opted to use just one) that displays my activity progress both numerically and visually (by the degree to which each ring is closed), with a shortcut to the Workout app.
How to add and change complications on your Apple Watch
1. Swipe left and right on the Watch face until you reach the face you'd like to customize.
2. Press firmly on the display until you feel a small tap. Tap Customize.
Abigail Abesamis/Business Insider Press firmly on the display to bring up the "Customize" button.
3. Swipe all the way to the left. You'll see boxes where complications already exist or can be added. Tap the complication slot you'd like to change.
Abigail Abesamis/Business Insider Your current complications are indicated by the boxes at the bottom.
4. Turn the Digital Crown to scroll through the different complications that can be added to the Watch face.
5. Press the Digital Crown to save your changes.
How to add and change Apple Watch complications using your iPhone
You can do the same process outlined above on the Watch app for iPhone, which I personally find to be the easier method of adding and changing complications.
1. Open the Watch app for iPhone. Go to the My Watch tab.
2. You'll see all of the faces currently installed on your Apple Watch under My Faces. Select the Watch face you'd like to edit.
Abigail Abesamis/Business Insider Select the Watch face you'd like to edit.
3. Tap on the complication you'd like to change, then scroll through the list and select the desired complication. If you don't want to have a complication in a specific slot, scroll to the top of the list and select Off.
Abigail Abesamis/Business Insider You can specify where you want the complication to appear.
4. View a current list of Watch faces with their customizable features and available complications here.
How to add Watch complications from third-party apps
You can add certain third-party apps to Watch faces as complications.
1. To see which third-party apps have complications, open the Watch app for iPhone. Go to the My Watch tab.
2. Tap "Complications." If you don't have any third-party apps that can be added as complications, you'll see a message that reads, "You have no apps with watch face complications installed on your Apple Watch yet."
Abigail Abesamis/Business Insider This screen will appear if you have no complications installed yet.
3. To add a third-party Watch complication, tap "Edit," then the "+" symbol. To remove a third-party complication, tap the "-" symbol, then "Remove."
4. By tapping "+," you've added the complication in the Watch app and can now add it to your Watch using the steps outlined above.
Abigail Abesamis/Business Insider Tap "Edit" to bring up a list of the complications you can install.
5. If you're looking for third-party apps with complications, check out these lists by iMore and Lifewire.