By 2021, smartwatches have become firmly entrenched in the life of a modern person. Now it is as indispensable a gadget as a smartphone.
Manufacturers always try to satisfy the desires of users and are constantly expanding the functions of smart watches, including the ability to customize the interface.
The face of a smartwatch is the dial (by the way, in English it is called watchface, literally “the face of a watch”). Typically, the operating system of a smartwatch allows you to change the design style of the dial as you please. Thanks to this, the watch can be made unique and customized to your liking.
Naturally, this is a free feature. Read on to learn how to create watch faces that suit your style, goals, and needs. In this article you will find detailed instructions for setting up the watch face on Wear OS watches, Apple Watches and Chinese smartwatches.
For Wear OS smartwatch users
Changing the watch face in Wear OS
- Turn on the smartwatch screen;
- Pinch the screen with your finger to get to the list of available watch faces (on some models you need to swipe the screen to the right to do this);
- Select the appropriate option from the list of watch faces;
- Click on it to apply the new design.
Notes! – In Wear OS, you can hide unnecessary watch faces by moving them up in the list and pressing the corresponding button. The hidden watch face will disappear from the smartwatch settings, but will remain in the Wear OS mobile app settings. – You can add new watch faces to the list by scrolling to the right. At the very end there will be a button to add new options. – You can also change the smartwatch dial through the Wear OS mobile application.
Customize watch face features in Wear OS
You can set the watch face that will contain enough information or shortcuts to the applications you need.
To do this, in the list of watch faces, select the option with the ability to customize add-ons (there should be a gear next to it). Apply this watch face and on the home screen, long press to make the settings button appear.
Change the settings to suit you. In the “Data” section you can select the necessary information and application shortcuts, and in the “Styles” section you can select a background and more. Save your changes.
Ubuntu watchface
I decided to allocate the first place in the selection to the dial, which will appeal to fans of the Ubuntu operating system. Its trick is to style the main clock screen as a terminal in Linux. In addition to displaying the time, there was space on the dial for the date, battery charge level, number of steps taken and pulse. Let's thank our editor-in-chief for the find. The only thing I would like to point out is a small drawback of this watchface. The background is cherry color, although a dark background would be appropriate for Samsung smartwatches with AMOLED displays. To save energy, and in general it could be even nicer.
Installing a dial on a Chinese smart watch
Instructions for changing and setting the dial on smart watches from popular companies from China (Xiaomi, Huawei, Amazfit and all other non-names).
First of all, install a supporting mobile application on your phone to control your Chinese smartwatch. The proprietary version can be found using the QR code in the watch, or download the universal application Fundo Wear, MediaTek Smart Device (for watches with an MTK chip), etc. from any catalog.
Don't forget to connect your smartwatch to your phone via the app.
In the mobile application, find the design settings and set the appropriate watch face. You may need to download some watch faces first before installing them.
If your model allows it, you can change the watch face style through the settings directly on your smart watch. Pinch the screen with your finger to access the watch face settings.
Please note that large Chinese companies may offer their own online services for installing new watch faces on smartwatches. Information about this should be in the user manual for your watch.
Interesting introductory notes: where does Jing Watch Face get its legs from?
The first custom watch faces for Apple Watch, created through Xcode based on SpriteKit
In October 2021, reviews of the release build of watchOS 5 began to appear online. The latest version of the operating system for smart watches was again criticized for not receiving support for third-party watch faces. Today, nothing much has changed: even the method of bypassing this limitation has been preserved .
Then Steve Troughton-Smith, whose regular leaks are used by IT journalists, surprised the world with another interesting find. He posted several videos on Twitter of unofficial custom watch faces for the Apple Watch.
Hermèzing? pic.twitter.com/rrs9QwCaae— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) October 10, 2018
Doesn't alleviate the 'third-party watchfaces would be full of knockoffs and copyright issues' concerns, but still, this kind of custom face looks awesome pic.twitter.com/dU4UtO2wAI— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) October 10, 2018
This is not the first year he has been delving into the insides of Apple's operating systems and publishing interesting findings that are related to the company's new hardware and software developments. Then he explained to the world how to create a custom watch face as a separate application for the Apple Watch.
