Are you looking for a way to customize your Apple Watch with a screensaver? Unfortunately, Apple Watches don’t offer screensavers – that’s something that computers do, not smartwatches. However, there is a way to optimize your Apple Watch with a “screensaver” – by using a watch face as an alternative. Read on to learn more.
Understanding the Apple Watch Screensaver
Apple Watches don’t offer screensavers.
Screensavers were originally designed for computers to prevent damage to older monitors. Older CRT or plasma monitors couldn’t handle constantly being on. A screensaver would prevent phosphor burn-in and save the screen from damage, hence the name.
Nowadays, most computers still offer screensavers, even though modern screens have evolved and no longer have the same risk. Screensavers nowadays are usually designed to protect private data when the user is away from the screen, conserve battery on laptops, or simply for aesthetic purposes.
However, what you can do is customize your display settings on your Apple Watch to show a unique watch face. That is the picture you will see when you glance at your watch to view the time. You can set a unique wallpaper background for your watch face so that you can see precious memories or nice pictures of nature when glancing at the time.
Customizing Your Apple Watch Screensaver
You can personalize your Apple Watch by setting custom Apple Watch faces. You can do this from your iPhone or your watch. We will focus on how to do it from your iPhone, because the easiest way to fully customize your Apple Watch face is to use the Watch app on your iPhone.
Open the Watch app on your paired iPhone and click on Face Gallery at the bottom of the screen. You can then select from the available design options. You can also change the color of a selected design option or click on Complications to set different positions for the design option you chose or to add other details, such as alarms, heart rate, and weather, to your watch face.
If you don’t want to select from one of the available options but rather set a custom image as the background of your watch face, continue reading.
Using Photos as Apple Watch Screensavers
You can set up a custom Apple Watch photo face by manually selecting a picture from your gallery. In the Photos app on your iPhone, click on the Share icon. Then, click on Create Watch Face. You can then choose from the Portraits, Photos, or Kaleidoscope watch face options and sync your photo to your Apple Watch to be used as a watch face.
Dynamic Screensavers: How to Set Them Up
Apple offers several dynamic/animated watch faces in the design options that you can choose from. For example, the Metropolitan watch face design has numbers that change style and weight when you click on the watch face and turn the Digital Crown on your watch.
The Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse watch face features Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who use their arms to point to the time and tap out the seconds with their feet. Modular, Modular Compact, and Modular Duo are some other dynamic watch faces you can pick.
If you want to create your own animated watch face, continue reading.
Creating Your Own Apple Watch Screensaver
You can also create a DIY animated Apple Watch screensaver to be used as a custom wallpaper by using a live photo to create a watch face. Instead of using a static photo, simply use a live photo. Live photos on iPhones are photos that are slightly animated, like GIFs, to show movement, and you can use them as watch faces. Simply edit it in Photos so that the key frame is the animated part you want to appear on your watch face, and then click on the share icon and click on Create Watch Face.
You can also turn a GIF into a watch face. I recommend using GIPHY, which is an app that lets you download GIFs as live photos. Once again, edit the live photo so that the key frame is the part you want to show up on your watch face. Then, select it as a watch face.
Third-Party Apps for Unique Apple Watch Screensavers
In addition to all of the options specified above, you can install third-party Apple Watch faces by using third-party screensaver apps on the App Store. The best customization apps for watch faces are Watch Faces by Facer and Clockology.
Watch Faces by Facer has over 300,000 watch faces to choose from! They include watch faces from both famous brands and independent designers.
Changing Screensavers Based on Time of Day
You can set up a time-based watch face so that your watch automatically changes its face based on the time of day. To do that, just follow these steps:
- Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone.
- Click on the Automation tab at the bottom.
- Click on Create Personal Automation.
- Click on Time of Day.
- Choose a time.
- Choose the Daily frequency.
- Click on Proceed.
- Click on Add an Action.
- Search for “watch” and click on “Set Watch Face.”
- Select a watch face.
- Click on Next.
- Turn off Ask Before Running.
- Click on Done.
The watch face you selected will be set to appear on your watch at the time of day you specified, every day. You can set up different automation for different times. For example, you can have one watch face appear at 9 each morning and another at 5 each evening.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed this Apple Watch user guide and our Apple Watch customization tips. While screensavers, in the strict sense of the word, are not available on an Apple Watch, you can set a custom watch face. In addition to built-in design options, you can upload a personal photo or use a third-party app to access unique watch faces.
Our Tech Essentials:
Related posts:
Apple Watch Disconnected – Troubleshooting Tips
How To Keep Caps Lock On Your iPhone
How to Use Apple Watch for Outdoor Running
Apple Watch Warranty – Questions Answered
Apple Watch – A Guide to Adding Friends
How To Change Apple Watch Time To 12 Hour
How to Customize Your Apple Watch Screen Lock Time
How To Change Password In Mac Mail
