The Glowing Screen
Modern Apple Watches feature an “Always On Display” (AOD). Instead of turning the screen completely black when you lower your wrist, the watch simply dims the brightness and strips away some color, keeping the time constantly visible. While this mimics a traditional mechanical watch, powering an OLED screen 24 hours a day is the single largest source of battery drain on the entire device. If you are traveling without a charger or attempting to stretch your watch battery for multiple days of use, leaving the screen constantly illuminated is highly inefficient. You must force the screen to sleep.
How to Turn Off the Always On Display
You can permanently force the screen to turn completely black via the Display settings.
- Open the Settings app directly on your Apple Watch (the grey gear icon).
- Scroll down the main list and tap on Display & Brightness.
- Scroll down and tap on Always On.
- Locate the master toggle switch labeled Always On.
- Toggle this switch to the Off position (the green background will disappear).
Absolute Darkness
The change takes effect instantly. The Apple Watch will completely sever power to the OLED display the exact moment you drop your arm. The watch face will turn perfectly, pitch black. This drastically reduces power consumption, easily extending the battery life of a standard Apple Watch by several hours. To see the time, you must now explicitly raise your wrist or physically tap the glass screen to wake the device.