Smart watch theatre etiquette (or lack thereof)

[SummaLuvin]

I go to the theatre around once/twice a month of average and I have noticed an increasing amount of smart watch wearers who leave them active during the show. Not noisy, but fully lit so they brighten considerably with movement. Theatre should be an immersive experiences and I find these intermittent flashes of light in my peripheral vision distracting and irritating. Of course it’s obvious that they should be putting them in some mode where this doesn’t occur, but relying on them to figure it out has proven insufficient. I think the time has come where an announcement needs to be made as they do with no recording and to switch phones off.

I went to the theatre last week, we were all sitting around the stage. The lights went out for part of the show and you could see a sea of smartwatches. It hadn’t occurred to me before to switch of my display I just turn to do not disturb.

apple watch has a cinema mode, dark face and silent - it’s on the same button as airplane mode

and my DH has an Apple Watch and uses this mode. However many people don't know, or don't care to use it. The person 4 seats down from me when I saw Hamilton a few weeks ago was rather twitchy and certainly wasn't dimming their screen. People aren't figuring it out themselves, so I think it needs to be in the announcements.

Yes, it's really annoying. I always put my apple watch in theatre mode at the cinema or theatre, it's really easy to do.

Apple Watch has theatre mode which means it doesn’t light up. I forgot to put it on airplane mode and it rang very loudly in the theatre. My friend went on and on about it till her phone rang during another play.