watchOS 27 has removed the Apple Watch App Switcher, taking away the quickest way to jump between recent apps and making it much harder to force-quit a frozen app.
Until now, double-clicking the Digital Crown opened the App Switcher, where you could return to a recently used app or swipe one away when it stopped responding.
That shortcut is gone in watchOS 27. Apple has reassigned the double-click gesture to Live Rewind, an upcoming feature that captures the previous 15 seconds of audio heard by the watch. There’s no other gesture to open the old App Switcher.
Force-quitting an app now takes two steps
You can still close a frozen Apple Watch app, but the method is much less discoverable.
While the problematic app is open, press and hold the Side button until the power controls appear. Then press and hold the Digital Crown until the watch returns to the watch face. That forces the app to close.
You generally don’t need to do this with apps that are working normally. watchOS manages apps in the background automatically, so force-quitting won’t improve battery life. The workaround is mainly useful when an app freezes or stops responding.
Older Apple Watches lose the shortcut too
The more unusual part of the change is that Live Rewind isn’t available on every Apple Watch that can run watchOS 27.
The feature is limited to the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, but Apple also removed the App Switcher shortcut from older compatible watches.
That means Series 9, Series 10, Series 11, Ultra 2, and Ultra 3 owners lose the Digital Crown shortcut without getting Live Rewind in its place.
It also makes it more cumbersome to quickly switch between two recently used apps. Instead of double-clicking the Crown and choosing from recent apps, you’ll need to return to the app grid and open the other app from there.
Apple hasn’t added a setting to restore the old App Switcher or reassign the Digital Crown double-click on watches that don’t support Live Rewind.