To do this, I needed to understand Xcode and learn SpriteKit. Moreover, without a paid developer subscription, the watch face did not work for more than a week. It’s good that the method was adopted by the Chinese , who created the Jing Watch Face platform.
Install and change watch faces on Apple Watch
Change your dials at least every day.
Beautiful and functional watch faces are the advantage of Apple smartwatches. They are easy to install, change and configure. This can be done both from the watch and through the iPhone.
Changing the Apple Watch watch face via iPhone
- Open the Watch application and you will immediately see a list of installed watch faces;
- Swipe left and right to find the watch face you want to install or customize;
- Once you've selected a watch face, tap on it, scroll down, and confirm the installation.
All is ready! The watch face style on Apple Watch has been updated.
To customize the functions or appearance of the watch face, you need to follow the same steps, but before confirming the installation, change the available parameters at your discretion: color, styles, etc.
Installing a new watch face via iPhone
In the Watch mobile application, on the first tab you can see the installed watch faces. But we are interested in new ones, so...
- At the bottom of the screen, switch to the second (central) tab called Face Gallery;
- Scroll up and down and left and right to see the available options;
- Click on the one you like, change its settings (if you want) and click the Add button so that this watch face appears in the list on the main page of the application.
Changing the watch face on your Apple Watch
It couldn't be easier!
- Press firmly on the current watch face, and then swipe the screen left and right to select a new style;
- Find the appropriate watch face and click on it.
That's all! The new dial has been installed.
Customize your watch face on Apple Watch
You can change watch face settings directly on your watch at any time (without your phone).
Press firmly on the screen. You should feel a slight vibration and the dial will enter setting mode. Click on the “Configure” button. Next, everything will depend on the style and complexity of the selected dial.
Typically, each watch face has several themes. You can determine the exact number of topics by the dots at the top of the screen. Swipe left or right to choose a topic.
Areas of the watch face that can be customized are highlighted in green and labeled. Click on the selected area and change its appearance by scrolling the Digital Crown.
Next is the setup of Add-ons. What can be changed is highlighted in circles. Select something and spin the Digital Crown to view the available Add-ons.
When you're done making changes, press the number winding button (quick press only, long press launches Siri) and the watch face settings will close.
Simply lower your hand to set the modified watch face. If you were not wearing the watch during setup, press the wheel or screen to apply the watch face and return to normal mode.
Where to download watch faces
They are available directly in the Samsung Health software in the corresponding section. There are about 50 of them in total, but they are all varied and vibrant, so everyone will find something for themselves. The developers are constantly updating and improving the current list, so if you wait a little, you will receive new interesting offers. So far the most popular are:
- shadow in dark amber tones with the image of a black swan;
- simple – minimalism, stylized clock and status bar;
- love piggy and love pid - cute pink pigs, a boy and a girl, who will become a glamorous addition to the image;
- evening - a pink hare in a yellow suit is presented in this theme as a bright element of modern creativity, and standard symbols from the status bar are also placed on the display in the same bright colors;
- woven, tunnel, rings - tracker display themes for fans of geometry and bright modern colors;
- pop - standard clock face and status bar, designed in the style of the 80s;
- pixels - the elements of this design are created pointwise, but even small elements are displayed quite brightly and clearly;
- jewels - a display design that is suitable for lovers of bright diamonds and rhinestones;
- spunk is a wavy cartoon clock of different colors with hands.
3dSports
Smartwatches are often purchased as a tool for tracking sports performance. The Galaxy Watch Active has everything in order, but in the standard arsenal, thematic dials, of course, are not enough. But everything can be easily fixed by installing third-party watch faces. For example, a rather interesting watch face called 3dSports is available in the Galaxy Store. Its trick is that the author managed to place as many as ten information elements on it. Around the screen there are blocks with heart rate, distance traveled, quick access to the music player, weather, activity level, and floors. In the center are the time, battery percentage, date, number of steps and second hand. Yes, and all this is framed in a rather nice design. A godsend for users who closely monitor all indicators of their health.
