Apple Watch & Water Lock: All You Need to Know in 1 Article

One drawback of owning such an expensive smartwatch like the Apple Watch is the need to “safeguard” it from just about everything that may harm it. That includes water among other things. That’s why Apple has a special feature called Water Lock.

What is Water Lock in Apple Watch?

The “Water Lock” function on Apple Watches disables the touch screen of your smartwatch to avoid any unintentional taps when you are underwater. Water will be immediately ejected from the watch’s speaker once you disable it.

It’s widely known that water can affect the touch screen of any device. So it’s very possible that your smartwatch will make a phone call while you are taking a shower. That’s not something you would want, right?

Water Lock was first introduced to the public with the Apple Watch Series 2 which was released on September 16, 2016. So, if you have a Series 1 model, you can’t have access to this feature.

Water Lock doesn’t make your Apple Watch waterproof

At this point, it’s also important to clear out a misconception.

The Water Lock feature might sound like it locks your Apple Watch so it becomes waterproof but it doesn’t. It has nothing to do with how water-resistant or waterproof it is.

How to enable Water Lock

First of all, Water Lock activates when you start any water-based exercise, such as swimming or surfing. Its icon may be seen at the very top of the watch face after you’ve enabled it. It’s the same as with any other feature you enable.

To turn it on, simply do the following:

1. As soon as your watch face or an app is displayed, touch and hold the bottom of the screen.
2. When Control Center appears, swipe up.
3. Simply press the Water Lock button.

How to disable Water Lock and eject water

For watchOS 9 and later, you may unlock your Apple Watch by pressing and holding the Digital Crown on the side of the device. Rotate the Digital Crown instead of pushing it on watchOS 8 or earlier.

You can use your display as usual once a sequence of tones is played to remove any water that may have remained in the speaker. The Apple Watch typically performs about 10 cycles of water removal.

When to use Water Lock

When underwater

As I mentioned above, the main use of this feature is for swimming, scuba diving, and other similar activities. If the smartwatch is completely underwater, you’ll pretty much need Water Lock no matter what.

When taking a shower(Optional)

You may enable Water Lock while taking a shower if you are one of these guys who never remove the smartwatch from their wrists. This is optional since you can just remove the Apple Watch beforehand.

Apple advises against wearing the watch when bathing. Instead of water damaging it (which might happen if it isn’t waterproof), shampoo can seriously ruin your smartwatch.

When doing outdoor photography

One of my favorite uses of the Water Lock is when doing outdoor photography. Whether it’s raining or you have to lie down on dirt(which can also tap on your touch screen) to take the perfect shot. It’s not as necessary as when you are underwater but you can still utilize the feature.