With the release of watchOS 2, the Apple Watch gained a cool new feature called Nightstand Mode. When charging and laying on its side, or when mounted sideways in various charging stands, the Apple Watch goes into Nightstand Mode, which allows you to view it as basically a regular digital clock which shows the time and date, complete with full alarm clock capabilities.
While you can tap the screen, or any of the buttons on the Watch to view the time and date, there is an easier way, especially at 3 in the morning when you groggily want to see how much time you have left until you have to get up. – Just tap the table the Watch is laying on! Tap it, rap your knuckles on it, pretty much any kind of touch on the table will activate the Watch’s motion sensor and cause it to light up for a few seconds. (Of course, this depends on how rickety your nightstand is. A hard sneeze will activate my Apple Watch… – Ed.)
If you have an alarm set on the Apple Watch, you’ll have to do a little more than just tap the table to activate snooze, or to shut off the alarm. Tapping the side button will turn the alarm clock off, while tapping the Digital Crown will act as a snooze button to grab a few more minutes of shut-eye.
To use the nightstand mode, make sure your Apple Watch is running watchOS 2 or higher. Then, open the Watch app, and go to “General. Now, scroll down until you see “Nightstand Mode,” and make sure the switch there is in the “ON” position. Now, whenever you’ve got your Apple Watch connected to its charger, and it’s laying on its side, it will go into Nightstand Mode. Easy, huh?
