How to Turn On Apple’s New ‘Wrist Flick’ Gesture in watchOS 26

In 2023, Apple presented the Tapping Functionality for Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2.. This allows a user to perform common actions, such as responding or starting a song, simply by quickly pressing their thumb and index. It was an intuitive way to confirm when you wanted to do something on your watch without typing a small touch screen, but what happens if you wanted to reject something? Now, with the release of Watchos 26, Wrist is here to solve this problem.

Also available on Apple Watch Series 9 (and more) as well as on Apple Watch Ultra 2 (and more), Wrist is a bit like Tappingis the evil twin. If you get a notification that you do not like, or a call that you want to silent, you can now twist your wrist to reject it, as if you throw it in a trash can.

To try it, first install Watchos 26 on your Apple Watch. Using a couple iPhone with iOS 26 installedOpen the Apple Watch application, go to General> software update, And start upgrading to the new version of Watchos. Alternatively, you can simply make sure Automatic updates are activated, and as long as your iPhone has iOS 26, your watch will simply choose a time to update by itself during the load (probably overnight).

Then, once Watchos 26 is installed, put your watch and access Settings> Gestures. Switch Wrist.

That’s it. You will just have to wait for a notification or a call between, or for a timer that you want to silence, and you can turn it off with a quick blow from the wrist. It could take some practice, but essentially, you want to quickly run your wrist away from your body, As seen on this page on the Apple website.

Used TappingThe goal is that you will no longer need to play with the touch screen of your watch for most basic activities, so you will not have to interrupt your training (or, if you are like me, you sit quietly in the metro) by typing. The only limitation is that, while Tapping a little Basic cartography functions which allow you to personalize exactly what it does, Wrist Currently, does not offer this level of control, rather sticking to the default “rejection” behavior of Apple. This means that you will not be able to use it to, say, go back a tile in your smart battery, like the way you can define Tapping To move you forward by a tile. Hoping that Apple will soon extend its functionality.