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Jony Ive says Apple Watch will include Fitbit-like silent alarm clock feature to wake you up

This past week, Apple design head Jony Ive spoke about a range of topics, including the Apple Watch, at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art. Ive noted that the development of the Watch was more difficult than the iPhone because of the historical precedence of wrist-worn timepieces. In more interesting news, Ive told the crowd that the Apple Watch will have a cool alarm clock feature that can silently wake up the wearer:

And because it’s a new product, he said there’s “a childlike awe and curiosity” about what the Apple Watch might do. As an example, he spoke about its alarm-clock function. “Just yesterday, somebody was saying, ‘Wow, do you know what I just did? I set the alarm in the morning, and it woke just me by tapping my wrist. It didn’t wake my wife or my baby,’” he recounted. “Isn’t that fantastic?”

We’ve known that the Apple Watch will (obviously) have an alarm clock feature, but it’s interesting to now hear that the alarm clock will wake up the user via the Taptic Engine vibrating sensors mostly designed for the Watch’s communications features. This silent alarm feature is not entirely new to the wearables industry. The popular Fitbit fitness tracker, Pebble smart watch, and Up24 already all include similar functionality.

While some people will enjoy this feature, such as in the use case mentioned by Ive, it’s not entirely clear how much use it will have in the first-generation product. As Apple executives, including Tim Cook, have said, users of the Apple Watch will need to charge the device each night. If the Watch will be on the charging stand until you wake up in the morning, the silent alarm clock feature will probably not be so beneficial. On the bright side, the feature will be especially beneficial when Apple implements sleep tracking features in an improved version of the device.

The first generation Apple Watch will ship in early 2015, according to Apple’s earlier announcement, and it will come in various collections distinguished by materials. Apple introduced the Watch alongside the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Pay this past September. CEO Cook has said that Apple will detail more information about the Watch as the ship date approaches.

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Comments

  1. ikir - 9 years ago

    I really can’t wait for iWatch… Give me give me :)

  2. John Warlow (@JLWarlow) - 9 years ago

    How’s that going to work – isn’t everyone going to be charging their watch on the dock overnight?

  3. keshavchawla2014 - 9 years ago

    Anyone else concerned breaking the screen glass because their involved in daily rigorous activity?

    • nelmat - 9 years ago

      No, because watch faces have been made from glass for centuries and people see, to have coped so far…

    • Mosha - 9 years ago

      Apple Watch and Edition variants have cover made from sapphire crystal a common material used in most watches. Apple Watch Sport uses a Ion X glass cover, supposedly for weight reduction. It’s not clear if Ion X will be stronger then the currently available Gorilla Glass 3.

      Given people have been wearing watches for centuries, screen cracking/breaking while not uncommon, the probability of it happening is dramatically reduced given they’re securely fitted to your wrist.

      The main concern for cover glass on watches is scratch resistance.

      • keshavchawla2014 - 9 years ago

        This gives me some relief but I have owned both a Pebbel and a Galaxy Gear Live and return both because I was scared of breaking the screen, I am going to keep the apple watch

  4. reese728 - 9 years ago

    right? how good is that feature when the thing is going to be on the charger all night. BATTERY, BATTERY, BATTERY! geesh Apple innovator the battery. #iPhone6WallHugger

    • Max Mars (@devianter) - 9 years ago

      i don’t know about the 6, but my 6plus lasts 2 full days

    • herewegoagain7 - 9 years ago

      My 6+ gets 2 days of use easily. The watch, we’ll see. It’s not even here yet. I’m no wall hugger. Oh, and check your grammar. Good grief…’innovator’? Come on.

      • reese728 - 9 years ago

        i gotta (like the grammar) 6 and i dont get 2 days, sir. Btw i dont have to check ish, this aint grammar school, YOU tell Apple to check their auto-correct ok buddy.

    • EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING!

      Even Tim Cook admitted it will need charging over night so this is just a totally ridiculous idea!

      Unbelievable how people are jumping on it as WOW! yet even as an Apple fanboy i can see this is quite simply a pathetic idea

      • Alex (@Metascover) - 9 years ago

        “Unbelievable how people are jumping on it as WOW! yet even as an Apple fanboy i can see this is quite simply a pathetic idea”

        what are you talking about? People aren’t jumping on it, the article clearly asks the same question, and stop pretending that you are an Apple fanboy because you clearly are not.

