These are the best Apple Watch features, according to Business Insider readers

From Nancy:

"Check out the 'heart rate variability' measure in Apple Watch. You reach it through the Health app on your iPhone. It’s a way to get biofeedback on stress levels, including whether “Breathe” sessions are having a positive impact. HRV can be used as biofeedback in management of autoimmune and cardiac diseases where excessive inflammation is a contributor."

From Gerardo:

"You can control your iPhone Camera remotely from your Watch, see how the picture looks, and take it from your Watch.

"It is helpful when you do not have anyone else to take the picture for you and you want to be in it! ;-) I found out that this impresses people!"

Another reader, Thomas, adds that the Watch's remote camera function has an optional three-second delay, "to avoid being seen looking at your Watch, if you are in the shot."

From Doug:

"I use my Watch as my alarm clock. Have it in a charging stand and it goes into a special 'nightstand' mode."

From Matt:

"As a Series 4 owner, I can totally recommend you try sleep tracking with it. I’m not sure about you, but I sit at my desk during work a lot, so I charge my watch every morning while at my desk. It typically takes 1.5 hours to get to fully charged from 35-40%. I find that even working out and wearing it all day I still wake up and get to work with about 40% left. I wear the Watch about 22.5 hours as a result and get a great picture of my health.

"The sleep-tracking app I use is Pillow. It’s fantastic and lets you take notes, record audio, and records your wake-up mood (you have to tell it manually) and it analyzes your sleep and can adapt your alarm so you feel better rested (+\- 15 min). With the battery life of the new one it’s really easy and it adds new depth to the Watch."

From John:

"My favorite is double-clicking the scroll wheel to send a robo call, or any other call you do not want to answer, to voicemail. No need to track down your phone to do the same thing when you can do it from your wrist. Great at meetings when you forgot to turn you phone off or to silence and you get a call. One ring and a double click from your watch, and then silence."

From Janet:

"Have you ever put your phone on Do Not Disturb, or simply turned off the ringer during a meeting, and forgotten to undo it afterwards?

"With my Apple Watch, I swipe up and press hard on the moon (the Do Not Disturb button). Now I can say 'Do Not Disturb for one hour,' 'Turn it off when I leave this location,' or 'Turn it off after this event/meeting.' And yes, it turns on and off 'Do Not Disturb' on my iPhone.

"This is WONDERFUL. I work with a team that gives amateur radio exams. I turn on 'Do Not Disturb until I leave' and voila — everything works again as soon as I leave that location. The same to turn on Do Not Disturb until I leave a doctor appointment. It’s fantastic. You do have to turn off (via iPhone/Settings/Do Not Disturb) 'allow calls from favorites' though — those still come through."

From Janet:

"I tend to put my phone down. But I always have my Watch. So I swipe up and hit the 'shaky iPhone' icon (well, that’s how I interpret it) and it causes my phone to ding. Yippee. No having to look for my iPad and run the 'Find my iPhone' app."

"The Apple Watch has a ton of really neat features but, in my opinion, the coolest features come from the ecosystem, such as unlocking my MacBook Pro after unlocking the Watch with Face ID on my iPhone. It all feels so seamless and logical to me."

"Another of my favorite features is controlling the music on my iPhone while in the car, or using just my watch for GPS and music while on a run. The main selling point of the device for me was being able to leave my phone at home while I go out and live life away from everything while still being able to be connected — just the amount I feel is necessary in today’s day and age."

From John:

"I am a pensioner ... and that means, like many other people, I have partial dentures.

"The dentures need cleaning (twice a day). Just three minutes in warm water with a special sterilizing tablet. I pop the warm water and tablet into a small cup. And I say to Siri, 'OK, Siri... time three minutes for me.' A warm, friendly British man speaks back ... and acknowledges my request."

From Kerri:

"From the start, I’ve had the photos from my Favorites album rotate and show a new one every time I look at my Watch. The memory is now up to 500 photos. It makes me so happy because I live in SW Florida and my daughter is in Boston, so seeing her, her boyfriend, their cats and the rest of my family in Massachusetts, as well as pics of my own two crazy cats, throughout the day, just makes me smile. I love some of the new face options but I stick with my photo gallery."

From Max:

"I have a Series 2 Apple Watch. I like using it while driving. It works well with Apple Maps and navigation. It’s easier to see than looking on the phone because the presentation is simpler and the haptic feedback is on par with the audio from the phone.

"It usually happens like this: A change is coming up. Without looking I get a haptic feedback from my Watch. I glance at it and it simply shows turn right or left and how far. A terrific augmentation to the phone, especially in traffic when I need to keep my head up."

From Doug:

"You should definitely add Apple Pay to your list. It’s WAY better than using a phone."

From John:

"As I found out recently when I left my phone at home, you do not even need to have it tethered to your iPhone to use it at a store, as the encryption key is embedded in the Watch and will work as a standalone device."

From George:

"One of my favorite things I believe the Apple Watch excels at is Apple Pay. I use it every chance I get instead of using the iPhone or worse, a credit card. Just double click the side button, pick your card of choice and hold it close to the card terminal. This is by far the easiest way to pay."

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