Apple Watch symbols
The icons at the top of an Apple Watch face show unread notifications, charging and battery, the connection to the iPhone and the network, and modes such as Do Not Disturb and Theater Mode.
Easily confused with
How to read it
Apple’s Apple Watch User Guide says the icons at the top of the watch face and Control Center give status information such as unread notifications and Low Power Mode. A red dot at the top centre of the face means there is an unread notification, and MacRumors compares it to the badge on an iPhone app icon. Apple’s support article gives each icon’s colour. This page follows that article and the user guide as Apple’s help centre describes them, September 2026 (watchOS 27). The icons at the top of Control Center give more detail, such as the connection to the iPhone and which apps are using the location.
Also searched as: Apple Watch icons.
What each icon means
| Icon | What Apple says it means |
|---|---|
| Red dot | An unread notification. |
| Green charging icon | The watch is charging. |
| Red low battery icon | The battery is low. |
| Yellow circle | Low Power Mode is on. |
| Orange airplane | Airplane Mode is on. Wireless is off; features that don’t need it still work. |
| Purple crescent moon | Do Not Disturb is on. Calls and alerts don’t sound or light up the screen; alarms still do. Another Focus set up on the iPhone shows its own icon here. |
| Purple bed | Sleep mode (Sleep Focus) is on. |
| Two orange masks | Theater Mode is on, with Silent Mode. The display stays dark when the wrist is raised. |
| Blue Wi-Fi icon | Connected to a Wi-Fi network instead of the iPhone. |
| Green bars | A GPS + Cellular watch is connected to a cellular network. The number of bars is the signal strength. |
| No cellular icon | A GPS + Cellular watch has lost its cellular connection. |
| Red iPhone not connected icon | The watch isn’t connected to its paired iPhone. |
| Connected iPhone icon | The watch is connected to its paired iPhone. |
| Water Lock icon | Water Lock is on, and the screen doesn’t respond to taps. |
| Blue arrow | An app on the watch has used Location Services recently. |
| Blue lock | The watch is locked. |
| Orange microphone | The microphone is on: talking to Siri, recording a voice memo, or any app using the microphone. |
| Wireless activity icon | There is wireless activity or an active process. |
| Walkie-Talkie icon | The Walkie-Talkie app is on (before watchOS 27). |
Icons for active apps
Apple says the watch also shows icons for some active apps at the top of the face, and most of them open the app when tapped. A green workout icon means the Workout app is active, the Music icon means audio is playing on the watch, and a red and white Compass icon means Backtrack is running.
When the watch shows it is disconnected
Apple’s user guide says the watch loses its connection with the iPhone when it isn’t close enough to the iPhone, or when Airplane Mode is on on the iPhone.
Look-alikes
Three red icons mean different things: the red dot is an unread notification, the red battery is a low battery, and the red iPhone icon means the watch has lost its connection to the iPhone. A yellow circle is Low Power Mode, and green is charging. The two orange masks of Theater Mode keep the screen dark; MacRumors notes the watch still taps the wrist for alerts. The purple bed is Sleep mode, and the purple crescent is Do Not Disturb, the same crescent moon as the sleep symbol on other devices. The orange microphone means the watch’s microphone is on; on an iPhone the microphone shows as an orange dot.
Changes by watchOS version
Theater Mode arrived in watchOS 3.2, MacRumors reported. Apple’s article notes that with watchOS 27 the Walkie-Talkie app is no longer available for Apple Watch; earlier versions showed its icon while the app was on.
More phone status icons
Browse symbols drawn with letters and numbers or squares and rectangles.
Sources
- Status icons and symbols on Apple Watch, Apple Support article 108038, published 15 September 2026, Apple Support
- Check the status of Apple Watch, Apple Watch User Guide, Apple
- Why There's a Red Dot on Apple Watch and How to Hide It, Tim Hardwick, 22 February 2022, MacRumors
- How to Use Theater Mode on the Apple Watch, Juli Clover, 19 December 2018, MacRumors
Last reviewed September 30, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research