Upgrade Your Apple Watch to Get This Feature

I’ve been flawlessly using my Series 5 watch for the last 5 years. That is, until I tried “quick actions” for the first time last week. It’s a feature that lets you handle incoming alerts on your watch, without touching the screen, by simply “taping your pointed finger and thumb together”. In my opinion, that’s a game-changing feature.

Most people haven’t heard of “quick actions” and for good reason - it doesn’t work reliably. In contrast, more people know about “double tap”, largely due to the buzz it generated during Apple’s Wonderlust event when Apple promoted it’s usage through this video.

Like most people, I learned about “double tap” from watching that video. It showcased everyday people from all walks of life using “double tap” to answer calls when rock climbing, stopping timers when baking, answer calls when brushing their teeth and even taking a group photo.

However, I didn’t know how useful it would be for me personally until I tried something similar called “quick actions” that was hidden away in the accessibility settings on my much older Series 5 watch.

So what exactly is the”quick action” feature? It’s the predecessor of the newer “double tap” feature. The old “quick action” doesn’t have all the bells and whistles found in “double tap”, but it does allow you to perform the main function: tapping your pointed finger and thumb twice to handle actions when you receive alerts.

It’s a game changer, if you ask me, especially when you’re hands are full. For example, imagine your washing the dishes, preparing food, holding coffee, or lugging bags at the grocery store. Did your oven timer just go off while washing the dishes? At the grocery store and your mom calls? No problem, just tap your pointed finger and thumb together twice to stop the timer and answer that call.

The biggest problem with “quick action” is that it doesn’t work consistently. On my Series 5 watch, sometimes it takes a few tries to get it to work, other times I just give up, but when it does work it feels amazing. This feature could be a game changer, for my everyday routine, if only it worked reliably.

The chip inside older watches like my Series 5 simply lacks the power to reliably detect, the exact moment, when the pointed finger and thumb come together to make a tap movement. Apple revealed in this news release that detecting this movement requires real-time processing of complex data generated by subtle wrist movements and changes in blood flow. No wonder.

Thankfully “double tap” on the Series 9 and Ultra watches can reliably detect these movements thanks to a new 4-core Neural Engine, which “can perform machine learning tasks twice as fast”. It’s this faster S9 chip that makes “double tap” work reliably unlike the unreliable “quick action” feature found on older watches. Now, Apple ships with “double tap” enabled by default on the newer Series 9 and Ultra watches making “quick action” obsolete. As a result, Apple removed the “quick action” feature on the latest watches.

Reviewers on YouTube have tested and confirmed that “double tap” works without a fault, however, as I mentioned before it’s only available on the Series 9 or Ultra watches and above which is why I’ve convinced myself it’s finally time for an upgrade.

If you have an older watch, try experimenting with “quick actions” for yourself to see whether it’s something that could also improve your day like it has done for me. You can turn it on or off by going to “Settings > Accessibility > Quick Actions”. Maybe you’ll also be convinced it’s time for an upgrade.