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A skeptic’s Apple Watch diary: One month in, after the novelty wore off

When I decided that I was keeping my Apple Watch after my arbitrary one week trial, several of you wondered whether that would still be the case once the novelty had worn off. Indeed, I wondered that myself.

Well, it’s now a month in as of yesterday, and I can definitely say the novelty has worn off – and, somewhat to my surprise, I’m still wearing it every day. Perhaps it’s time to drop the ‘skeptic’ part of the title.

Given the kind interest shown in my earlier pieces, I thought I’d update you with a few additional things I’ve noted and the reasons I’m still wearing it …

My main additional complaint is what might almost be described as click-bait notifications: notifications that let you know something is going on, but don’t actually tell you what. To find out, you have to pull your phone out of your pocket.

Facebook Messenger is a classic example. When someone sends you a message, the Watch notification shows you who has sent the message, and you can see that you can scroll down, so naturally you expect to be able to see the message … but no. Scrolling down merely offers you a Dismiss button.

It’s similar when someone tags you in Facebook. The watch shows you’ve been tagged but doesn’t show you the post.

Twitter likewise. It lets you know if several people you follow are all tweeting about the same topic, but you can’t actually see their tweets.

Now, you could argue that this complaint is unreasonable. The watch is about quick glances, not interactions. And I do agree with that philosophy – I don’t want to be spending much time interacting with a tiny screen. But scrolling down in a FB message to see the actual message isn’t interaction, it’s exactly the type of short information delivery the watch is all about. I simply want to know if it’s something that requires an immediate response.

Many apps have the right general idea – display bite-sized chunks of information, don’t ask you to interact with them – but too many of them direct you to your phone just one step too early.

My second complaint is the flakiness of notifications in general. Some days they arrive reliably and promptly, within a second or two of the alert on the iPhone. Other days, they are delayed; other days, they simply don’t arrive at all from some apps. Case in point: I wanted to get a screengrab of a Facebook Message alert, asked a friend to send me one – which she did – and I got an alert on the phone but not on the watch. In principle, they should be sent to the watch when your phone is locked, and not otherwise, but the practice is far more random.

This isn’t a massive deal given that my watch is simply a more convenient way to view notifications; I’m not actually going to miss anything as my phone will ping me. But it does make the watch less useful.

Update: Developer and 9to5Mac reader Kai Cherry seems to have explained this one: “In the case that an app takes ‘too long,’ WatchOS automatically ‘fails over’ to show the basic/default notification. This can happen if the Glance/Watch app has to do too much computation to figure out what to show.

Third, Glances can be slow to open, even when at home on a fast broadband connection. The above screengrab is a sight that’s just a little too familiar.

It’s most commonly seen when opening a Glance via a watch face complication. The above example was tapping the temperature on my Modular watch face to see the full weather. In that particular case, the progress screen sat there like that for a good ten seconds. That’s unusual, but waiting four or five seconds isn’t, and for a device that’s all about immediate access to info – and names the screens Glances to reinforce the point – even a four-second delay is way too long.

Talking of tapping complications, most are tappable, to view more information, but not all – and there’s no obvious rationale behind it. Why does tapping the temperature open the weather Glance (albeit slowly) but tapping the sunset time doesn’t?

It’s a pretty sure-fire bet that if you care about the sunset time it’s either because you’re planning to be outdoors then, and so care about the weather, or you want to take a sunset photo when, guess what, you care about the weather.

My view is that all complications should be tappable, if for no better reason than that consistency is one of the keys to usability.

Alongside my complaints, I should mention one former complaint I had that no longer applies. The update to Watch OS 1.0.1 may have broken heart-rate monitoring, but the promise that it would fix stand notifications has indeed been delivered. I’d initially found that it wasn’t recognising when I was already standing, and it now does, very reliably.

On the subject of compliments, I love the digital crown for scrolling without covering content. So much so, there have been times I’ve wished I had one on my iPhone.

So, a few more grumbles, but I’m still wearing the watch on a daily basis. Why so?

