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watchOS 11: Smart Stack Gains Live Activities and Suggested Widgets
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You can’t switch off the Smart Stack. I think a settings button could be added that could give users a Smart Stack or revert it back to quick settings menu as before watchOS 10, but Apple is all invested in the Smart Stack, which I find pointless. It doesn’t really add anything of value. Live action tiles could pop up from the bottom of the watch face or if you opened the corresponding app. It would be all the same data and allow for a quick settings sheet in a much better call.
I don’t know why this can’t be toggled on/off for those who are invested in it or not. What I don’t understand is why can’t anyone not like a design choice coming out of Cupertino. Maybe this is a forum thread dedicated to users and their interactions with the so called Smart Stack and the even worse iterative interaction, live activities.
Am I not allowed to have an opinion? I think I just dropped over a thousand bucks on a fully loaded series 9 watch a few months ago. Apple has made a fair amount of profit off of me and my family dating back to the IIe.
Why are you so invested in picking a beef with someone over a feature they don’t like, and can’t turn off. If it could be disabled or hidden then I’d see your point. But you can’t turn enough of it off that it goes away and doesn’t rear its ugly head anymore. In fact it seems that the designers at Apple like it. They think we all would like it so much that they made it enough of a bother that it can’t be totally forgotten. They want you to love their dumpster fire. But they put in time and resources so I get why they are trying to push it. The question is why can’t you enjoy it if you like it? And stay silent if you can’t offer an actionable option to those of us who have been inconvenienced.
The only thing you can do is turn off live activities and that will at least keep Smart Stack from stopping active timers on your watch. I nearly clocked in late from lunch twice this past week because of that little bug. But I have reported it.
Unfortunately no. You can’t turn turn off the live activities and that might stop you from losing some functionality somewhere else. Seems that live activities tied to podcast or currently playing, will disable active timers when they deploy automatically. You can’t turn turn also disable the feature that show Smart Stack when you raise your wrist. I can’t imagine why I’d want to see the Smart Stack when I raise my wrist, or the live activities in Smart Stack but not the watch face and all the complications I took much time and consideration into perfecting and setting a work flow for.
You might get more traction if you explained why the provided controls don't do what you want...
I just tested switching off the "Allow Live Activities" and when I start playing an audiobook on my iPhone (the one Live Activity I interact with all the time) it no longer shows the live activity in the smart stack, and doesn't auto "scroll up" the smart stack.
Much appreciated. That does make it better. The one thing it’s still doesn’t do is have a toggle off for Smart Stack. I appreciate that some folks like this, but it’s redundant for many users. That info sheet would be better with the quick access controls.
I hate it so much. Putting Media Apps in there broke the "Now Playing" function. When I'm flying I used to play music I downloaded on Tidal from my phone and control it on my watch with a glance and tap. Now it brings it up in the "Smart" stack which only allows you to pause and play. Not rewind and fast forward.
You can now switch Media to open the app instead of using the Smart Stack which works for Apple Music... the worst sounding DSP. The Tidal App is only designed to listen to music that's downloaded onto your watch. It's useless for controlling the music playing on your phone.
Theoretically turning Smart Stack off SHOULD reengage Now Playing but it doesn't. If I open it from Apps it will show me the old, beloved view but it doesn't stick. It goes away as soon as I put my wrist down. I have 10 flights booked in the next 2 1/2 months lol! I need to figure this out.