Watch Faces on Apple Watch
There are a few watch faces that already come bundled with the Apple Watch. Just press hard on the watch screen to bring up the watch face menu. After that, swipe right and tap + to find all the watch face templates. You can select a watch face and customize it by adding complications. For example, you can change colors, customize the complications, orient stripes, set photos, etc. Naturally, I won’t be listing those below. Instead, I have found some apps that offer cool Apple Watch faces and options to customize each watch face to your heart’s desire.
1. Buddywatch
The first Apple Watch face app on the list, Buddywatch, offers stylish watch faces that are subtle and classy. The app may not have the quantity you’re looking for but it sure does have quality. Ranging from flag-based to vibrant CGI backdrop watch faces, Buddywatch has it all. The best part is that it shows which watch faces are compatible with which watch. The installation process for setting a watch face is simple. You download the watch face, it opens up in the Watch app on your iPhone and then you just tap on it to set it on the Apple Watch. The app is free to use and most watch faces are free to download. Number of watch faces: 200+ Get Buddywatch (free, in-app purchases)
2. Facer | Biggest Collection of Watch Faces
Facer is by far the most popular app for watch faces considering it has one of the largest watch face collections for smartwatches. Be it a Galaxy Watch, an Android Wear Watch, or an Apple Watch, Facer’s got you covered across the board. The app has both free and paid watch faces that populate categories such as abstract, elegant, futuristic, gaming, geek, illustrated, sports, nature, etc. There are top charts that list the most popular watch faces to get you started. As Facer is a user-driven app where creators submit their own watch faces, you may encounter some watch faces that may not work with your Apple Watch. For example, there were a few instances where my Apple Watch 6 couldn’t set some as watch faces. Other than that, you should be good. Facer is free to use and the paid subscription would cost you $5/month. Number of watch faces: 1000+ Get Facer (free, in-app purchases)
3. Watch Face Albums
Watch Face Albums is yet another app that offers premium watch faces for the Apple Watch. The watch faces are neatly categorized in the iPhone app where you can find the perfect watch face and set it to the Apple Watch. There are several categories that stand out such as cars, Nike, travel, cartoons, and a few other premium mechanical watch faces. However, the stand-out watch faces are the dynamic ones that play a short clip every time the watch wakes up. For example, there’s an Elsa watch face that shows Elsa twirling whenever the watch wakes up. Not just that, the app has a subscription plan that grants you access to all the premium watch faces and a few custom ones that are exclusive to the subscription. There’s a watch face that lets you put text on the screen. Other watch faces include countdown timers, stickers, anniversary, week progress, QR code, and a list. Watch Face Albums is free to try and the subscription costs just $1/month. Number of Watch Faces: 100+ Get Watch Face Albums (free, in-app purchases)
4. WatchMaker | 100,000 Watch Faces
Next, we have a watch face app that goes overboard with the number of watch faces offered. While there is no way I’m going to count all the watch faces to verify their claim, the app has some really good watch faces. There are both paid and free watch faces that are bundled in packs for you to buy. The main selling point of this app is that it lets you create your own watch face from scratch. As all the watch faces for the Apple Watch are built off 11 templates created by Apple, you get access to those and a bag full of custom complications. The best part is that you can customize the watch face from the iPhone where you can actually see what you’re doing. You can change the background color, add text, change complications, get Wi-Fi strength, progress bar, etc. Plus, you precisely set the position and make your perfect watch face. The watchMaker app is free to use and you can create your own watch faces by getting a subscription that costs $5/week. Number of watch faces: 100,000 Get WatchMaker (free, in-app purchases)
5. Watch Faces Galley | Mechanical Watch Faces
If you’re a sucker for vintage-style and mechanical watches then this app would fit right up your alley. The app has the most elegant watch faces on this list with categories such as mechanical, dark, business, minimal, illustrated, and a few dozen more categories. You also get a substantial amount of modern-looking watch faces that are dynamic meaning they play a small clip or animation every time the Apple Watch wakes up. These dynamic watch faces include nature scenes, fractals, space, abstract, etc. The app is free to browse and you would need an active subscription to grab a watch face. The subscription starts at $2.99/week and unlocks all the content. Number of watch faces: 1000+ Get Watch Faces Gallery (free, in-app purchases)
6. StepDog | Watch Face Dog
This is a watch face app for all the dog lovers out there. StepDog lets you set a cute little animated avatar as a watch face with information complications. Technically, it’s just one watch face but you can customize your dog avatar from a long list of animated avatars and even a few cat avatars. The dog breeds include beagle, hound, golden retriever, Shih-Tzu, and many others. You also get a step goal counter on the watch face that would show your current step count and you can update the goal within the app. StepDog is free to use with one avatar but if you wish to unlock all the dog avatars with toys, a food bowl, and a dog house, you would get it for $1/month. The subscription also includes live weather updates and the option to compete in local leaderboards. Number of watch faces: 1 Get StepDog (free, in-app purchases)
7. Watchfacely
Watchfacely is a free watch face app that has some of the finest additions to the Apple Watch. The app has over 100 watch faces created by different users on the app. There are information-rich complicated watch faces that use every pixel on the watch display and on the other side it has the simplest watch faces with no clutter whatsoever. You can find the watch faces based on popularity and set it to the Apple Watch with just a tap. Most watch faces offered by Watchfacely are free and you can get the $2.49/month subscription to unlock all the exclusive watch faces. Number of watch faces: 100+ Get Watchfacely (free, in-app purchases)
8. Watchsmith | Customize the Apple Watch
Next, we have Watchsmith, a comprehensive customization app that would transform watch faces on your Apple Watch. First of all, it not only gives you tailored complications for the watch faces, but also lets you set the duration for any complication that you wish to put on the watch. However, getting up to speed with the app can be a little challenging if you’re new to customizing. Let me break it down. You can create a complication for any watch face style. Once you choose a watch face style, you can add as many complications on that watch face as it allows. Then you can choose what each complication should do. Watchsmith offers complications for dates, time, text, photos, activity, weather, tides, battery, etc. The best part of these complications is that they can be timed, meaning you can put multiple complications in one spot during the day. This would let you create a truly dynamic watch face that changes automatically. Watchsmith is a free-to-try app that offers most complications for free and you can get the $2/month subscription to unlock additional complications. Number of watch faces: 11+ ( and hundreds of combinations) Get Watchsmith (free, in-app purchases)
9. AppleWatchFaces.io
Okay, this is a website instead of an app but it has some stunning watch faces that you should look out for. AppleWatchFaces.io is a library of user-generated watch faces for the Apple Watch. You can browse by latest uploads or filter the results according to your watch. To make discovering even easier, you can search with tags and you would find the perfect watch face. Some of the categories include black, moon, modern, battery, Mario, abstract, LGBT, utility, etc. AppleWatchFaces.io is completely free. Number of watch faces: 60+ Check out AppleWatchFaces.io (free)
What’s Your Favorite Watch Face for Apple Watch
These were some of the best and unique watch face apps for the Apple Watch that offer a ton of customizations with stunning graphics. All the apps focus on quality instead of quantity even though WatchMaker claims to offer over 100,000 watch faces where it can be dismissed as hyperbole. Lastly, you can always check out the r/applewatchfaces subreddit that is home to Apple Watch enthusiasts that regularly share their unique finds. Do you have a unique watch face that you’d like to show me? Shoot me a tweet on Twitter. Also Read: 8 Best Apple Watch Timer Apps (2021)
