How to Share Apple Watch Faces

[MacRumors]

If you have an Apple Watch, chances are you've spent some time customizing your watch faces. Apple lets you adjust colors, choose complications, and select backgrounds so you can get watch to look just how you like, and you can share your personalized watch faces with others, too.

The ability to share watch faces with other people is a fun addition because it means you can impress your friends with your creations, and perhaps surprise someone who's new to Apple Watch by showing them just what's possible. You can also receive watch faces from others. It's easy to do, so keep reading to learn how it works.

How to Share a Watch Face With Someone

1. On your Apple Watch, swipe to the face you want to share.
2. Press and hold on the face until the Edit and Share buttons appear.
3. Tap the Share button (it looks like a square with an arrow pointing out).
   
   
   
   Tap Add Contact.
4. If the person you want to share the face with is in the list of favorites and recent contacts, tap their name. Alternately, tap the Dictate button and say their name, then select it from the list that appears.
   
   
   
   Select one of the suggested text messages or use Dictate, Scribble, or emoji to create your own.
5. Turn the Digital Crown to scroll down, then tap Send.
   
   

You can also share a watch face from your iPhone. Simply open the Watch app on your iPhone, select a watch face in the My Watch tab or the Face Gallery tab, tap the Share button, then tap how you want to share it. You can send watch faces using Messages, Mail, AirDrop, or third-party apps like WhatsApp.

How to Share a Watch Face Online

You can also share watch faces online, via websites, blogs, and social media, although the process is a bit more convoluted. Here's how it works.

1. Launch Watch app on your iPhone, then select the watch face you want to share.
2. Tap the Share button, then select Mail.
3. Email the watch face to yourself.
4. Open the email message that you receive, then touch and hold on the .watchface attachment at the bottom of the message.
5. Tap Share, then tap Save to Files.
6. Select a location, then tap Save.
7. Open the Files app and navigate to the .watchface file that you just saved.
8. Touch and hold the .watchface file, then tap Share.
9. Tap Add People.
10. Tap Share Options, then tap Anyone with the link if you want anyone to be able to download the watch face.
11. Tap the Back arrow to go back.
12. Swipe left on the sharing app icons, then tap Copy Link.
13. Use the link that you copied to share the watch face online.

How to Receive a Watch Face From Someone

When someone shares a watch face with you, you'll receive a link in Messages, Mail, or another app. Here's what you need to do with it.

1. On the iPhone that your Apple Watch is paired with, tap the shared watch face link.
2. When the Watch app opens, tap Add to My Faces.
   
   
   
   If there are any complications included in the watch face that you don't have the apps for, you'll be offered App Store links to download them. If you don't want the complication, select Continue Without This App and the face will be modified for your Apple Watch.

The shared face will be added to the My Faces section in the Watch app, and will appear on your Apple Watch when you select a watch face.

Article Link: How to Share Apple Watch Faces

 

[groove-agent]

Even with the new faces there is still a limited combination.

Apple should allow developers to make faces and sell them on the store for $0.99 or something similar. This seems so obvious.

Maybe now that there's a dedicated watchOS store, this is in the works.

 

[Dominicanyor]

Very nice..

 

[whyamihere]

Nice walkthrough. I had forgotten about this.

 

[Kermit262]

Thanks Mac Rumors. Just took a screen capture of a watch face I was going to share then saw this. Much better. 😊

 

[paulsquyres]

If you have an Apple Watch, chances are you've spent some time customizing your watch faces. Apple lets you adjust colors, choose complications, and select backgrounds so you can get watch to look just how you like, and in watchOS 7 you can share your personalized watch faces with others, too.

The ability to share watch faces with other people is a fun addition because it means you can impress your friends with your creations, and perhaps surprise someone who's new to Apple Watch by showing them just what's possible. You can also receive watch faces from others. It's easy to do, so keep reading to learn how it works.

How to Share a Watch Face With Someone

1. On your Apple Watch, swipe to the face you want to share.
2. Press and hold on the face until the Edit and Share buttons appear.
3. Tap the Share button (it looks like a square with an arrow pointing out).
   
   
   
   Tap Add Contact.
4. If the person you want to share the face with is in the list of favorites and recent contacts, tap their name. Alternately, tap the Dictate button and say their name, then select it from the list that appears.
   
   
   
   Select one of the suggested text messages or use Dictate, Scribble, or emoji to create your own.
5. Turn the Digital Crown to scroll down, then tap Send.
   
   

You can also share a watch face from your iPhone. Simply open the Watch app on your iPhone, select a watch face in the My Watch tab or the Face Gallery tab, tap the Share button, then tap how you want to share it. You can send watch faces using Messages, Mail, AirDrop, or third-party apps like WhatsApp.

How to Share a Watch Face Online

You can also share watch faces online, via websites, blogs, and social media, although the process is a bit more convoluted. Here's how it works.

1. Launch Watch app on your iPhone, then select the watch face you want to share.
2. Tap the Share button, then select Mail.
3. Email the watch face to yourself.
4. Open the email message that you receive, then touch and hold on the .watchface attachment at the bottom of the message.
5. Tap Share, then tap Save to Files.
6. Select a location, then tap Save.
7. Open the Files app and navigate to the .watchface file that you just saved.
8. Touch and hold the .watchface file, then tap Share.
9. Tap Add People.
10. Tap Share Options, then tap Anyone with the link if you want anyone to be able to download the watch face.
11. Tap the Back arrow to go back.
12. Swipe left on the sharing app icons, then tap Copy Link.
13. Use the link that you copied to share the watch face online.

How to Receive a Watch Face From Someone

When someone shares a watch face with you, you'll receive a link in Messages, Mail, or another app. Here's what you need to do with it.

