Especially with Siri, it's easy to use your voice to craft a quick message on the Apple Watch. But there may be times where you can't use the virtual assistant. When that happens, don't worry. There is another way to communicate on your watch without using your voice or trying to find a third-party keyboard to type on a small screen.
Let us who you how to use the Apple Watch Scribble feature to write quick messages by just drawing letters on the screen instead.
How to Access Scribble on the Apple Watch
Scribble is available on any Apple Watch with watchOS 3 or later installed. It's available to use in English (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), French (France and Canada), German, Italian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
Instead of an app, this feature is available any time you're writing a message. Most likely, that's in the Messages app, but Scribble can also be found in other apps and doesn't need an iPhone nearby to work.
Using Scribble on the Apple Watch to Write Messages
Whenever you're ready to create a message using Scribble, there are two ways to access the feature in the Messages app. First, select a current thread and scroll down to select the Scribble icon—an A with a finger drawing the letter.
When selecting New Message, you'll find the same icon after hitting Create Message.
Then you'll see the main Scribble interface. The largest part of the screen is filled with small dots. That's where you'll actually be drawing the letters. Below that area is a Space and a Delete button.
To exit out of Scribble mode, select the Cancel button on the top left of the screen. Tapping Send will place the text created into a message for a final look through.
To start writing, draw the letter you'd like with your finger. The feature recognizes the difference between capital and lowercase letters along with punctuation marks and numbers. You'll see what's being written above the Scribble area. If it's a mistake, just hit the backspace key to delete the input and try again.
You don't need to worry about crafting perfect letters while using Scribble as the feature does a great job deciphering what you're drawing.
For additional help when creating a message, there's also a great auto-suggestion feature. Start by writing a few letters. Then turn the Digital Crown to see a few predictive options. If you find the word or letter you're looking for, just highlight it.
After a few seconds, it'll be placed into the Scribble text box. As a fun touch, the prediction option even offers emojis to use. So instead of the word taco, you can send the tasty emoji instead.
If you ever want to change the Scribble language, select Language on the screen below the Scribble icon. Then choose the language to use with Scribble.
If for some reason you don't see the language you'd like to use, you'll need to add its keyboard to your iPhone. To do that, head to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard. Then choose your selected language.
Make Writing Apple Watch Messages Easy With Scribble
While the Scribble feature might not be perfect for every situation, it can definitely come in handy when you need to write a short message without using Siri. The handwriting recognition and suggestion function work great and make Scribble another way to quickly communicate when needed.
And if you don't want to use Scribble to write a message, there are a number of other ways to communicate with anyone else using an Apple Watch that you might not have heard about, like the Walkie-Talkie feature.
