How to Browse the Internet on Apple Watch Through watchOS 5's WebKit Integration

[MacRumors]

With watchOS 5, Apple has added support for WebKit, which is designed to allow you to view content from the web right on your wrist, something that's entirely new to the Apple Watch.

There's no full web browser so you're not going to see a Safari app for Apple Watch anytime soon, but you can now click on and open web links in apps like Mail and Messages.

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WebKit in Messages

If someone sends you a link to your Apple Watch in the Messages app, you can tap on it to open up a little mini web browser right in the Messages app.

You can open all kinds of webpages, from restaurant menus to airline flight information. Webpages are interactive and you can click on links and browse as you normally would.

WebKit in Mail

Just like Messages, if you get an email with a web link in it, you can open it up using the Mail app. You can also view HTML emails on the Apple Watch for the first time thanks to the WebKit integration.

Using Google and Other Websites on Apple Watch

As we mentioned earlier, there's no built-in Safari app on the Apple Watch for browsing the web, but you can cheat. Here's how:

1. From your iPhone or Mac, send yourself an iMessage with a link to Google.com (or any other search engine).
2. On the Apple Watch, open up the Messages app.
3. Tap on your name, and then tap on the Google.com link that you sent yourself.
4. Wait for the Google site to load on the Apple Watch.
5. Tap on the search field.
6. Speak or spell out whatever you want to search for.
7. Tap the search button.

You can load all kinds of websites on the Apple Watch, from Wikipedia to restaurant sites for finding menus, to airline check-in sites to websites like MacRumors.com. It's essentially a full browser that's been miniaturized for the wrist.

Some content will not load on the Apple Watch. You can't watch YouTube videos, for example, nor will other types of video content load. Complicated websites with a lot of content, such as news sites, can take awhile to load or can refuse to load all together, so simple browsing is best on the Apple Watch.

Where possible, the little Apple Watch browser will use Reader Mode for text heavy websites, so you will see simple, easy-to-view sites with no ads. Mobile optimized sites work the best on the Apple Watch.

Using Google in the Messages app for browsing the web isn't something that you're going to want to do all the time because it's slow and tedious on such a small screen, not to mention it eats up a lot of battery, but it's useful for an emergency where you need to look something up and don't have an iPhone handy.

For browsing the web on the Apple Watch, you will always need to use the search cheat because Apple doesn't allow access to the URL bar. You can tap it, but there's no way to enter a web address.

WebKit Gestures

WebKit on Apple Watch supports several gestures, which are outlined below.

[*]Use the Digital Crown or a finger on the screen to scroll.
[*]Double tap to zoom in and double tap again to zoom out.
[*]Long press to access options for Back, Forward, Reload, and Reader Mode.
[*]Swipe to move forwards or backwards through different sites.
[*]Tap a text field to speak or spell out text.
How to Clear Website Data on Apple Watch

Being able to browse the web on the Apple Watch through Mail and Messages means that your Apple Watch is storing some website data. You can delete all of this data in the Settings app. Here's how:

1. Open the Settings app on Apple Watch.
2. Choose General.
3. Scroll down to Website Data.
4. Select "Clear Website Data."

Using this option will remove all website cookies, credentials, and browsing data. It does not appear that Apple Watch stores any browsing history in a viewable format, so there's no option to clear just history.

Availability

According to Apple, WebKit integration is limited to Apple Watch Series 3 models. WebKit and websites will not load on the Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2 models.

Article Link: How to Browse the Internet on Apple Watch Through watchOS 5's WebKit Integration

 

[Delgibbons]

This is cool.

I use the browser on my Samsung Gear S3 watch fairly often. It's handy for quick google searches, instagram and YouTube viewing but a bit gimmicky. Not sure video playback does the battery life any favours either.

Always good to have more features on a smartwatch though.

 

[2268473]

Perhaps I am a pessimist but I just can’t think of any practical scenarios where this would be useful.

With a bigger screen, however...

 

[Broken Hope]

This page says Series 3 only.

https://developer.apple.com/safari/whats-new/

 

[scottcampbell]

I've always wa-
nted to read par-
agraphs that are
hyphenated ev-
ery fourth word!

