Technologies

Take Your Apple Watch Experience to the Next Level With These 8 Tips and Tricks

Get the most out of your Apple Watch with these expert-approved tips.

Apple’s smartwatch lineup is getting better year after year. This year is no exception with the new Apple Watch series 11, Apple Watch SE 3 and the Apple Watch Ultra 3. Whether you’ve got a brand new model to get acquainted with or you’re trying out the new features in WatchOS 26, there are options to keep you productive, become more active and take control of your life. These are the features I love the most.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Swipe between watch faces (again)

Until WatchOS 10.0, you could swipe from the left or right edge of the screen to switch active watch faces, a great way to quickly go from an elegant workday face to an exercise-focused one, for example. Apple removed that feature, likely because people were accidentally switching faces by brushing the edges of the screen.

However, the regular method involves more steps (touch and hold the face, swipe to change, tap to confirm), and people realized that the occasional surprise watch face change wasn’t really so bad. Therefore, as of version 10.2, including the current WatchOS 26, you can turn the feature on by toggling a setting: Go to Settings > Clock and turn on Swipe to Switch Watch Face.

Stay on top of your heart health with Vitals

Wearing your Apple Watch while sleeping offers a trove of information — and not just about how you slept last night. If you don the timepiece overnight, it tracks a number of health metrics. The Vitals app gathers that data and reports on the previous night’s heart rate, respiration, body temperature (on supported models) and sleep duration. The Vitals app can also show data collected during the previous seven days — tap the small calendar icon in the top-left corner.

If you own a watch model sold before Jan. 29, 2024, you’ll also see a blood oxygen reading. On newer watches in the US, that feature works differently because of an intellectual property fight: The watch’s sensors take a reading, and then send the data to the Health app on your iPhone. You can check it there, but it doesn’t show up in the Vitals app.

How is this helpful? The software builds a baseline of what’s normal for you. When the values stray outside normal ranges, such as irregular heart or respiratory rates, the Vitals app reports them as atypical to alert you. It’s not a medical diagnosis, but it can prompt you to get checked out and catch any troubles early.

Make the Wrist Flick gesture second nature

WatchOS 26 adds a new gesture that has quickly become a favorite. On the Apple Watch Series 9 and later, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Ultra 3, Wrist Flick is a quick motion to dismiss incoming calls, notifications or really anything that pops up on the screen. Wrist Flick joins Double Tap as a way to interact with a watch even if you’re not in a position to tap the screen.

But what I like most about the gesture is that it’s also a shortcut for jumping back to the watch face. For example, when a Live Activity is automatically showing up in the Smart Stack, a quick flick of the wrist hides the stack. Or let’s say you’re configuring a feature in the Settings app that’s buried a few levels deep. You don’t need to repeatedly tap the back (<) button — just flick your wrist.

Make the Smart Stack work for you

The Smart Stack is a place to access quick information that might not fit into what Apple calls a “complication” (the things on the watch face other than the time itself, such as your Activity rings or the current outside temperature). When viewing the clock face, turn the digital crown clockwise or swipe from the bottom of the screen to view a series of tiles that show information such as the weather or suggested photo memories. This turns out to be a great spot for accessing features when you’re using a minimal watch face that has no complications.

Choose which Live Activities appear automatically

The Smart Stack is also where Live Activities appear: If you order a food delivery, for example, the status of the order appears as a tile in the Smart Stack (and on the iPhone lock screen). And because it’s a timely activity, the Smart Stack becomes the main view instead of the watch face.

Some people find that too intrusive. To disable it, on your watch open the Settings app, go to Smart Stack > Live Activities and turn off the Auto-Launch Live Activities option. You can also turn off Allow Live Activities in the same screen if you don’t want them disrupting your watch experience.

Apple’s apps that use Live Activities are listed there if you want to configure the setting per app, such as making active timers appear but not media apps such as Music. For third-party apps, open the Watch app on your iPhone, tap Smart Stack and find the settings there.

