Swapping Out Apple Watch Bands

9to5Mac:

To remove the band, simply press and hold one of the buttons on the back of the watch while sliding the band itself out of the slot. To reattach the band, slide it back into place.

I wish there was an audible click to signify that you’ve successfully locked your band back into place. Currently, the band just stops moving at a certain point, and you have to assume that it’s locked in place. The process doesn’t instill a lot of confidence. Installing any of the bands which use metal connectors is also a little nerve-racking. I don’t really care for the metal-on-metal feeling of sliding the connector in place.

I haven’t tried removing the band from my watch yet, partly because I don’t have a secondary band to swap out and partly because the watch and the band feel like a singular unit. Even though they are designed for customisation, they feel very integrated. Apple has trained me for the last five years (maybe more) to not fiddle with the hardware they produce. I don’t want to detach my Sport band because it is uncomfortable, it feels like the wrong thing to do.

In fact, when I showed the watch to my dad, it didn’t cross his mind that the watchband is independent from the body. His preconception, validated by every other Apple product in recent history, is that Apple products are not to be tampered with. Although I haven’t popped the band out, I do know that it is possible. I bet a good portion of Apple Watch owners never realise that they can change the strap.