How to change the watch face on Xiaomi Mi Band 5 through the official application for Android or iOS?
The ability to change standard watch faces to more interesting ones is present in the official Mi Fit application for smartphones. Moreover, it is available both through Android and iOS (iPhone). To install another watchface, open the “Store” menu in the bracelet settings
In the main tab, several ready-made options for designing the tracker display will appear, grouped by topic.
Select any of them and then click on the “Synchronize watch face” button
A maximum of 5 watch faces can be loaded into the Mi Band memory. If this number is exceeded, the last saved one will be overwritten with a new one. A warning about this will be displayed on the application screen.
After which all you have to do is wait for the dial to synchronize with the bracelet, and the Xiaomi Mi Band 5 screen will change its appearance
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Mark The hammer
Despite the fact that I prefer smart electronics in wearable accessories, I get the greatest aesthetic pleasure from the appearance of mechanical watches with a “skeleton” case type. Its distinctive feature is the transparent inserts in the case, which allow you to see the working process of the mechanism in all details. It was a great discovery for me to find this watch face in the Galaxy Store. I note that all the details of the dial are animated, and not static, as it might seem at first glance. I recommend installation for lovers of classics.
How to broadcast your phone screen to a smart bracelet?
Finally, I want to talk about an interesting feature provided by another unofficial application - “Notify and Fitness for Mi Band 5”. In addition to the fact that it has a replacement dial, it also has the function of broadcasting images from the smartphone screen to the display of the fitness bracelet. It is located in the “Tools” section and is freely available, unlike many settings of this program
A bit wild, I don’t even know how to use it in practice. But it looks cool
Compatible with Android Wear 1.x
Of course, there is no arguing about tastes, but we have not seen such a beautiful dial as this one for a long time. The screen displays the time, date, battery charge indicators for the watch and phone.
Download
If you like to put more information on the screen of your Android Wear, then the Cronosurf Wave watch face is best suited for this, the display of which can simultaneously display a countdown timer, world time, week number, moon phases and much more.
Download *only for round watches
Just a great watch face with a range of different styles (you'll have to pay for some). You can keep an eye on the weather, fitness data right on the screen, and shortcuts let you quickly launch certain apps.
Download
Star Wars
One of the fun watch faces that fans of the Star Wars franchise will love. Choose your side of the force, dark or light, or set to a droid style. This watch face shows the time, date, weather and Star Wars factoids.
Download *only for round watches
Ustwo
This beauty has been one of our favorites for a long time. It includes 6 watch faces in one: Next, Albumen, Runway, Episode, Versus and Saturn, which offer different functions - from weather forecasts to all sorts of reminders. And all this is done in an original abstract design.
Download
Asics Watchface for sports
A dial for those who love to play sports. Simple design and daily achievement statistics with data from Google Fit. In principle, nothing special, but wait until the fat man icon appears on the screen and you will immediately feel how much motivation you have.
Download
InstaWeather for Android Wear
An information-rich weather watch face that shows tons of real-time data and satellite imagery so you know when to expect rain. There are also nice weather forecast screens. This watch face has a lot of free stuff, but you have to pay for some premium features.
Download
American artist Kevin Tong has teamed up with MediaMonks to bring his mechanical creations to your Wear smartwatch. You can set the robot on your screen to be a boy or a girl, or both, and the robot animations will amuse you throughout the day.
Android Wear 2.0 is now on almost every new Android Wear smartwatch, and many manufacturers have come up with their own watches with their own unique features. But what about if you want a little more uniqueness on your watch? For example, change the design of the main screen? Or maybe you want to add a watch faces tab for smart watches?
Whether you've splashed out the cash on the new Emporio Armani Connected or Michael Kors Access Grayson, or are still committed to the LG Watch Sport or Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45, there are still plenty of different designs you can install on your Android Wear smartwatch .
So relax, and let's check out what interface options are available to you and what smartwatch dials are in store for you. We've also included our favorite Facer options this month. Some watch faces below cost money, so we've included prices where appropriate. Choose additional dials for your watch, install it, and share your impressions with us below in the comments.
