When it involves watches, southpaws typically get the brief finish of the stick. Unless lefties purchase a destro watch, they must study to put on watches on their dominant hand as an alternative of the nondominant hand as really helpful. But that doesn’t must be the case with all smartwatches. Because smartwatches have touchscreens, some watch producers have given lefties the choice of flipping the display screen orientation so it seems “upside down.” This, in flip, provides customers better management over the place the watch’s buttons are, making it simpler to make use of a tool worn on the fitting hand.

While not each smartwatch means that you can swap display screen orientation, two of the most important gamers — Apple and Samsung — do. For Wear OS, you presently have to make use of third-party apps to rotate the display screen — though Google is purportedly including the power to flip display screen orientation on future Wear OS watches. Unfortunately, it’s not presently potential on both the Fitbit Sense or Versa 3 or on newer Garmin units.

But dangle on, you may say, didn’t my smartwatch immediate me throughout setup to decide on the wrist I plan to put on it on? Often, sure — that is one thing many customers are requested to do as quickly as they energy on a model new smartwatch. However, needless to say this doesn’t all the time seek advice from display screen orientation. Generally, this immediate is supposed to assist the watch run the proper health monitoring algorithms, relying on whether or not you put on your machine in your dominant or nondominant hand.

While it’s a disgrace that you may’t flip your display screen orientation on each smartwatch, right here’s easy methods to do it on the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 lineups. We’ll be sure you present an replace if and when different smartwatch makers determine to allow this function sooner or later.

Apple Watch

Image: Apple

Apple has lengthy given customers the power to customise their watch’s display screen orientation. You can tweak this setting out of your cellphone or instantly on the watch itself.

To flip display screen orientation utilizing the watch:

• Navigate to the Settings app.
• Scroll down and faucet General.
• Scroll all the way down to Orientation.
• From right here, choose which wrist you wish to put on the watch on.
• Then choose which aspect you need the digital crown to look.

To flip display screen orientation utilizing the iPhone:

• Open the Watch app.
• Select the My Watch tab.
• Select General and faucet Watch Orientation.
• From right here, choose which wrist you wish to put on the watch on.
• Then choose which aspect you need the digital crown to look.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic

Image: Samsung

When Samsung first launched the Galaxy Watch 4 lineup final 12 months, you couldn’t swap display screen orientation. That was an enormous downside for those who wished to make use of the brand new physique composition function and wore the watch in your proper wrist. That’s as a result of Samsung required you to the touch two fingers on the watch’s buttons to create a circuit for bioelectrical impedance evaluation. While this was simple sufficient to do on the left wrist, southpaws must attain all the way in which over in an uncomfortable way to make use of the function.

Thankfully, Samsung has mounted this downside. Now, lefties or people who wish to put on their watches on their proper hand have the choice to make use of the brand new function with out having to cope with a lower than preferrred button placement.

To flip display screen orientation:

• Navigate to the Settings menu on the watch.
• Tap General, then choose Orientation.
• Choose your Left or Right wrist.
• Once you’ve executed that, scroll all the way down to Button Position.
• Again, choose whether or not you need the buttons to look on the left or proper.

Hopefully, we’ll see extra smartwatches add the power to customise display screen orientation sooner or later. Not solely would it not assist lefties but in addition it could be helpful from an accessibility standpoint. And, because the saying goes, while you make a design accessible, you benefit everyone else, too.