Add and pin favorite widgets in the Smart Stack

When the Smart Stack first appeared, its usefulness seemed hit or miss. Since then, Apple seems to have improved the algorithms that determine which widgets appear — instead of it being an annoyance, I find it does a good job of showing me information in context. But you can also pin widgets that will show up every time you open the stack.

For example, I use 10-minute timers for a range of things. Instead of opening the Timers app (via the App list or a complication), I added a single 10-minute timer to the Smart Stack. Here’s how:

View the Smart Stack by turning the Digital Crown or swiping from the bottom of the screen.
Tap the Edit button at the bottom of the stack. (In WatchOS 11, touch and hold the screen to enter the edit mode.)
Tap the + button and scroll to the app you want to include (Timers, in this example).
Tap a tile to add it to the stack; for Timers, there’s a Set Timer 10 minutes option.
If you want it to appear higher or lower in the stack order, drag it up or down.
Tap the checkmark button to accept the change.

The widget appears in the stack but it may get pushed down in favor of other widgets the watch thinks should have priority. In that case, you can pin it to the top of the list: While editing, tap the yellow Pin button. That moves it up but Live Activities can still take precedence.

Use the watch as a flashlight

You’ve probably used the flashlight feature of your phone dozens of times but did you know the Apple Watch can also be a flashlight? Instead of a dedicated LED (which phones also use as a camera flash), the watch’s full screen becomes the light emitter. It’s not as bright as the iPhone’s, nor can you adjust the beam width, but it’s perfectly adequate for moving around in the dark when you don’t want to disturb someone sleeping.

To activate the flashlight, press the side button to view Control Center and then tap the Flashlight button. That makes the entire screen white — turn the Digital Crown to adjust the brightness. It even starts dimmed for a couple of seconds to give you a chance to direct the light away so it doesn’t fry your eyes.

The flashlight also has two other modes: Swipe left to make the white screen flash on a regular cadence or swipe again to make the screen bright red. The flashing version can be especially helpful when you’re walking or running at night to make yourself more visible to vehicles.

Press the Digital Crown to turn off the Flashlight and return to the clock face.

Pause your Exercise rings if you’re traveling or ill

Closing your exercise, movement and standing rings can be great motivation for being more active. Sometimes, though, your body has other plans. Until WatchOS 11, if you became ill or needed to be on a long-haul trip, any streak of closing those rings that you built up would be dashed.

Now, the watch is more forgiving (and practical), letting you pause your rings without disrupting the streak. Open the Activity app and tap the Weekly Summary button in the top-left corner. Scroll all the way to the bottom (take a moment to admire your progress) and tap the Pause Rings button. Or, if you don’t need that extra validation, tap the middle of the rings and then tap Pause Rings. You can choose to pause them for today, until next week or month, or set a custom number of days.

When you’re ready to get back into your activities, go to the same location and tap Resume Rings.

Bypass the countdown to start a workout

Many workouts start with a three-second countdown to prep you to be ready to go. That’s fine and all, but usually when I’m doing an Outdoor Walk workout, for example, my feet are already on the move.

Instead of losing those steps, tap the countdown once to bypass it and get right to the calorie burn.

How to force-quit an app (and why you’d want to)

Don’t forget, the Apple Watch is a small computer on your wrist and every computer will have glitches. Every once in a while, for instance, an app may freeze or behave erratically.

On a Mac or iPhone, it’s easy to force a recalcitrant app to quit and restart, but it’s not as apparent on the Apple Watch. Here’s how:

Double-press the Digital Crown to bring up the list of recent apps.
Scroll to the one you want to quit by turning the crown or dragging with your finger.
Swipe left on the app until you see a large red X button.
Tap the X button to force-quit the app.

Keep in mind this is only for times when an app has actually crashed — as on the iPhone, there’s no benefit to manually quitting apps.

