Apple Watch etiquette: Is it rude to check your Watch?

Apple Watch is supposed to help us stay connect to tech without distracting us from real life, but checking notifications can seem rude. What to do?

Apple Watch, and smart watches in general, are not ubiquitous enough yet for us to get what it means when someone looks down at their wrist. When we quickly glance down to see if an email or text message can be ignored temporarily, it might look to others like we are checking the time, like we are in a hurry to leave the conversation.

Which is ironic because one of the purposes of Apple Watch is to allow us to address our various notifications without being distracted from what's going on right in front of us.

Until most people have a smart watch and we all understand that looking down at our wrist doesn't mean we are in a hurry, checking a notification might seem rude.

I was recently on a nature walk, and was tracking my exercise with my Apple Watch. As I was hiking up a trail, a passerby caught my attention with a friendly how-do-you-do. I paused my exercise tracker so I could take a moment and chat with my fellow nature lover. To him, however, it looked like I was checking the time, to which he said, "Oh, I can tell you have somewhere to go, I'll leave you to it." I explained that I was pausing my timer so I could converse with him. He understood, but I still felt bad. For just a moment, he thought I didn't want to talk to him because I was in a hurry to get somewhere.

I've also been on the other end of the situation. I was having a conversation with a friend a little late into the evening. She glanced down at her Apple Watch, and for a split second, I thought she must want to go home. Turns out, she was just checking a notification.

We've had a hundred years of conditioning to understand that looking at your wrist meant checking the time, which sometimes means it's time to go. We've only had a few years, and not very many participants, to retrain our brains to understand that looking at your wrist doesn't necessarily mean checking the time, but instead means we're trying to stay present in the conversation.

So, how can we make use of Apple Watch's ability to keep us connected and not distracted, while not offending those around us who might take our watch checking actions the wrong way?

My first suggestion is to take a moment. It's instinctual to look down at your Watch as soon as you feel that buzz on your wrist, but that can seem abrupt and distracting to those around us. If you pause a beat before checking a notification, you can train your brain to wait until the right moment.

Which leads me to my second suggestion; Wait until the right moment. When you're in the middle of a conversation, it might be more polite to wait until the other person finishes a sentence before looking down at your watch. When there is a break, you can even let your companion know what you're up to — "I'm just checking this text" or the like. That way, you don't give off the impression that you're checking the time because you have to leave soon. Most people will be less offended by you checking a text then acting like you want to leave.

Someday, smart watches will be popular enough that we will be reconditioned to understand that looking at our wrist doesn't mean we need or want to leave. Just like taking your phone out of your pocket, someday checking your watch will only imply to others that you are reading a notification. But, for now, we should think about how we look to someone else when, in the middle of a conversation, we lift our wrist and look at our watch.

Have you had any experiences with people checking their Apple Watch or had someone seem offended when you look at yours? How did you deal with the situation? Do you have suggestions for Apple Watch etiquette? Let's discuss in the comments.