Update: Now available on iBooks to download on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac.
Apple has today posted its Apple Watch User Guide, as customers begin to receive their Watches starting tomorrow. The guide serves as an accompaniment to the Watch, teaching users how to navigate around the interface and access various features. The guide covers all of the native first-party Apple Watch apps as well as general user-interface tips and tricks.
There is also a section on pairing the Watch, which will prove useful when Watches start being distributed into customers hands from tomorrow morning. There is also information about how to properly take care and clean the Apple Watch bands.
Here’s a few interesting tidbits:
- Pairing happens by displaying a special image on the Watch at first launch and taking a picture of the screen using the Apple Watch companion app on the iPhone. This is essentially a modern QR code system.
- There are seven status icons that can appear at the top of an Apple Watch. These will display if new notifications are available, if the Apple Watch is charging, if the device is locked, if Do Not Disturb is enabled, if Airplane Mode is active, if the connection to the iPhone has been lost or if wireless content is loading.
- The Apple Watch Settings Glance includes a ‘iPhone Ping’ button which causes the paired iPhone to make an audible sound, helping the user find it if it is lost.
- The User Guide includes a full rundown of the available watch faces. This includes which complications support which faces as well as other customization options.
- Software updates happen through the Apple Watch app on the iPhone. The updates are sent wirelessly to the device. You can also restore the firmware in the same way.
- Apple makes a point of informing users what to do if they want to give their Watch to another person. Users should un-pair the Watch from the iPhone and then erase all data. If the Watch is lost or stolen, users should remove all bank cards associated with Apple Pay on the Watch.
Apple usually posts its User Guides as eBooks in the iBookstore but the Apple Watch User Guide is not yet available in that medium. Expect to see it available soon.
