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There are screenshots from my Apple Watch in my iPhone

On my Apple iPhone, I regularly find screen captures from my Apple Watch, like in:



This spurious screen captures seems to be caused by the fact that a watchOS shotcut is firing

2 actions. [Right button] + [crown wheel] fire 2 completely different opérations:

  • swith on or off an the timer of an activity in progress,
  • send a screen capture of the Apple watch on the iPhone.


I would like to use these 2 functions but never together.


How can I suppress this overload of function?

How can I choose the shortcut used for each of these 2 different and unrelated functions?

Is this a failure at reading the documentatin of watchOS to find how to use this shortcut?

Is this a bug?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Apple Watch SE

Posted on Sep 11, 2024 10:49 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 12, 2024 6:45 AM

You are correct; there are two functions that use the action of pressing the Side Button and the Digital Crown simultaneously.


In the Workout app, it is used to pause and resume a workout.


Pause and resume a workout

To pause the workout at any time, press the side button and the Digital Crown at the same time. For all workouts except swimming workouts you can also swipe right on the workout screen, then tap Pause. To continue, tap Resume.


Why it is also taking a screenshot when you use the action in the Workout app is a mystery.

14 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 12, 2024 6:45 AM in response to Zorba_le_grec

You are correct; there are two functions that use the action of pressing the Side Button and the Digital Crown simultaneously.


In the Workout app, it is used to pause and resume a workout.


Pause and resume a workout

To pause the workout at any time, press the side button and the Digital Crown at the same time. For all workouts except swimming workouts you can also swipe right on the workout screen, then tap Pause. To continue, tap Resume.


Why it is also taking a screenshot when you use the action in the Workout app is a mystery.

Sep 11, 2024 10:57 AM in response to Zorba_le_grec

It's not clear what you mean by "shortcut". That has a very specific meaning in the Apple world.


Shortcuts User Guide - Apple Support


So, my question is, do you really mean "shortcut" or do you mean the button presses?


Screenshots are taken by pressing the side button and the Digital Crown at the same time. If you don't think that's a feature you are going to need, you can turn it off in the Watch app>General>Enable Screenshots>Off.


You can't change the functions of the buttons on the watch (except for the Action button on the Ultra 2).


You can see what the buttons do here:


Use the buttons and screen on your Apple Watch - Apple Support


If you mean something else, please explain.

Oct 1, 2024 4:11 AM in response to Dah•veed

@Dah•veed : sorry I forgot to mention it. These spurious screen captures are created within the

Workout

application.

The shortcut do 2 functions there ( I haven't investigated other appications to see if this bug is present there too ):

  • switch on or off the timer of an activity in progress,
  • send a screen capture of the Apple watch on the iPhone.

Sep 14, 2024 10:10 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

@IdrisSeabright

As you correctly guessed I was explitly talking of the shortcut [Right button] + [crown wheel].

More accurately I should have specified [Right button press] + [crown wheel press].

A "shortcut" in IT field is a combination of actions which will fire a software function. for example a key press, a button

press, a rotation of a wheel. This is a common use since 40 years ( when I started working as a system engineer in computer science ).

What Apple names "gestures" is a particular case of "shortcuts".


I didn't find in your referenced official Apple documentation any way to stop this double funtion, and

consequently these spurious screen captures. Meanwhile I continue my investigation about this problem,

and will post an answer if I find any.


Thank you for your attempt to help and your nice text explanation of very specific Apple vocabulary.


Sep 15, 2024 6:45 AM in response to Zorba_le_grec

The procedure to take a screenshot on Apple Watch is to simultaneously press the Digital Crown and side button. All Apple Watch screenshots are stored on iPhone in an Album in the Photos app.


You can disable screens shots in Watch app on your iPhone. Please follow this path,


iPhone > Watch app > My Watch (tab in lower left corner of screen) > General > scroll down > Enable Screenshots - disable (no green showing)

Sep 16, 2024 9:48 AM in response to Jeff Donald

@JeffDonald : I am fully aware of the screen capture shortcut. I use it regularly to analyze and report bugs, create

support documents.

The core of the problem is that this shortcut ( [Right button press] + [crown wheel press] ) is also the one we

can regularly use within an activity to switch on or off the timer of the activity in progress.


And one may want the 2 functions, but most probably no one want the 2 together.


More clearly I think no one want to make a screen capture everytime one switches an activity timer during training.

Because this is creating tenths of unwanted screen captures.

A total useless function and waste of space in our photos library.


A shortcut ( or a gesture for the purists of the Apple semantics ) should be dedicated to one function and not

two unrelated ones in the search of efficient, simple, clear and useful ergonomics ( for the purists in ergonomics ).

Sep 16, 2024 10:49 AM in response to Zorba_le_grec

In which app are you encountering this issue? An Apple app or a 3rd party app?


To my knowledge, Apple wouldn't assign the same combination of buttons to accomplish two different outcomes.


M1 Mac mini, macOS 14.6.1;  Watch, series 7 GPS/cellular, watchOS 10.6; iPhone 12 Pro, iOS 17.6.1; TV 4th Gen, tvOS 17.6; HomePods, audioOS 17.6 and Airport Express w/ Airplay 2

There are screenshots from my Apple Watch in my iPhone

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