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How do I remove maps from my watch dock?

ssledoux

ssledoux

macrumors 601
Original poster
Sep 16, 2006
4,413
4,245
Down south
I used my maps on my phone yesterday and of course it opened in my watch. It's almost like it didn't turn off though - my battery was down a lot earlier, and I couldn't remove the maps app from my dock on my watch. It's the last one popping up, but when I swipe it only gives me the option to keep in dock. It makes me worry that it'll run in the background and drain my battery. It is definitely turned off and closed in my phone.
 
Have you tried using the My Watch app on the iPhone to attempt to delete Maps from the dock? As a test I removed Maps from the dock on my iPhone and it is no longer showing in the dock on my watch.
 
Well something is going on with my battery because last week I could put it on at 7:30 or 8 a.m. and with regular use I'd have about 20-30% left at 10 p.m. Last night I had 11% by 9 p.m.
 
CobraPA said:
I think you are mistaken. Dock apps specifically support background refresh. It's part of the reason Apple created the dock on watchOS, so you could pick some apps to get background time for updates. Some discussion here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/watch-dock-background-refresh.1999800/
Click to expand...
3ed party app refresh (periodically refreshes relevant data like a weather or news app) is NOT allowing the app to actively run in the background and would have a minimal impact on battery life. Also the OP is referencing the OEM Maps app and this does not apply.

Again, 3ed party Apps are limited on the amount data and how often they can request it (and NOT running in the background). So it is a tightly controlled process by wOS that is trivial to battery life.
 
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ssledoux said:
Well something is going on with my battery because last week I could put it on at 7:30 or 8 a.m. and with regular use I'd have about 20-30% left at 10 p.m. Last night I had 11% by 9 p.m.
Click to expand...

Initiate a re-pair of the Apple Watch.
 
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Ok, what I don't get is to remove an app from the dock, you have to tap the keep in dock button first, then swipe up to get to the remove X. Does this make sense?
 
BullittMustang said:
Ok, what I don't get is to remove an app from the dock, you have to tap the keep in dock button first, then swipe up to get to the remove X. Does this make sense?
Click to expand...
Kinda sounds like you do get it. In the Dock swipe up and hit the X to remove the app.
 
BullittMustang said:
What I don't get is why we have to tap keep in dock first, when we want to do just the opposite.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing "keep in Dock"?

Think I see what you are confusing. This is the LAST app you used. The last app is in a temporary Dock space (not even shown on your iPhone). It will be replaced as soon as you select another app this is not in the Dock. So it is asking if you want to add it to the Dock since it's not really in the Dock.
 
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BullittMustang said:
What I don't get is why we have to tap keep in dock first, when we want to do just the opposite.
Click to expand...
Because the app in the dock you're referring to is the one on the far right is it not? That's a "recent" app. It's behaving that way for you because it's not an app that's been placed permanently in the dock (so there's no remove option until you do add it to the dock by tapping "keep").

To remove that recent app, highlight it in the dock, but don't tap it. Then hold the power button until you see the "slide to power off" screen. Then press and hold the Digital Crown. The recent app should be gone from the dock now.
 
chuyn said:
Because the app in the dock you're referring to is the one on the far right is it not? That's a "recent" app. It's behaving that way for you because it's not an app that's been placed permanently in the dock (so there's no remove option until you do add it to the dock by tapping "keep").

To remove that recent app, highlight it in the dock, but don't tap it. Then hold the power button until you see the "slide to power off" screen. Then press and hold the Digital Crown. The recent app should be gone from the dock now.
Click to expand...

I see what you are saying. I don't understand why the last app used is not automatically put in the dock. If it were to work like the iPhone does, all apps opened are added to the app switcher and accessed by double clicking the home button. The dock on the watch acts like that, with the exception of not adding the last app automatically. That's what I don't like.
 
On the iPhone the Dock only holds 4 apps. The App Switcher just keeps your apps in the order they were opened.

On the :apple:Watch the Dock holds the 10 apps YOU select/use the most plus the last app used as a temporarily. The :apple:Watch being small and 'quicker' to use is more intuitive with a limited number of known choices. Also using the Watch app you can rearrange the apps in the order you want (most used to the side). Remember the Dock replaced Glances and it is a more logical evolution.

Can't see any advantage to having the Dock replaced by an App Switcher. It would just be more confusing and take longer to find the app you want. IMO Apple made a great choice going with the Dock over an App Switcher.
 
IMO I'm not a fan of the way the last used app appears. I never had a first gereration Apple Watch with an older version of Watch OS, so I don't " remember " glances. Overall, the dock is fine, I personally don't use the dock much, I usually pick apps from the main screen. Maybe I'll give it a try and set it up with my favorites. It is much less cluttered than the main screen.
 
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Julien said:
3ed party app refresh (periodically refreshes relevant data like a weather or news app) is NOT allowing the app to actively run in the background and would have a minimal impact on battery life. Also the OP is referencing the OEM Maps app and this does not apply.

Again, 3ed party Apps are limited on the amount data and how often they can request it (and NOT running in the background). So it is a tightly controlled process by wOS that is trivial to battery life.
Click to expand...

This isn't really true for watch OS. Note the details from Apple's notes on Watch OS3:
  • The Dock. Accessed with the side button, the Dock holds up to ten of the user’s favorite apps. Apps in the Dock are given an opportunity to run at least once an hour so that they can check for new content. Apps can also update their snapshot, which is the static version of the app’s interface displayed in the Dock. These updates make the Dock a useful way for users to get information quickly.
Quoted from the Apple developer notes on watch OS3: https://developer.apple.com/watchos/human-interface-guidelines/overview/
 
BullittMustang said:
IMO I'm not a fan of the way the last used app appears. I never had a first gereration Apple Watch with an older version of Watch OS, so I don't " remember " glances. Overall, the dock is fine, I personally don't use the dock much, I usually pick apps from the main screen. Maybe I'll give it a try and set it up with my favorites. It is much less cluttered than the main screen.
Click to expand...

I actually preferred Glances over the dock. Glances was more streamlined, although the dock appears more efficient.
 
ssledoux said:
I used my maps on my phone yesterday and of course it opened in my watch. It's almost like it didn't turn off though - my battery was down a lot earlier, and I couldn't remove the maps app from my dock on my watch. It's the last one popping up, but when I swipe it only gives me the option to keep in dock. It makes me worry that it'll run in the background and drain my battery. It is definitely turned off and closed in my phone.
Click to expand...

I couldn't really see anyone propose a solution on how to get the maps from your recent dock entries (or any other recent app for that matter).

I've just tested this with the maps app:

  1. launch the app you want to remove
  2. press and hold the "pill" shaped button (ie, not the crown) until you see the "power off" and "Emergency SOS" options
  3. release the "pill" shaped button
  4. press and hold the digital crown button until you return to the watch face screen.
The above process kills the running app, and removes it from the recent entries. If you relaunch the app you'll notice that it takes longer to start up - as it has to start fresh instead of "continuing".
 
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