A month in, I can’t really say it’s the cool gadget factor. I no longer view it as something new and interesting, and indeed am now slightly surprised when someone asks me about it. I forget that, for many people, it’s still newsworthy.

For me, though, it’s something that has very much blended into my tech landscape, just like my Macs, iPhone and iPad. Useful, but not something I play with for its own sake. I haven’t, for example, found myself playing with different watch faces. I want as much info as possible viewable at a glance, so I’ve stuck solidly to the Modular face (albeit with minor rearrangement of the complications).

I have occasionally gotten out of bed and wondered whether or not to bother putting on the watch, but I still have, every day. Not because it’s exciting; it isn’t. Not because it makes a significant difference to my life; it doesn’t. But it does make my life very slightly more convenient, and it does this a dozen or more times a day. And that, in the end, is why I’m still wearing it.

How does it do that? Notifications top the list, despite my complaints about them. With spring having arrived in the UK in a big way, short-sleeved shirts are now the norm for me, so my issue with shirt sleeves has gone until the fall.

The activity rings are surprisingly effective in encouraging a little more exercise in everyday life, taking the stairs a little more often, walking the long way around, that kind of thing.

Having the outside temperature a glance away is handy given that I cycle everywhere, letting me know whether or not I need to take a sweater. Sunset time, too, is handy, when planning an evening cycle ride and wanting to be somewhere scenic for sunset.

And there’s one other handy piece of functionality that I find myself using more often than expected. You can, I have discovered, use your Apple Watch to check the time.

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Comments

  1. lcyedwinyin - 9 years ago

    a great piece of review.
    thank you!

  2. glen ersly (@Glenersly) - 9 years ago

    good review – I agree, it’s the lack of consistency that is most perplexing….mine also a month in and I still strap it on every day. A $80 monowear leather buckle band solves the band selection too.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      I’ve so far stuck to my Sport band (with a black one due any day now), but now that I’ve decided to keep it I may treat it to a leather one.

  3. jperr - 9 years ago

    I noticed that if your iPhone’s screen is on when a notification comes in, it does not appear on the watch. I would guess this is by design, as presumably you just saw the notification, so it doesn’t need to appear on the watch.

    Not sure if this is what you were running into with the notification unpredictability you mentioned.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      It doesn’t seem as consistent as that here: I get some notifications with the iPhone on, and others that don’t arrive with the iPhone off.

      • vinicits - 9 years ago

        The only cases I’ve noticed with iPhone unlocked are timers, alarms, and activity notifications like standing or goal achieved, those are understandable since the 3 live only on the watch

    • Dave Bridges - 8 years ago

      That is by design – you are right in your assumption; why notify the watch when you will have seen the notification on the phone….?

  4. John Nugent - 9 years ago

    When you didn’t get a watch notification, were you using your phone? Unlike Pebble, @Watch doesn’t send notifications if you are already using your phone. It’s only when the phone is off and away. I find this feature pretty useful.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      Hopefully the practice will match the theory in a later update.

      • PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

        Apple could use that as their company tagline.

        Really. Not here to badger on their QA, but the AW does seem to be a 1.0 product with a lot of little design flaws and bugs. I get that they are continuously fine tuning things but the number of bugs on this product is quite staggering, to me, as it apparently took them 3 years to create the product.

    • glen ersly (@Glenersly) - 9 years ago

      yup – phone has to be locked for notifications to pass thru to watch. The other undocumented thing is you can only sync playlisyts if BOTH the watch and phone are on chargers…otherwise you will sit in “pending” forever. At least that’s how mine works.

  5. Tuvatech - 9 years ago

    Great review, thanks!

    I thought I’d mention something about (Facebook Message) notifications occasionally never arriving to the Watch. It’s actually like that with the iPhone or iPad as well. I’m not sure whether it’s because of Facebook or it has something to do with the way notifications are handled by Apple. Now, say I’m using a PC right now and I’m chatting with someone on Facebook. If I close my browser and the other person says something a few seconds after that, I will NOT get a notification on my iPhone (or iPad). I may not get one for a few minutes or even more.

