How to Add a Custom Watch Face to Your Apple Watch

To add a custom watch face to your Apple Watch, you pick a face in an app on your iPhone and send it to your watch, where it installs as a native Apple Watch face. With Watch Faces Gallery this is free and takes a few taps — the face lives on the watch itself, so there’s no extra app draining your battery in the background.

Here’s exactly how it works.

1. Choose a face

Browse the Watch Faces Gallery collections on the web or in the app and pick a design — holiday, sports, luxury, art, and more. Each face is either a wallpaper (photo) face or a built-in complication face (we’ll explain the difference below).

2. Open the Watch Faces Gallery app on your iPhone

Watch faces are added through your paired iPhone, not directly on the watch. Open the free Watch Faces Gallery app and select the face you want.

3. Add it to your Apple Watch

Tap to add the face. Watch Faces Gallery hands it to Apple’s own system, which installs it as a real .watchface on your Apple Watch — the same mechanism Apple uses for its built-in faces. Your new face appears in your watch’s face gallery, ready to use.

Using your own photo

Prefer your own image? Apple’s Photos watch face lets you set any picture — a pet, a family photo, a favorite shot — as your Apple Watch face, with the time laid over it. Watch Faces Gallery supports this, so a custom photo face is just as easy as a themed one.

Wallpaper vs complication faces

• Wallpaper (Photos) face — an image fills the screen with the time on top. Best for photography, art, and seasonal designs.
• Complication face — a built-in Apple face style that shows data like date, activity, or weather around the clock. Best if you want information at a glance.

Is it free?

Yes — the Watch Faces Gallery app is free and most faces are free to add. A few premium (“PRO”) faces exist and are clearly marked. Nothing you add runs as a separate app; it’s a native Apple Watch face.

Ready to start? Browse all watch faces →