How To Automatically Change Your Apple Watch Face During The Day

Ideally, Apple Watch should have a built-in setting for changing watch faces at a specific time. Say, a Modular watch face from 10 AM to 6 PM, and a Photos watch face from 6 PM to 10 AM. While this is still a pipe dream, starting with watchOS 7, you can change your watch face at a specific time using the built-in Shortcuts Automation app on your iPhone.

The entire setup process works using the Automations feature in the Shortcuts app. Once it’s set up, you can forget about it. You’ll see a notification when the shortcut is triggered.

RELATED: How to Create Automations on an iPhone or iPad

To start the setup process, open the “Shortcuts” app on your iPhone and then switch to the “Automation” tab.

Here, tap the “+” icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Select the “Personal Automation” option.

From the “New Automation” section, choose the “Time Of Day” option.

Here, select the “Time Of Day” option and enter the time when you want to change your watch face. From the “Repeat” section, make sure that the “Daily” option is selected. Then, tap the “Next” button.

You will now configure the shortcut part of the automation. Here, tap the “Add Action” button.

From the search bar, search for and select the “Set Watch Face” action.

Now, from the “Actions” tab, tap the “Face” button.

You’ll see a list of all your watch faces. Choose the watch face you want to switch to.

The shortcut is now ready. Tap the “Next” button.

Annoyingly, automations in the Shortcuts app don’t actually trigger automatically by default. They need to be triggered from a notification. Fortunately, you can disable this feature. Tap the toggle next to the “Ask Before Running” option.

From the pop-up message, choose the “Don’t Ask” option. Your automation will run automatically in the background, and you’ll only see a notification that the shortcut has run.

Tap the “Done” button from the top to save the automation.

Your automation is now created. At the designated time, it will be triggered and your watch face will change. You’ll get a Shortcuts notifications on your iPhone and Apple Watch.

You can repeat this process to create more automations to set different watch faces at different times.

New to Shortcuts? Take a look at our guide to learn how to use the Shortcuts app.

RELATED: What Are iPhone Shortcuts and How Do I Use Them?