- Beyond focusing more than anything on health, smart watches have other functions
- One of the surprising features of Apple’s Apple Watch is its hidden browser
- How to launch this app and why you shouldn’t use it as long as you have another alternative?
The first idea of browsing the Internet that comes to mind is probably not to do it from the wrist. In the end, we can think of several uses for our smart watch, but browsing is surely not one of them. But this does not mean that it is not possible to navigate on a smartwatch. Many people don’t know but they have a hidden browser on their Apple Watch. How to activate it and why it is actually better not to do it?
The first thing we must clarify is that it is not Safari, the native browser that Apple uses on its devices. This is not included among the watchOS applications, although it does not mean that we cannot see some portals. Undoubtedly, Apple has thought of customers with that need and has given them a browser, albeit hidden.
How to access the Apple Watch browser?
The most direct way to open the Apple Watch browser is by clicking on an available link. That being said, there are three ways to get a link using apps that come with watchOS. Obviously the number of ways to obtain them will grow if you use third-party applications.
with Siri
Press and hold the button to activate Siri and ask her to “search islabit.com” or any other Internet portal. Obviously you can use the voice assistant or just raise your wrist if you have it set up like that.
With Mail
If you have a link inside an email, entering it will automatically redirect you to the browser.
with messages
If someone sends you a link within the Messages app, clicking on it will take you to the browser in seconds. You will be able to take a look at the content of what that person wanted to show you, so it is a very easy method. Alternatively, you can send a link to yourself and open it later on the watch with this mechanism.
Why you should avoid browsing from your wrist
At the beginning of the article we said that it was better not to use the hidden browser of watchOS, beyond knowing that it is there. This is because it is inconvenient and we could not recommend it compared to other browsers.
Impractical
The hidden browser of the Apple Watch is very similar to the first browsers of our smartphones. By this we mean that it is impractical, and does not resemble a computer browser at all. You will surely miss your computer the next time you have to open a link on your smartwatch.
The good news is that you can replace the browser with specific apps in more than one circumstance. For example, you do not need to look for information on something on Wikipedia, but it is better to open apps like MiniWiki.
Uncomfortable
Using a browser on the wrist is not the most comfortable option and that is because no watch was designed to be worn for an extended period of time. No, not even the Apple Watch no matter how good it is.
Also note that pages sometimes open in Reader view. If you are not satisfied, go to Web visa by clicking on the address bar, from where you can change the format in which the text is displayed.
In any case, look for third-party browsers
If you already know that you are going to have to navigate a lot from your smartwatch, what we suggest is a third-party browser. Slowly those of the application store are improving, although the only advisable today is Parrity. You can download it from this link if you want to take a look and see if something else convinces you.
It’s no wonder, but it does provide optimized navigation compared to the native browser.
Conclusions
Inevitably, you will feel that the browsing experience on your Apple Watch is not up to par with iPhone or iPad. It might get you out of a jam, that’s true, especially if you have outdoor hobbies. such as hiking or others aimed at mental clearing and physical conditioning, so it is useful to know that you have it in your hand.
For the rest, remember that each new version of watchOS offers improvements, so we could assume that it will not be too long until the integrated browser of the Apple Watch is a more complex instrument.
