A new Apple Watch trend has emerged in the last few weeks, one that should give anyone with tech or wearable knowledge serious pause to question all of their life choices – and indeed, the trajectory of humanity.
A New York Times article has recently revealed that some people prefer to wear their Apple Watches on their ankle.
“What would possess someone to do this?” you might ask. There are a variety of reasons. The NYT report cites medical professionals who can’t wear anything on their wrists, people with skin conditions, people with wrist tattoos (Apple acknowledges these tattoos impact heart rate sensor performance), people with small wrists who can’t get a good heart rate reading, and people who (mistakenly) believe wearing your Apple Watch on your wrist gives you less accurate step tracking.
On the face of it, this seems like harmless fun or a quirky way to get the most out of your best Apple Watch. Apple won’t comment on the issue, presumably because it thinks its above all of this, and instead pointed us to its guidance on how users should wear their Apple Watch.
As you might expect, the answer is “on your wrist,” but just how important is it to wear your Apple Watch properly? I’ve been a user for over 10 years, and I’ve got more than half a decade’s experience in tech journalism, before which I used to work for Apple. Here are some of the reasons I would never wear an Apple Watch around my ankle, including some really important ones.
1. Fit and security
Your Apple Watch is designed to securely sit on your wrist, and you’ve likely bought a watch band to suit your wrist size. Personally, I don’t think I own a band or strap large enough to get my Apple Watch around my ankle, and even if I did it would be a squeeze. Putting your Apple Watch on your ankle is way less secure than putting it on your wrist. Because your ankle is generally going to be a lot bigger than your wrist, the band will be under a lot of strain, if it even fits at all.
Depending on the clasping mechanism, you risk your band snapping or coming loose under that load, meaning your Watch is much more likely to fall off. It might not have as far to fall if its on your wrist, but you still risk dropping it and damaging it. If you’re crossing the street or out hiking on a trail, you risk dropping your Watch in traffic, down the nearest drain, or over the nearest cliff. Of course, if you’re not used to wearing the Watch around your ankle, you might not even notice it’s missing, which could be even worse.
2. It looks kind of silly
This feels like an obvious one, but wearing your Apple Watch around your ankle is going to look pretty stupid. I’ve seen at least one article reference this, so I don’t feel bad about saying that it could also be mistaken for an ankle monitor, indicating to onlookers that you’re under house arrest or a curfew, which is probably not the vibe you’re wanting to give off.
Criminality aside, you are definitely going to get some funny looks from people as you walk around with an Apple Watch on your ankle. Of course, you’ll need it next to your skin to get at least some data (more on that later), so you also have that fun problem to figure out. Do you go over sock? Under sock? Under trouser? Who knows?
3. Damage
I don’t stub my fingers very often, but I stub my toes all the time. Wearing your Apple Watch on your ankle exposes your $200+ smartwatch to all manner of hazards including bumps, scrapes, mud, dirt, and more that simply aren’t a concern on your wrist.
Apple Watch models like the Apple Watch Ultra 2 are designed to be rugged and durable, but that doesn’t mean you should try and expedite their demise by wearing it as close to the ground as possible. An Apple Watch wrapped around your ankle is much more exposed to the elements and to collisions that could dent, scratch, or even break your Watch’s display or damage the casing.
4. You can’t see it or touch it
Again, I feel like this should be really obvious, but your Apple Watch is designed to be worn, looked at, and touched. It’s not really of any use if you can’t see the display, which is used to deliver vital information like notifications, heart rate, exercise tracking, incoming calls, turn-by-turn navigation, and more.
Not only can you not see any of the helpful data you’ve paid through the nose to view on your Apple Watch, you also can’t use the touchscreen. Unless you’re stopping to scroll through your songs while you pretend to tie your shoeless, the premium display and touch inputs on the Apple Watch are rendered useless by wearing it around your ankle, so you might as well have not paid the premium for it in the first place.
What good is wearing an Apple Watch around your ankle if you can’t answer incoming calls, skip tracks on your playlist, start or pause your workouts, or do anything else? You can’t even read the time when your Apple Watch is wrapped around your ankle.
5. Apple Pay
You can’t pay for things with your leg. I am not explaining this any further.
6. Heart rate data
Your Apple Watch delivers heart rate data using photoplethysmography – LED light fired into your skin that measures the amount of blood flowing through your wrist. All of Apple’s heart rate data tech and algorithmic technology is rated for use with its wrist. Not only does this mean that wearing one around your ankle could give you slightly whacky heart rate readings while you work out, but it also could jeopardise some of the life saving features built into your Apple Watch.
The internet is packed with stories of people having their lives saved by Apple’s abnormal heart rate monitoring and alerts or low blood oxygen warnings. Not using your watch on your wrist means a potentially serious issue that your Watch might otherwise detect could get missed. If you put your Apple Watch around your ankle, preventable problems with your heart or blood oxygen might go unchecked and could actually cost you your life.
7. Fall detection
Apple Watch fall detection is also a key life-saving feature that is definitely not going to work on your ankle, purely because your watch is already so low to the ground. Apple CEO Tim Cook once shared the story of how this feature literally saved his own Father’s life when he fell over while home alone.
The Watch (on your wrist) can detect when you fall over and automatically alert emergency services and your emergency contacts. If you put your Apple Watch around your ankle, you risk the feature not working when you might need it most.
8. Workout tracking
As you might remember, one of the reasons the Apple Watch ankle trend has emerged is because of fitness tracking. Some people seem to believe wearing your Apple Watch on your ankle gives you more accurate step counting. This is obviously silly.
Your Apple Watch tracks your steps based on your body’s movement as measured from your wrist. Your ankle moves a lot more than your wrist when you walk, so wearing one on your ankle is going to massively skew your step count. Apple has extensively detailed the science and tech behind its heart rate and calorimetric tracking on Apple Watch in this paper, but the long and short of it is the company has poured thousands of hours and probably millions of dollars into making sure its Apple Watch tracking works well on your wrist and nowhere else.
Your workout tracking not working, or being inaccurate is inconvenient, but if you’re trying to improve your health and fitness by undertaking a workout and exercise routine, having accurate information is vital to ensure you’re making progress, and to ensure you’re not overtraining and risking injury.
Doesn’t have a leg to stand on
As you can see, there are some reasons why wearing your Apple Watch around your ankle is a bit silly, such as losing Apple Pay, touchscreen access, and really every function that makes buying one worthwhile in the first place.
Others, such as concerns about style and being mistaken for a fugitive, really just make you look a bit silly.
However, Apple Watch health features like high and low heart rate notifications, irregular rhythm notifications, fall detection, and blood oxygen readings are a serious matter. Messing with those could really get you into trouble – just ask any of the people who've had their lives saved by these amazing features.
If you really can’t wear an Apple Watch on your wrist for one of the aforementioned reasons, why not try one of the best fitness trackers on the market instead? They’re lighter, cheaper, and more ergonomic. At the very least, if you decide to wear it around your ankle, you won’t have wasted hundreds of dollars buying an Apple Watch in the meantime.
Do you wear an Apple Watch around your ankle? Please stop, but also, get in touch in the comments! Have we missed any good reasons, leave your thoughts below!
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