watchOS 5 Allows Users to Access Notification and Control Center from Inside Apps

Apple’s upcoming watchOS 5 for Apple Watch includes a handy, time-saving feature that the Cupertino company failed to mention in their WWDC keynote on Monday.

watchOS 5 will now allow Apple Watch Series 2 and Series 3 users (original Apple Watch users are out of luck) to access both the Notification Center and Control Center panes from anywhere within the operating system’s interface, including apps. Previously, users had to back out to their main clock face, and then swipe down or up to bring up the Notification Center and Control Center, respectively.

Within apps, it works essentially the same way, except for a tiny additional step. According to a new report from 9to5Mac, here’s how it works:

• Place your finger at the bottom of the watch display.
• Hold your finger on the screen for about half a second.
• When the peek of the Control Center pane appears, swipe up towards the top of the screen like always and the Control Center appears on top of the open app.

The very same steps in reverse motion work for accessing the Notification Center from within Apple Watch apps. Simply rest your finger on the top portion of the watch display, and swipe down once the Notification Center “peek” appears.

According to the report, these gestures work in both first- and third-party Apple Watch apps. It does not work, however, on the Apple Watch home screen or in the Dock.

These new gestures are accompanied by a new fluid-yet-subtle animation, in which the background starts as an opaque grey once the menu’s “peek” appears, fading to transparent once the swipe gesture is finished. If a user swipes to the menu quickly, the Apple Watch’s panes “bounce” back from the edge of the display.

While minute, this little detail saves Apple Watch users a bit of time, allowing them to access portions of their smartwatch more efficiently. This is just one small detail packed within watchOS 5 – check out everything else the Apple’s Watch’s new operating system has to offer here.