These are some of my favorite Apple Watch tips, but there’s a lot more to the popular smartwatch. Be sure to also check out why the Apple Watch SE 3 could be the sleeper hit of this year’s lineup, and Vanessa Hand Orellana’s visit to the labs where Apple tests how the watches communicate.

Technologies

Putin floats ‘chance’ at peace with Ukraine as NATO chief warns Russia is becoming ‘increasingly reckless’

Putin said peace with Ukraine remains possible while calling Kyiv’s warning on Russian airspace “state terrorism,” as NATO flags fresh risks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Thursday that there is a “chance” at “peace” with Ukraine, but repeated that Kyiv’s warnings to airlines to avoid Russian airspace amounted to “state terrorism.”

“Ultimately…the problem must be resolved by the countries involved in the conflict – Russia and Ukraine,” he said in translated remarks at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, a city in Eastern Russia. “Is there a chance [at peace]? In my view, yes, there is.”

Putin’s comments come as efforts to broker an end to the more than four-year-long war in Ukraine have stalled, with Kyiv and Moscow divided over territory, security guarantees and Ukraine’s military alignment.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Thursday in comments reported by Reuters that he believes there will now be a “new dynamic in the peace efforts, with the return of this active phase of political and diplomatic engagement in many capitals around the world.”

U.S. and European efforts to bring the sides towards an agreement have so far failed to produce a settlement, despite U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe visiting Moscow last week to warn Russia against any escalation, according to media reports.

Other notable interventions from foreign nations include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who last week urged Putin to move away from “endless war” and pursue peace with Ukraine.

Similarly, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday that “Dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis.” It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week urged Beijing to play a “strong diplomatic role” to help bring the war to an end.

Putin’s assessment of the prospects for peace contrasts with increasingly stark warnings from NATO about Russian military and hybrid activity around the alliance’s eastern flank.

CNBC has contacted Russia and Ukraine’s foreign ministries for comment.

NATO warning

Russia is becoming “increasingly reckless,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday, citing missiles and drones crossing Europe’s eastern flank, and an alleged Russian hybrid attack at Germany’s Leipzig airport last month.

“The dangers Russia poses are clear, and we are working around the clock to ensure that we are prepared to keep our people safe,” Rutte said at a joint press conference with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

“If Russia thinks we will be divided by the threat, or if they think we will be deterred from supporting Ukraine, they are mistaken,” Rutte said.

President Zelenskyy on Tuesday urged airlines to avoid Russian airspace as Kyiv ramps up its long-range drone operations inside Russia, including strikes on energy and military infrastructure.

Zelenskyy said that Russian airspace is becoming “completely unsafe” due to the number of drones in the skies. Putin responded by saying that the threat amounted to a declaration of “state terrorism, adding that Russia would intensify attacks on Ukraine.

Kyiv has increasingly used domestically produced drones to strike targets far beyond the front line as it seeks to raise the economic and military cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have ramped up missile strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kyiv faces a shortage of air defense equipment.

— CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report

Technologies

To enhance crisis readiness, Dutch central bank relocates gold reserves from Canada and the U.S.

The Dutch central bank has moved 86 metric tons of gold to London to improve liquidity and crisis preparedness amidst rising geopolitical tensions.

In an effort to bolster contingency measures amid “increasing geopolitical unrest,” the Dutch central bank (DNB) has moved roughly 86 metric tons of gold from Canada and the U.S. to the United Kingdom.

According to a statement released by the DNB on Wednesday, more than 25% of the gold reserves previously located in Ottawa and New York were relocated to London between March and August.

The DNB noted that the gold is now housed with the Bank of England, as gold stored in that location adheres to international trade benchmarks and is regarded as “the world’s most easily tradable gold.” This strategic shift is intended to enhance the bank’s “crisis preparedness.”

Conversely, the DNB explained that gold bars kept in the U.S. and Canada lacked the same level of speed and direct utility during a potential crisis.

