Apple has changed the way users force quit apps on Apple Watch in watchOS 27. The former method used the App Switcher, opened with a double-click of the Digital Crown, but that gesture is now reserved for Apple’s upcoming Live Rewind AI feature.

Apps can still be closed manually when one becomes unresponsive or starts behaving unexpectedly. The new process uses the Side button and Digital Crown from inside the app itself.

How to force quit an Apple Watch app

  1. Open the app you want to close, or return to it if it is already running.
  2. Press and hold the Side button until the watch displays its sliders.
  3. Press and hold the Digital Crown while the sliders are visible.
  4. Keep holding the Digital Crown until the watch face appears.

When the watch face returns, the app has been force quit. The procedure closes the app directly rather than requiring users to open the App Switcher and swipe it away.

Why the old method no longer works

Before watchOS 27, double-clicking the Digital Crown opened the App Switcher. From there, users could swipe up on an app to remove it from the list and force it to close.

That double-click gesture has a different purpose in watchOS 27. It is assigned to Apple’s upcoming Live Rewind AI feature, so the previous route to the App Switcher is no longer available for force quitting apps.

When to force quit an app

Force quitting is mainly useful when an app is misbehaving, such as becoming unresponsive or failing to return to a normal state. It provides a way to close that app and start it again later.

Apple Watch users should not treat force quitting as a routine battery-saving step. Closing an app this way does not save battery power, so it is best reserved for troubleshooting rather than regular app management.

What changes for Apple Watch users

The new gesture is straightforward once remembered, but it differs from the long-standing App Switcher workflow. Users who previously relied on the Digital Crown double-click may need to adjust their habits when moving to watchOS 27.

For ordinary app use, there is no need to force quit applications after every session. The revised steps matter primarily when a specific app is stuck or malfunctioning and needs to be closed manually.