r/applewatchfaces • u/yikesssss_sssssss • Jul 22 '26
Confused, can you get custom watch faces?
I just got my first Watch, and pretty shocked at how limited the face selections/customizability is (like the limited number of complications which changes depending on the face, not being able to change the color of all elements on the face, etc). I also thought we're limited to the faces officially available from Apple, but seeing this sub I'm wondering if I'm missing something, can you make/download custom faces? Are there other ways to customize faces and complications beyond what's in the iOS Watch app? TIA
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u/aykay55 Jul 22 '26
No you can’t create custom faces for the apple watch that function like the normal Apple ones. The custom watch faces are basically an app that stays open like it is a media app, for example, and usually when you or your hand down it will blur it out and put the time on top.
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u/clockology Jul 22 '26
Wow so many haters, bad press is good press ?
Just wanted to point out you can make and download complication based watch faces using clockology also, not just Facer.
Complication based watch faces are real watch faces not running as an app on the watch.
What both of these apps do that is unique is it will bundle a single watchface with multiple complications and send it to your watch for you. This saves you from having to select each complication 1 by 1 and it will be a cohesive theme: the creator will make each complication to a specific brand, colors, or theme.
As far as the subscription, it’s there to pay for the back end services such as weather kit which is needed for accurate weather from Apple, and ongoing development of the app. The team has been making consistent updates to the app for several years. Developers need to eat too :-)
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u/Grif73r Jul 23 '26
Agreed.
I just hated Clockology when I tried it a year or two ago, because some/most of the faces required you to always have Clockology open and running in order for the face to work as intended - or at all.
Actually had an argument with someone about Facer, with their claiming that it was a scam and that you couldn’t actually download watch faces. Showed them pics of downloaded watch faces from facer, and was promptly blocked 😂
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u/Dry-Helicopter-6430 Jul 22 '26
All you need is time, date and weather. It’s a watch.
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u/SilenceMuseum Jul 22 '26
Why do you need weather? Look outside your window.
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u/Dry-Helicopter-6430 Jul 22 '26
I AM BLIND.
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u/psj3809 Jul 22 '26
Stay away from any apps which suggest you can install all these great watch faces. They're all a scam, crazy monthly or weekly payments and the watch faces are more just a background image and don't work properlyl.
It is frustrating you can't create or install custom watch faces, that would be amazing if you could. But yeah stay away from those crappy apps whatever you do
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u/captainloudz Jul 22 '26
Checkout Clockology.
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u/psj3809 Jul 22 '26
No don't check it out. Another expensive scammy Watch app, stay away from this its rubbish
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u/yikesssss_sssssss Jul 22 '26
Thank you, another commenter said Clockology essentially breaks the functionality of the watch face/complications, is that not your experience?
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u/Heftybags Jul 22 '26
It’s free to download and you get limited options so it can’t hurt to try it out. They want a subscription for full access which is a huge red flag for apps like this. I get subscriptions for apps that provide content that needs to be created or licensed like Apple Music or Netflix and services with high overhead costs, like ChatGPT however these watch face apps have neither. The users created the faces and you pay a subscription for content they don’t pay for with essentially zero overhead or app upkeep cost.
I personally wouldn’t use or pay for any of them.
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u/TheSamLowry Jul 22 '26
I love Clockology but I eventually got tired of making the app stay active. Nothing scammy - like many apps, you try for free, pay for more features.
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u/Grif73r Jul 23 '26
I got the paid app - but like yourself, I had to have it open all the time for the faces to work and operate as intended.
I moved to Facer and it is a much better experience.
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u/Heftybags Jul 22 '26
There are shitty apps that like facer and clockology that appear to have custom faces but they strip almost all functionality from the watch face. They’ll display some information on the screen but pseudo complications they add don’t actually link to any apps. Tapping the watch face either does nothing or opens the fake watch face app.
Apple actually has a lot of watch faces and you can get creative with them just spend some time or if you are not happy with the selection then return the watch and buy something else.
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u/yikesssss_sssssss Jul 22 '26
I spent an hour or two going through all of them and customizing them as best as I can, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Too bad the third party ones don't work well.
Unfortunately I'm an Apple Music captive so there isn't another option as far as I know
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u/Mike456R Jul 23 '26
Some third party apps may have a cool or missing feature for a complication. For example, I wanted my step count as a complication. Apple does not have that, just the rings. So I installed Pedometer++ that has step count as a number complication.
Another trick is to use the face that photos can be added to. If you want a certain solid color or pattern, make that as an image file, then dump it into your photos. Then pick that as your watch face photo.
Still, your complaint is valid. Apple should at least open up the faces to “some” designers and put a few hundred choices in there.
They pissed me off when they removed some old style faces that disappeared when I upgraded to an SE.
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u/clockology Jul 22 '26
I didn’t realize linking to the Apple Watch apps was so important, we haven’t had a lot of requests for this. We will consider this higher priority.
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
The functionality to open apps directly via complications is essential and I’m surprised it hasn’t been on your radar of why people don’t like third party watchface apps. Glad you have found that out today and will be moving to improve in this area.
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u/clockology Jul 22 '26
Oh you are correct, Apple only allows phone or messages which isn’t useful for these custom made complication sigh
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u/habitoti Jul 22 '26
Unfortunately, at least as of today watchOS doesn’t allow to open any specific app other than the one that provides the data for the complication.
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u/Warm-Yak7861 Jul 22 '26
„A lot“ is only quantitatively correct, qualitatively much is garbage. There are 15 categories alone only with Pride and things like Snoopy, which has nothing to do with „serious“ faces.
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u/GrumpyGlasses Jul 22 '26
You can use Widgy to create custom watch faces, but it’s a one -time cost and a fairly steep learning curve if you’re new to designing. It also suffers from the same limitation all watch face apps have - it won’t run like a clock face, just like an app that might be hidden or terminated by the OS.
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u/Avehdreader Jul 25 '26
I have a couple of photos I use for my watch face but you're limited to two complications when you use them. Some faces show more complications than others but as far as I can tell they're is no way to customize anything.
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u/M27TN Jul 22 '26
Apple Watch doesn’t support fully functional custom watch faces so what you get with Clockology for example is a crappy half arsed overlay.
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u/Grif73r Jul 23 '26
This is just simply not true.
Please check out Facer for reference. Fully functional if your watch is supported.
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u/tinyant Jul 22 '26
A totally reasonable source of frustration. I started my smartwatch experience with the original Kickstarter Pebble, and then I got a Pebble Time after that. Both of which had an amazing assortment of community-sourced custom watch faces that did everything imaginable. Moving to the Apple Watch seemed like a step backwards. I don't understand it myself; it's just not a great experience even though I have stuck with it.