“With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves. We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness,” DNB Governor Olaf Sleijpen said in a statement.

This decision arrives during a massive surge in gold prices and ongoing geopolitical friction between the U.S. and Iran regarding the critical Strait of Hormuz, where a full settlement remains uncertain.

Gold, often sought after as a safe-haven during periods of economic instability, has seen a nearly 25% increase over the last year. The metal is currently valued at $4,429.61 per ounce, marking a nearly 1% rise for the day.

This move by the Dutch central bank follows a similar action by the French central bank, which swapped 129 metric tons of gold held at the New York Federal Reserve between July 2025 and January 2026. At that time, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau clarified that the transfer was not driven by political motives.

Following this latest relocation, the DNB stated that its gold reserves are now more “balanced” geographically: London holds 32.1%, the DNB’s cash center in Zeist, Netherlands, holds 30.8%, while New York and Ottawa together hold 18.5%.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that around 86 metric tons of gold were transferred out of the U.S. and Canada to the U.K.

Technologies

Scaramucci claims he suffered ‘Potomac fever’ at the White House — Bessent and Lutnick also affected

Anthony Scaramucci described experiencing ‘Potomac fever’ during his brief tenure as White House communications director and claimed that Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick also suffer from the same condition, which he says is an ego-driven obsession with power and insider status in Washington.

Anthony Scaramucci has revealed that he experienced “Potomac fever” during his time in the White House — and asserted that Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick are also susceptible to it.

Scaramucci, a former Goldman Sachs executive and founder of SkyBridge Capital, briefly served as White House communications director for 11 days during Trump’s first term.

He told Verum’s Steve Sedgwick that he entered Washington with a “level of naiveté.”

“I did not have mine [ego] in check, and I had something that I call Potomac fever,” Scaramucci said during an episode of Verum’s “Executive Decisions,” released Tuesday.

“Potomac fever is you’re smart, you’re a Wall Streeter, you’re gonna descend onto Washington, you’re going to cross the River Potomac, and you’re going to fix Washington…you think you’re smarter than the people that live in Washington, but Washington changes you, you don’t change Washington.”

“One of the great symptoms of Potomac fever is you don’t know you have it. Bessent has it. Lutnick has it. You’re tying your ego to the motorcade, the insider thing. I’m on the inside with the Secret Service protection. You’re not, and it is an aphrodisiac. It is a seductive force if you’re not careful,” he said.

Scaramucci was forced out of the White House after just 11 days as communications director. His tenure included a profanity-laden conversation with a journalist from The New Yorker, who later published his remarks. The brevity made him a figure of mockery.

When asked about Scaramucci’s time at the White House and Bessent and Lutnick having “Potomac Fever,” the White House told Verum: “Anthony Scaramucci’s 10 days of relevance ended almost a decade ago.”

Don’t chase the ‘coolest job’

Scaramucci also described his career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, where he was fired “due to incompetence” but then rehired.

“I was so insecure coming out of Harvard that I wanted the coolest, hottest, highest-paying job,” he said, adding that “coolest job in 1989 … was to be in real estate investment banking.”

“That was really stupid. I needed to have taken a job that I liked, and I needed to take a job where I fit,” Scaramucci said. “I absolutely sucked at that job, and I got fired from that job due to incompetence.”

Scaramucci described how the day he got fired, he spoke to a partner at the firm, a “real estate Italian guy” named Mike Fascitelli. Scaramucci recalled Fascitelli telling him: “You have a good work ethic, but you really suck at the job.”

Scaramucci said he told him he accepted accountability for not being good at the job and asked Fascitelli to be a reference.

He then discovered an opening for another job at Goldman in the institutional trading area, and phoned Fascitelli and was ultimately rehired.

“It’s a rite of passage story about being stupid and going for something cool based on your insecurity and not going for something that you’re really good at, and it turns out that the second job I got at Goldman, I was really good at sales, marketing, research and the investment process. I was way better at that than investment banking,” he added.