    • Bob Smogango - 9 years ago

      The battery will probably only take about as long to recharge as it takes for someone to take to go to the bathroom, it’s a ~300 mAh battery.

      Waking up someone silently? you mean vibrating? that’s kind of been done before.

      • rogifan - 9 years ago

        Where did he claim Apple’s the first to do this? Or is he not supposed to mention it if it’s already been done?

  5. sdhn7 - 9 years ago

    If I were to guess, maybe it’s possible. Apple watch won’t have a huge battery, 300mAh minimum … that shouldn’t take long to charge. so you have the wrist on all night, you wake up with the alarm, put the watch on charge maybe 30 minutes to get it to 100% while you’re doing your stuff, then take the watch with you for the day.

    • giskardian - 9 years ago

      Or you could put it on to charge when you go to bed, but set an alarm for when it is done charging. Then put it on your wrist, and have it wake you up with the “fan-tas-tick” alarm.

      LOL, Ive is such a tool. Apple should have canned his sorry ass a long time ago.

      • sdhn7 - 9 years ago

        … Ive did nothing to you … so why you hating? jealousy maybe? besides I use this sleep cycle app on my phone, that does very well in waking me up (much better than an obstrusive alarm) … i can see this being even better.

      • giskardian - 9 years ago

        Jealous? What a bizarre accusation. I don’t even wear watches or any sort of bling so I’m not sure what I’d be jealous of…

        As for Ive, no I do not “hate” Ive, what a stupid thing to say. I was being a bit hard on him in the previous post, so I’ll say it now: Ive has designed some absolute masterpieces, including the Powermac G5/Mac Pro tower and the iPhone 4/4S. My problem with his designs are the unnecessary functional compromises for the sake of style.

        These compromises seem to become more severe as Ive’s power within Apple grows. Now we see, as a result of his design anorexia, a relatively flimsy flagship phone and a flagship tablet with screen artifacts when held the “wrong” way (google iPad Air 2 screen distortion/artifacts). Lest you misunderstand me, I will emphasize that thinness and lightness are worthy design goals for any mobile device, but they are not worth the compromises Ive has recently made. If Ive refuses to consider the real world in which his designs must endure, then it’s time to shitcan his sorry ass.

    • kinda what i was thinking charge it when you get home, great point about the battery charging quickly could definitely charge it while you get ready

  6. joannbendzsas - 9 years ago

    I just got a pebble today

  7. Toro Volt (@torovolt) - 9 years ago

    News Flash! The Pebble Watch has been doing “silent alarm” since July 2013.

    • sdhn7 - 9 years ago

      True … the only difference here (and why 9to5 are reporting on this) is the apple watch contains that taptic engine thing … so its not a vibrational motor waking you up, its much more sublte.

    • scaredofcats - 9 years ago

      Have you ever used a watch which vibrates (like the Pebble)? They are not actually silent, you know. Now I’m not saying that Apple’s Tap thingy will be silent, but I would think that a tapping motion will be quieter than a vibrating motion.

      • Diego Garcia - 9 years ago

        I have a pebble. I was one of the first backers. I’ve never used it as an alarm to wake up since I don’t sleep with a watch on, the vibration on the Pebble is annoying as hell. When I’m in a meeting and i get a message, EVERYONE at the meeting knows I have a message.

        From my understanding of Apple’s implementation of the ‘taptic’ engine, it won’t be as noticeable as normal vibrating notifications.

  8. Well… even if Apple said that you have to charge it overnight, it does not necessarily mean that it will take the whole night to charge, even bigger batteries does not, so you might imagine plugging it to MagSafe when you are back at home while taking your shower and dinning and then putting it back on your wrist…

    Anyway… I have never tried to wear a watch during night, I know many people do, but I am not sure at all that I would be able to do such a thing, that even made me wonder if it wouldn’t be good if the Apple Watch could have some sort of distant sleep tracking feature instead of needing you to wear it directly on your wrist.

  9. Brian (@BrianVoll) - 9 years ago

    This would be useful if I wasn’t afraid of the battery dying over night. This feature does work pretty well on the Pebble though

  10. Chuck Diesel - 9 years ago

    Registering just to make this comment: the battery on the Apple Watch will be pretty small, so charging from very low to full will probably not take much time. Seems like you could quickly charge it up before bed to use this silent alarm.

