watchOS 11 packs several new features that add new functionalities to the Apple Watch and enhance its daily usefulness. While you may be familiar with the obvious changes already, there are some lesser-known ones that you may have missed. Let’s uncover them.

1 Turn the Digital Crown to View Notifications

One quality-of-life addition I like in watchOS 11 is the ability to view notifications on your Apple Watch using the Digital Crown. As such, unlike previous versions, you don’t have to swipe down from the top of the screen to access the Notification Center, which can feel like a struggle when wearing gloves.

Instead, all you have to do is unlock your Apple Watch and turn the Crown toward yourself. Then, when it brings up the Notification Center, turn the Crown upward or downward to scroll through the notifications list.

When you’re done, press the Digital Crown to exit the Notification Center.

2 Change Alert Tones

For the longest time, Apple didn’t offer the ability to change alert tones on your Apple Watch. However, this finally changes in watchOS 11. You now get eight different tones to choose from for your Apple Watch. In addition, you also get the option to set different tones for different types of notifications, like text messages, emails, reminders, calendar alerts, and more.

To change any alert tone, unlock your Apple Watch and head to Settings > Sounds & Haptics. Scroll down, tap on the type of tone you want to change, and choose a tone on the following screen.

You can even do this using the Watch app on your iPhone, also under the Settings > Sound & Haptics menu.

3 Live Activities in Smart Stack

Another quality-of-life addition to watchOS 11 is support for Live Activities. It builds upon the Live Activities feature introduced in iOS 16 and mirrors the paired iPhone’s Live Activities.

This happens automatically as soon as a Live Activity starts on your iPhone. You’ll see the Live Activity at the top of the Smart Stack on your Apple Watch, enabling you to keep up with the latest updates for music playback, food delivery, workouts in progress, timers, or ridesharing apps, among other things, by simply raising your wrist. You may also access the Smart Stack by turning the Digital Crown upwards.

When you want more details, tap on a Live Activity, and it’ll open the relevant app on your Apple Watch. If an activity doesn’t have an app for the Apple Watch, you’ll see a button on your screen to open it on your iPhone.

Live Activities is enabled by default in watchOS 11. You can configure it and the behavior of different apps by heading to Settings > Smart Stack on your Apple Watch or under the Watch app on your paired iPhone.

4 Translate Phrases Right on Your Wrist

Aside from new features, Apple has also added some new apps to watchOS 11. Translate is one such app, using which you can easily translate phrases between different languages in real-time right from your wrist.

To use it, open the Translate app on your Apple Watch and set your input and output languages. Then, tap the microphone icon at the bottom and start speaking your phrase.

Your Watch will automatically detect what you say and translate it. Tap the play button to hear the translation. Swipe left, then tap the star icon to save the translation. If you want to delete a translation, tap the bin icon.

You can customize certain aspects of the translation, like the input mode and pronunciation speed, if you want from the app’s settings. Simply tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the main screen, then head to the option you want to customize.

5 Integrated Music Recognition

Another app that can be really useful in watchOS 11 is Music Recognition. As the name implies, the app lets you identify music playing around you right from your wrist, saving you both time and effort. Music Recognition uses Shazam (after Apple purchased the service in 2018) and opens the song on Apple Music, where you can also add it to a playlist.

Using Music Recognition is easy. With a song playing around you, open the app and tap the Shazam button. If Shazam manages to identify it, you’ll see the song’s title and artist on the screen.

You can then tap on the song to open it on Apple Music. Hit “Add to” and choose a playlist to add the song to it. Music Recognition keeps a history of all your previously identified songs. Simply scroll down, and you’ll see the songs in a list.

It’s good to see Apple continuing to add features to the Apple Watch, making it more useful and reducing reliance on the paired iPhone. If you’ve just installed watchOS 11, be sure to check out everything else that’s new on the watchOS 11 update to get the most out of your Apple Watch.