How to Edit the Default Message Replies on Your Apple Watch

During the 2020 US election season, politicians and organizations inundated likely voters with text messages. You probably received your share of messages begging for a vote, asking for a donation, or informing you about your voting rights. 

In most cases, those messages were sent via text message campaigns that blasted one message to many recipients. Similar to email newsletter campaigns, text campaigns require a way for recipients to “opt out” of future messages. Usually, you reply with the word "stop."

One of the benefits of the Apple Watch is being able to quickly read and reply to messages without pulling out your phone. Similar to Messages for iPhone, there are default replies baked into Messages for Apple Watch that you can use to reply to texts with one tap. But you can customize them with more personal replies—like "stop." Here's how.

Add New Reply

When messages hit your Apple Watch, it'll scan for context and serve up default replies; usually standard one- or two-word replies that can work in a number of situations.

In our example, we need to add the word “stop” to the list of default replies so you can quickly unsubscribe to text message campaigns from your Apple Watch. To do this:

• Open the Watch app on your iPhone

• Tap Messages

• Tap Default Replies

• Tap Edit

• Tap on the field of a (less used) default reply

• Type the new reply, like “stop”

Re-order your default replies by dragging the three lines to the right of a reply up or down. For example, move “stop” to the top of the list if you want it to be one of the first replies you see when viewing your reply options on Apple Watch.

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Use New Reply

Now that you have your new default reply set up, you can use it to respond to texts. If you receive another message from an annoying campaign or want to respond to a friend with the new reply, here's what you do:

• Tap the message on your Apple Watch to view the contents

• Swipe or use the Digital Crown to scroll to the Suggestions section to view default replies

• Tap the “stop” reply to quickly unsubscribe

Many messaging campaigns will likely send you one last message to confirm your decision to unsubscribe from any additional messages. But if you're conversing with a friend or family member, it should now be easier to quickly communicate with custom responses.