Have you had that moment in class when the kids are full of energy, and then they notice your Apple Watch and can’t control themselves? They jab at all the buttons, opening apps you didn’t know you had.
There is a setting on the Apple Watch where you can stop them. It is designed to stop unintentional taps, so this counts. The feature is called Water Lock. It’s for those times when you know you will get the watch wet. When you turn it on, it turns off the touch screen. And when you turn it off, it will make a beeping noise to eject the water.
How to turn on and off Water Lock
Turn on
- Swipe up on the watch face to activate Control Center.
- Tap the Water lock Button.
Turn off
- Hold the Digital Crown. You will hear a beeping sound.
- Keep holding until the watch tells you it has finished.
Here is how I am using this feature. Before I meet the students, I will switch to the watch face I will use throughout the class. I have set up a teaching watch face with all the widgets I might need to glance at during the class. I then turn on Water Lock and have class. When the kids are crowded around you, and you can feel them poking at your watch, you know it’s safe. It also works as a deterrent when you have those kids who like to poke at things to be interesting! When they realise it doesn’t do anything, they get bored with it, and then when you forget to turn on the Water Lock, they don’t even try to touch it because they have already associated touching it won’t do anything.
One obvious downside to this is that you also can’t touch your watch face to start a timer or use another app.
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