Your Apple Watch Can Tick Like a Quartz Watch and There’s a Simple Trick to Enable It

Apple quietly made a small but interesting change in iOS 26.1. When your iPhone enters Low Power Mode, the Clock app icon switches its seconds hand from a smooth sweep to a one-second tick, just like a classic quartz watch. And it turns out the Apple Watch can behave the same way, with a little help.

If you like that precise ticking movement more than Apple’s usual smooth sweep, there is a simple workaround that makes your Watch behave like a vintage analog timepiece.

Apple Watch Faces Now Support Both Sweeping and Ticking Seconds

Traditionally, the Apple Watch has always used a continuous, fluid seconds hand on analog faces, much like an automatic mechanical watch. That stayed true for almost a decade until the arrival of Apple Watch Series 10.

The newer displays on Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Series 11, and Apple Watch Ultra 3 can refresh once every second. This enabled Apple to show the current second at all times, even when the display is in its dimmed state. It also unlocked a new behavior:

In active mode, the seconds hand sweeps smoothly
In always-on mode, the seconds hand ticks once per second

This switch between sweeping and ticking is functional, but for some people the transition feels abrupt. If you prefer the clean, precise tick you see on the always-on version, there is a way to make that the dominant behavior.

The Simple Workaround: Disable Wake on Wrist Raise

Your Apple Watch only uses the ticking seconds hand when it is in always-on mode. So the key is to keep the watch in that mode as much as possible.

Here’s how to do it:

Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch
Go to Display & Brightness
Turn Wake on Wrist Raise off

With Wrist Raise disabled, your Watch will spend most of the time in its dimmed, always-on state. In that mode, the seconds hand ticks like a quartz watch rather than sweeping like an automatic movement.

It is surprisingly effective. The second hand clicks forward once per second, giving your digital smartwatch the feel of a traditional analog quartz timepiece.

The Downsides You Should Know

This isn’t a perfect setup for daily use. With Wake on Wrist Raise turned off, your watch face stays much dimmer unless you tap the display or press a button to wake it.

There are also a few tradeoffs:

You lose one-handed gestures like double tap
Some interactions feel less fluid
Complications and the UI remain dim until you manually wake the watch

Still, the Watch remains fully functional. You can tap complications to open apps, swipe down for Notification Center, swipe up for widgets, or turn the Digital Crown to wake the screen. Apple has improved responsiveness in always-on mode significantly in recent software updates, so the watch remains quick to use.

Only Works on the Newest Watches

This quartz-style behavior only works on:

Apple Watch Series 10
Apple Watch Series 11
Apple Watch Ultra 3

Earlier models don’t support one-second refresh in always-on mode, so they can’t mimic the ticking effect.

If your Watch doesn’t have an always-on display at all, disabling Wake on Wrist Raise just leaves the screen fully off until you manually wake it.

Give “Just a Watch” Mode a Try

I’ve been using this setup for a few days with only a handful of notifications enabled and Live Activities turned off. It creates a surprisingly calm, minimalist “just a watch” experience, while letting the ticking seconds hand shine the way it would on a traditional quartz watch.

You can always re-enable Wake on Wrist Raise whenever you want everything to behave normally again. But if you love the clean, precise movement of a ticking seconds hand, this is a fun trick to try.

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Jamie Spencer

Jamie has been blogging about tech, making money online and entrepreneurship for the past 12 years. He is the proud owner of hugely successful website makeawebsitehub.com and has helped over 20k people start their own blogs.