We’re going into the third year of Apple Watch Ultra, and a free software update just made the product even better. watchOS 11 changes the way the Action button works, making it more functional in different scenarios.
For the lats two years, the Action button on Apple Watch Ultra has served as a one-click button for launching a workout, turning on the display flashlight, or other assignable tasks like running a custom-made Shortcut.
Long-pressing the Action button was the way to invoke the extremely audible Siren feature or make a call to emergency services.
Starting with watchOS 11, the Action button on Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2 is much more flexible.
A single click still instantly launches the assigned action, and long-pressing still invokes Siren, Medical ID, Compass Backtrack, and SOS. However, there’s now a new step that happens in between a single click and long-press.
Holding down the Action button now invokes a vertical list of each task that can otherwise be assigned to one click.
With watchOS 11, you can now press and hold the Action Button on Apple Watch Ultra to quickly switch actions using your finger or the Digital Crown. Had a lot of fun working on this with @edchao. pic.twitter.com/S4M7dqPiow
— Taylor Carrigan (@taylorcarrigan) September 16, 2024
This flexibility is brilliant enough to make iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 users jealous.
The Action button on iPhone can be programmed to present a list of possible tasks using Apple’s Shortcuts app, but such a list is not available without pre-configuration.
The difference? Apple Watch Ultra launches a task with a quick click. iPhone, on the other hand, ignores quick clicks and relies on a long-press to reduce accidental input. However, a longer-press could still be on the table… would you like to see this come to an update to iOS 18 or iOS 19?
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