The dynamic app grid in watchOS 27 can't be switched off, and you can't pin apps to it. watchOS 27.2, out since October 26, didn't change either, so the way around it is the Digital Crown.
Press the Crown, then turn it: the small grid scrolls away and all your apps follow, as a list or as the full grid. Whichever you choose under App View is what sits behind the dynamic grid.
In this guide
What the dynamic grid shows
Pressing the Digital Crown now opens a small grid of the apps you use most and opened most recently. The watch picks them, and they change through the day.
Owners find that apps opened from a complication or the Smart Stack count too. So the grid can fill up with apps you already reach another way, one of the main complaints in the owners' thread.
Apple's notes put the Siri app in the middle of the grid. Owners who rarely use Siri don't see it there at all, though: their center spot goes to their busiest app, Workout for one of them.
1. Turn the Crown to reach every app
The grid is only the first screen. Turn the Digital Crown and it scrolls on to the rest of your apps, the same full screen you had before watchOS 27.
One owner shrugged it off: press, scroll to the app, same as before. Swiping up with a finger gets you there as well.
2. Pick List view or Grid view behind it
Turn the Crown until you reach the end of your apps and choose List View or Grid View. On the watch you can also open Settings, tap App View and choose there.
List is quicker to scan with the Crown, in my view, because the names run in alphabetical order.
Either way, the dynamic grid still opens first. That's why pressing the Crown seems to show two grids, or a grid and then a list: App View only changes the screen behind the dynamic one.
3. Rearrange your apps in Grid view
On the watch, open the full grid, keep your finger on an app until you can move it, drag it to a new place, then press the Crown to finish.
From the iPhone it's easier. In the Apple Watch app, tap My Watch, then App View, then Arrangement, and drag the icons around.
Favorites at the top make the screen behind the dynamic grid predictable again, even though the dynamic grid itself stays out of your hands.
4. Keep favorites one swipe away instead
Since nothing can be pinned to the dynamic grid, owners pin elsewhere. One uses a Smart Stack widget that holds three apps of their choice, moved to the top of the stack.
Complications on the watch face do the same job. An app on the face is always one tap away, whatever the grid decides.
5. Jump between recent apps with the 27.2 app switcher
watchOS 27.2 brought back the app switcher that watchOS 27 had removed. Inside any app, press and hold near the lower edge of the display until your recent apps show up, then turn the Crown or tap one to go back to it.
For hopping between two or three apps, that's often quicker than the grid. The closing apps page covers quitting a frozen app from the same screen.
6. One owner's shortcut past the grid
With Reduce Motion switched on in Settings > Accessibility, one owner found they could skip the dynamic grid by turning the Crown slightly as they pressed it. The watch went straight to the full app view.
Reduce Motion changes other animations too, so switch it back off if you don't like how the watch feels.
Can you reset the dynamic grid?
Not with a button. The grid rebuilds itself from what you open, so it shifts as your habits do.
Owners who gave it time found the right app waiting there. One put it at 95 to 99 percent of the time after a few more weeks.
Still waiting on Apple
Owners have asked for a way to pin apps, to keep some apps out of the grid, or to turn it off. watchOS 27.2 brought none of those, so for now the Crown, App View and the Smart Stack are the tools you have.
Other watchOS 27 changes
If a new Apple Watch reboots on its own, the Series 12 page has the fix. If your new Ultra 4 or Series 12 has no Handwashing timer, the Handwashing page explains why it's gone.
Fiddly watch settings are easier on a bigger screen. The Apple Watch Mirroring page shows how to work the watch from your iPhone.
Can I turn off the dynamic app grid?
No, and watchOS 27.2 added no switch for it. Press the Digital Crown, then turn it to get past the grid to all your apps.
How do I switch my watch to List view on watchOS 27?
Turn the Crown to the end of your apps and choose List View, or go to Settings > App View on the watch.
Can I pin apps to the watchOS 27 app grid?
Not yet. Owners keep favorites in a Smart Stack widget or put them on the watch face as complications.
Why is Siri in the middle of my app grid, or missing from it?
Apple designed the grid with the Siri app in the center. Owners who rarely use Siri find their most used app there instead, so a missing Siri icon doesn't mean anything is wrong.
The Short Version
- The first screen is now a dynamic grid of your recent and most used apps.
- It can't be turned off or pinned, even on watchOS 27.2.
- Turn the Crown to reach every app.
- Choose List View or Grid View at the bottom, or in Settings > App View.
- Arrange the full grid from the iPhone's Watch app.
- Pin favorites in the Smart Stack or on the watch face.
- On 27.2, a long press at the lower edge of an app's screen opens your recent apps.
Checked November 8, 2026.
Absolutely stupid change to the App grid. We should be able to place or pin our own list of apps in the first screen of the new grid. We should not have to use two actions to get to our often used apps.