Only select Apple Watch models can use watchOS 26’s new Wrist Flick gesture
When Apple announced watchOS 26 at WWDC 2025 on Monday, one of the takeaway features that stood out to me was that they were adding a new gesture to dismiss incoming notifications that doesn’t require the use of the touch screen.
Dubbed the Wrist Flick gesture, Apple Watch users can simply raise their wrist at the sight of any notification and then flip their wrist outward (away from them) and back toward their face for the Apple Watch to dismiss the incoming notification, as shown in the animated GIF example above.
This gesture has a lot of potential to help users who have their hands full and can’t tap on their Apple Watch’s display.
According to Apple, this gesture can be used for things such as muting incoming phone calls, silencing a firing timer, or dismissing general notifications, whether that’s a weather notification, an incoming iMessage, or something else.
But here’s what you may not have known: the Wrist Flick gesture isn’t compatible with all Apple Watch models. In fact, in a typical Apple fashion, it’s only available for the highest-end models, including the following:
- Apple Watch Ultra 2
- Apple Watch Series 10
- Apple Watch Series 9
Interestingly enough, the original Apple Watch Ultra isn’t listed even though the previous-generation Apple Watch Series 9 is. I find this… annoying, as I’m sure any original Apple Watch Ultra user will too. After all, as a member of the jailbreak community where I often see features being backported to capable older hardware, I can only imagine Apple made this decision as a marketing gimmick to sell more Apple Watch Ultra 2 units.
Apple pulled a similar stunt when they announced the Double Tap gesture, but there are workarounds for this.
Developers are currently testing watchOS 26 before the Fall release to the general population. The software update will being a major design overhaul to the watchOS platform, including the Liquid Glass aesthetic that Apple seems to be bringing to all its platforms later this year.
Do you think you’ll make use of the Wrist Flick gesture? Let us know why or why not in the comments section down below.
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/06/11/apple-watch-wrist-flick-gesture-watchos-26-limited-to-certain-models/
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