  11. jedimindtrick99 - 9 years ago

    Alot of responses sound soo stupid about ‘ you have to charge it over night’.
    If you manage your time and charging correctly you should have no worries, most are crying over a product they never used. Your all idiots. People will buy this product and love it regardless.

    • bungobaggins - 9 years ago

      Isn’t it cute when someone who doesn’t know how to spell ‘your’ joins in to say ‘your all idiots’?

    • sdhn7 - 9 years ago

      You can’t call people idiots and make grammar mistakes at the same time.

  12. Ryan Fielding - 9 years ago

    This is pointless since you will be charging it at night. It needs an internal GPS more than anything There is no way in hell anyone is running with an iPhone 6+ to record gps data. If they don’t add that, it damn near might flop, I certainly won’t give up the garmin forerunner for that.

    • me (@BlackgrayBird) - 9 years ago

      I’m running with an iPhone 6+. And just 2 weeks back I ran a marathon with an iPhone 6+. And I never never use Polar or Garmin again.

  13. Kevin O'Hara - 9 years ago

    I can’t believe all the second guessing and discussion over alarms. As usual, Apple will take this device to the next level and within a 2 years, most people will wonder how they ever lived without it.

    They announced a select set of features in September, but I am waiting for the other shoe to drop in January or February when they announce a other set of features. I believe that their more sensors are on-board and they (Apple) decided not to tell everyone what that this watch can really do. I believe that this watch will have medical and health features announced at its release.

  14. TechPeeve (@TechPeeve) - 9 years ago

    maybe he should go ahead and come out of the closet too

  15. Ian Tepoot - 9 years ago

    It’s not much of a big deal as a feature, but I’m glad it’s there for one key situation. I travel a lot, and one of the reasons I got a Fitbit Force was because when I’m on an airplane, I try to time out my sleep periods to prevent jetlag — but I certainly don’t want an alarm blaring out to everyone on the plane. In this case, having a band/watch that taps me awake silently is a lifesaver.

  16. Kevin Zeng - 9 years ago

    one interesting question is, although we may have to charge the watch everyday, if the total charging time is short, say one hour or even 30 minutes, then I think it will solve all these “I need to charge it every day” complain.

  17. spiffers - 9 years ago

    This makes no sense, if the watch needs to be charged every night, how does it magically get on the users wrist in the morning?

    • rogifan - 9 years ago

      All Apple said so far is you will need to charge it daily. They haven’t said how long it will take to charge. One would assume with such a small battery it won’t take that long. It’s conceivable that you could come home at night and charge it before you go to bed. And charge it again when you wake up before you leave for the day.

    • acslater017 - 9 years ago

      You do realize there’s nothing that requires the user to wait until they tuck into bed before charging the device, right. Get home. Charge. Put it back on. Sleep. Crazy!

  18. Victor Moreno - 9 years ago

    May this 1 day use does reference to hard use… I think a moderare it will be alive to the Second one.

    • rogifan - 9 years ago

      When Tim Cook was asked about battery life he said you would need to charge it each day because you’ll be using it so much. He’s intentionally being vague. Makes me wonder if they are lowballing their battery estimates or basing on heavy usage.

  19. acslater017 - 9 years ago

    Yes, Apple has stated that it will need to be charged once daily. If you know you will need a silent wake up, charge it during dinner and put it back on when you sleep. The battery is quite small and should amongst the fastest-charging Apple devices. I dunno why everyone is acting like they’ve uncovered some enormous flaw.

    Longer battery life is obviously more ideal, but these are the compromises early adopters will have to deal with.

  20. acslater017 - 9 years ago

    Astonishing how “charging” and “sleeping” are so tightly interwoven in people’s heads. Charge it BEFORE you go to sleep if you want to use the silent alarm. When you get home and change. While you eat dinner. Whilst dropping a deuce. I’d be surprised if the 90% charging time didn’t fall within 20-45 minutes.

    Would longer battery life be better? Absolutely. Have I ever had a device that wakes me up by tapping on my wrist? Nope!

  21. Nikolay Iliev - 9 years ago

    The most important question is not how long the battery will last, because it is abvious for a divce that small, the battery live your be poor no matter what, but how fast the battery would charge. If it charge in 15min, which should be the case considering its size, then I dont mind charging it while i have a shower.

  22. Bryan Walls - 9 years ago

    Everyone keeps saying it won’t work because you need to charge your watch. There’s a simple solution; have at least two Apple Watches!