I released my Apple Watch remote for the Insta360 X6: free and open source, works with the Action button and Water Lock
A few weeks ago I posted about an Apple Watch remote I built for my X6 for kitesurfing. It's now released, free and open source.
Why: the official Insta360 Watch app didn't work for me on the water. It doesn't reconnect by itself when the camera drops out, and everything depends on the touchscreen, which is useless when wet or with Water Lock on.
What it does
- Connects from the Watch directly to the X6 over Bluetooth (no phone needed while riding) and reconnects automatically after dropouts
- Start/stop with the **Action button** (Apple Watch Ultra), Double Tap, or the big on-screen button
- Recording only shows as started/stopped after the camera confirms it, with distinct vibrations
- Shows recording time, camera battery, SD space and Watch battery
- Keeps running next to a sports tracker (I use it with SURFR), and has a Water Lock button
- If you press STOP while the camera is out of range, STOP is sent as soon as it reconnects
Install: there's no App Store version, you sideload it with your own Apple ID (free account = reinstall every 7 days). On Windows, most sideloading tools can't install the Watch part, so I also published a fork of iloader that can, over USB or Wi-Fi. Step-by-step instructions are in the README.
- App: https://github.com/AndreySemjonov/X6-Watch-Remote
- Windows installer (iloader fork): https://github.com/AndreySemjonov/iloader
Limits: tested only with the X6 (firmware 1.1.7), Apple Watch Ultra and watchOS 26. X4/X5 aren't supported yet. It's a hobby project, not affiliated with Insta360
Feedback and bug reports welcome!
Posted Sep 25, 2026, 7:50 PM UTC
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