1. On the iPhone that your Apple Watch is paired with, tap the shared watch face link.
2. When the Watch app opens, tap Add to My Faces.
   
   
   
   If there are any complications included in the watch face that you don't have the apps for, you'll be offered App Store links to download them. If you don't want the complication, select Continue Without This App and the face will be modified for your Apple Watch.

The shared face will be added to the My Faces section in the Watch app, and will appear on your Apple Watch when you select a watch face.

Article Link: watchOS 7: How to Share Apple Watch Faces

Can exclusive Apple Watch faces be shared like Nike watch faces or Hermès watch faces? For example, if I have a Nike Apple Watch and want to share a watch face that include an exclusive Nike complication, can I sent that to a friend and will they be able to view/use it?

 

[aziatiklover]

Can someone share their Hermes faces please?

 

[Mimiron]

The keyboard on the news image is dirty as hell, clean it.

 

[akerns429]

Can exclusive Apple Watch faces be shared like Nike watch faces or Hermès watch faces? For example, if I have a Nike Apple Watch and want to share a watch face that include an exclusive Nike complication, can I sent that to a friend and will they be able to view/use it?

Nope, already tried it. Do you think Apple is going to actually let you do that? I tried having my friend with his Nike watch share one of the Nike watch faces to my Series 6 Stainless steel watch. No such luck. It says "This watch face isn't available for your watch."
[automerge]1601578748[/automerge]

Can someone share their Hermes faces please?

You can only share Hermes face to people that already have the Hermes watch. Same with Nike.

 

[44267547]

Even with the new faces there is still a limited combination.

Apple should allow developers to make faces and sell them on the store for $0.99 or something similar. This seems so obvious.

Maybe now that there's a dedicated watchOS store, this is in the works.

I agree. I know Apple likes there exclusive watch faces they demo every year, but there’s so much more opportunity here for a watch face store if they allowed it. The problem is, I don’t think Apple wants developers to have access to make watch faces, that may not be in line with Apples standards. But it’s ‘easy money‘ at the same time for Apple and they know that, and I imagine some point if they have enough restrictions in place, they could offer a watch face store, make a killing off and broaden the demographic for customization for the Apple Watch.

 

[CarlJ]

Can someone share their Hermes faces please?

Not gonna work. All this is sending is configuration data: "use the xyz watch face and put the abc complication in the left corner and the def complication in the right corner and make the background green". It's like a recipe.

If your watch gets something like that and the first step is, "use the Hermes watch face 1", and you don't have a Hermes watch, the watch will just say "nope".

 

[CarlJ]

Can exclusive Apple Watch faces be shared like Nike watch faces or Hermès watch faces? For example, if I have a Nike Apple Watch and want to share a watch face that include an exclusive Nike complication, can I sent that to a friend and will they be able to view/use it?

You may be able to share it, but it'll only work for someone with one of those specific variants of the watch.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Nope, already tried it. Do you think Apple is going to actually let you do that? I tried having my friend with his Nike watch share one of the Nike watch faces to my Series 6 Stainless steel watch. No such luck. It says "This watch face isn't available for your watch."
[automerge]1601578748[/automerge]

You can only share Hermes face to people that already have the Hermes watch. Same with Nike.

Wow, the faces are really that much on lockdown? A face store would make apple some serious $$$$.

 

[CarlJ]

I agree. I know Apple likes there exclusive watch faces they demo every year, but there’s so much more opportunity here for a watch face store if they allowed it. The problem is, I don’t think Apple wants developers to have access to make watch faces, that may not be in line with Apples standards. But it’s ‘easy money‘ at the same time for Apple and they know that, and I imagine some point if they have enough restrictions in place, they could offer a watch face store, make a killing off and broaden the demographic for customization for the Apple Watch.

I expect there's several reasons they don't do this (yet):

1. Watch faces are the thing that's always running, they have to (one) never break, and (two) absolutely sip sparingly on the battery power.
2. If they opened a Watch Face Store, not only would they have to check faces very stringently to make sure they meet the needs of #1 above, but also they would be deluged with copyright violations, as everyone and their mother would submit watch faces that either blatantly or quite subtly copy existing real watches (Rolex, et. al), that they'd have to weed out to avoid watchmakers suing Apple (and they'd get a lot of "the second hand on this watch app looks too much like our copyrighted/branded second hand!!!"). I'm not sure they want the headache of dealing with all that.
3. The people in the Watch group at Apple fancy themselves to be watch collectors with very fine taste (there were articles about this when the Watch was first announced), and believe that they can supply us with everything we might need.

Personally, I'd love for them to release a WatchFaceKit API, I don't need a store, but I'd like to experiment with making my own watch faces. But, going further with the notion that it's the thing that's always running front and center... Apple's App Stores also won't sell you a replacement for Finder on the Mac, or SpringBoard (aka the Home Screen) on iOS/iPadOS. (Yes, you can find Mac Apps that do Finder-like things, but not something that runs instead of Finder.)

 

[Kermit262]

Off-topic; I already have my blue Series 6 watch and really like it. However, every time I see a pic of the product red Apple Watch with a black band I begin to have serious second thoughts LOL

 

[DeanKeith]

I just want a digital watch face with seconds. I found two, but neither exactly what I want:

• The "Activity Digital" face has seconds, but I can't configure it enough.
• The "Infograph" analog face has digital time with seconds as a complication, but it's too small and the hands cover it sometimes.
• The obvious choice is "Infograph Modular", but frustratingly, the time is not configurable and doesn't show seconds.
• The older "Modular" face has the same issue.

 

[lederermc]

The entire watch face concept is flakey. Users should be able to name their faces and change the current face with a "Hey Siri" command. Like: hey Siri ... set watch face to "Hot Tub".