If you’re not a big fan of the crowded app layout on the Apple Watch, WatchOS 4 has introduced a simpler alternative that makes it easier to scroll through and locate an app.
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By default, the Apple Watch uses a really weird app layout. If you click down on the Digital Crown, you’ll see all of your Apple Watch apps laid out in a confusing mess with just the icons showing—no app names or anything. Luckily, life doesn’t have to be like this.
The downsides, however, are that you won’t be able to rearrange apps (they’ll only appear in alphabetical order) and it might take more time to scroll through the list to find the app you want to open, since technically the default app layout lets you squeeze in more apps onto the screen. But, at least this new method lets you see the app names, making it easier to see which app is which without getting confused.
To change the app layout on your Apple Watch, start by pressing down on the Digital Crown to bring up the app layout, if you’re not there already.
From there, force touch the screen by pressing down hard enough until your watch vibrates. You’ll get two options that appear on the screen: “Grid View” and “List View”. Grid View is the default app layout that you’ve been using, while List View is the new app layout. Tap on that to change to it.
Your Apple Watch apps will now appear in list form in alphabetical order. From there, you can use the Digital Crown or the touch screen to scroll through the apps.
That’s all there is to it! If you ever want to go back to the Grid View app layout, just force touch the screen again and choose “Grid View”.
