“I bought an Apple Watch 7 but the QWERTY keyboard does not appear.” These are the messages that some of our readers have sent us over the last few days. When they received the new Apple smartwatch, they could see that what was advertised as a major novelty was not available.
The possibility of writing texts directly without using Scribble (the system that translates handwriting into typed text) or voice dictation as explained clearly and directly by Apple, is operational only when the operating system is in English or Chinese. Other languages, Apple always explains, will be supported in the next versions of watchOS.
As for the English layout, it works very well, especially when typing short messages. Writing long texts is not very convenient due to the small size of the keyboard, but this is a matter of habit. At one time, we also learned to press the keys in smartphones with a small display. Writing with the keypad works very well especially using the Swipe but it is not particularly comfortable.
Activating and Using the QWERTY Keyboard in Apple Watch 7 Series
In our opinion, it will hardly be difficult to use it to write longer sentences. But if you really are interested in experimenting, perhaps out of curiosity, the QWERTY keyboard of Apple Watch 7, here’s how you should do it:
- Launch the Clock application
- Go to General -> Language and Region
- In Language select “English” (US or UK)
- Apple Watch will restart and you will have the keypad in various applications such as messages and mail
- If the keypad does not appear, drag the arrow up and select the English Keyboard option.
At that point, it is also possible to write in any language with the predictive system based on Scribble. Attention: due to the fact that some languages language are not supported, there will be no way to enter accented letters directly. To scroll back and forth text you have to use the digital crown.
Please note: at first we only selected the language, and skipped the region. As a result, this “simplified” procedure did not bring us success. The second time we were more attentive and did everything strictly according to the instructions. After that, Apple Watch rebooted and the keyboard appeared in various applications, including Messages and Mail.
If you can’t turn on the keyboard the first time, don’t be discouraged. Try again and you will definitely get lucky!
