How to force close an app on your Apple Watch

BY Kelly Hodgkins

Published 15 Feb 2016

watchOS 2

Sometimes apps, even those on the Apple Watch, become unresponsive, making it difficult to do anything in the app. Occasionally, the system locks up so hard that it is even impossible to leave the app. If you find yourself stuck inside a frozen app on your Apple Watch, no worries as Apple’s watchOS allows you to force close an app that has locked up. Read on to find out how to perform this force close procedure.

When an Apple Watch app locks up, it can leave you stranded in the app without any way of exiting back to the home screen or your Glances. If you need to force close your app, simply follow these four easy steps:

  • Press the Side button on the Apple Watch.
  • Hold it until the shutdown option appears i.e options to Power Off, Power Reserve, Lock Device.
  • Then release the Side button and press it again to force quit the app you last had open.
  • If successful, you should return to the Home screen.

Apple’s WatchOS is designed to manage apps automatically to optimize performance so you don’t need to use this procedure to shut down apps manually. Reserve it for those times when an app experiences a glitch and needs to be restarted. Have you needed to force close an app on your Apple Watch? Share your experiences in the comments below.