 

[xDKP]

Perhaps I am a pessimist but I just can’t think of any practical scenarios where this would be useful.

With a bigger screen, however...

Not really a feature I have been longing for as well - always used my watch for quick stuff it does better than my iPhone - not stuff like this that’s obviously better on my phone.

Maybe an “emergency” google while without my phone could be okay

 

[Scottsoapbox]

If you want to browse the internet, take your phone out of your pocket!

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

How do you use private browsing on it though?

You know, for private stuff.

 

[chucker23n1]

WebKit integration appears to be a feature that is limited to Apple Watch Series 3 models, as Apple Watch owners with Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2 models are not able to open web links during the beta testing period, instead seeing a message that links need to be viewed on the iPhone.

It's not clear if this is a beta limitation because Apple's watchOS 5 site does not mention that it's a Series 3 only feature, but it's possible older Apple Watch models will not work with WebKit when watchOS 5 sees a release.

The watchOS site may not say it, but the developer site does.

https://developer.apple.com/safari/whats-new/

New Platforms

• Web Pages on watchOS. View web pages and HTML messages from Mail and Messages on watchOS 5 with Apple Watch Series 3.

 

[JoEw]

Can you connect to captive WiFi networks?

 

[Pakaku]

This looks like something intended only for consistency between different platforms of iMessages or so. Even then, doesn't the watch need to be paired to a phone anyways?

I really hope watch app devs get the wrong idea about this...

 

[19callum93]

I couldn’t think of anything worse.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Interesting ... wondering how useful or negative this would be towards battery life under moderate use; more in relation to non-LTE S3 devices?

Somehow reader mode seems to be a better implementation.

 

[jclo]

This page says Series 3 only.

https://developer.apple.com/safari/whats-new/

Thanks! Much appreciate the heads up, fully missed that. I've updated the how to.

 

[chucker23n1]

This looks like something intended only for consistency between different platforms of iMessages or so. Even then, doesn't the watch need to be paired to a phone anyways?

Think of it less as a web browser and more as a rich text renderer. For instance, this makes viewing basic HTML e-mails possible.

 

[bluecoast]

This feels something that is simultaneously useful and a little bit daft at the same time.

 

[code-m]

Perhaps I am a pessimist but I just can’t think of any practical scenarios where this would be useful.

With a bigger screen, however...

I concur it does not make any sense at all, my eyes are being toyed with. First we get the candy bar and flip phones with tiny screen, then a 3.5” iPhone screen, evolved to 4.0” screen, 4.7”, 5.5”, 5.8” 6.1” 6.5” and you want my aging eyes to re-adjust my focus to a postage stamp. How is this useful when someone has a 4.0” screen if not larger in their pocket. This comes across as a gimmick, if Apple wanted to do it right have an ultra short range projector. Have the OLED built-in or not into the device. This would be futuristic and the holographic projection size can be adjusted. Plus with the added bonus where you do not have to over bend your neck to view the display rather use the glass surface as a touchpad surface.

 

[tridley68]

Kinda cool feature but not sure how useful it would be since the sceen is so small

 

[Broken Hope]

The main reason they added WebKit support is to fix those cases where you get an email and you can't preview it as the watch states it contains elements it can't render, it will no longer do that on the Series 3 and newer, it will just render the email.

 

[jonnysods]

Coming up next:

How to book a chiropractor appointment due to browsing the internet on a watch.

 

[Azeroth1]

So..iPad Mini refresh is back on?

 

[McG2k1]

I’ll add this to the list of things that are technically possible to on the watch, but not really worth the trouble.

 

[341328]

This is good for loading some content. Well done Apple.

 

[liberte1776]

While the WebKit addition is nice, it is SILLY not to include a Safari app to make it simpler to actually use it when needed!

 

[michaelant]

Nice to know you can get a search engine to load on the Watch, but if I just want basic info on something, I say, "hey Siri, look up iguanas" and it'll pull up the Wikipedia entry for iguanas.