    I think there is a reason for this. Many of us have multiple devices that we use daily. You might have an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and a MacBook. You wouldn’t really want all of those devices light up every time you have a new message, would you? Especially if you have the sound on – it’d be a nightmare. So what I think happens is that when you are using one of those devices to chat with someone over Facebook, none of the other devices get notifications until X-minutes after you have stopped using the device.

    I don’t know how many minutes it is. But I know it is a few because sometimes you might be busy watching a YouTube video that the other person sent you. And although you are not on Facebook, you are still technically having a conversation with him or her. So Facebook (or Apple?) will wait a few minutes before it will start notifying you via all of your devices. If you follow. :)

    That’s what I’ve noticed anyway. I would be interesting to have more clarity about that, so if any of you knows more, feel free to reply to my comment. :)

    • daffidj (@DavidSmol) - 9 years ago

      it’s only since a few weeks the messenger notifications from Facebook have become inconsistent. I don’t have an Apple watch; but sometimes the notifications come minutes (1-30m) late or they just don’t come at all on my iPhone/iPad. So i guess it’s a problem on facebook’s part…

  6. Chris Anderson - 9 years ago

    It’s the trail blazing days, to be sure. As apps get ironed out, Apple Pay expands, and services like HomeKit develop, an Apple Watch will feel more polished with regards to the overall experience.

  7. cameroncovington - 9 years ago

    As always, Ben, a great piece! The novelty has worn off for me too, but I consider it an essential piece of tech. Albeit, I do love wearables…

  8. Don Wise (@doncwise) - 9 years ago

    I’ve had mine for about two weeks now and agree with many of the things stated here…with notifications (glances) you’re correct that it’s limiting for interaction. I find that I have to go to messages to read the text of the notification message. I’m also finding that I’m “managing” notifications more than ever before. There’s no apparent way to delete multiple messages; just one at a time. That’s frustrating.

    For me, it’s a device that complements the iPhone and yes, tells time.

    • Chad J Mac Donald - 9 years ago

      Hi Don,

      To delete multiple notification messages, force touch on your notification screen and a “clear all” will appear. Hope that helps!

      • outlanderbz - 9 years ago

        Every tip on the web says this but there seems to be a difference between “clear” and “dismiss”. Dismiss seems to clear it from the watch and iPhone where clear just removes it from the watch. That being said, I find myself wanting a “dismiss all” because I don’t want it to still be in the notifications list on my iPhone.

  9. Chad J Mac Donald - 9 years ago

    FB Messenger works for me. The notification both alerts me and displays the text of the message. One annoyance is the inability to reply but I think that has more to do with the app requiring an update.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      Chad, could you screengrab one (with permission from the sender)? I’m curious as to what’s going on there. I do have preview switched on in the app.

      • Andrew Messenger - 9 years ago

        i also see the full text of the message on my Apple Watch.

      • I’m not too sure but is there a difference between receiving message notifications from the facebook app and the facebook messenger app?

  10. Rodrigo Pontes - 9 years ago

    Great piece of review.. I got mine less than a week ago so still new to me, I am waiting to get a leather band once I have allergic reaction to the sport band to mediate I have used a tape on the back of the band so it will not touch me directly .. still comfortable even with the tape

  11. jkruehne - 9 years ago

    Agree :)

    and there is sometime a delay in SMS delivery or sometime they even don’t sent/delivered to the B-party -makes it useless (or at least less “shiny”).
    – but i guess it is more a lack in apple service quality in general than a watch fault (?)

  12. Aristomenis Tsirbas - 9 years ago

    Great write up Ben, thanks. My experience after almost a week is that half of my phone activity has shifted to my watch. This for no other reason than some things – mostly notifications – are more convenient on a wearable. Also its fitness component is surprisingly fun (never had a fitness tracker before). And since dictation is the only way to enter custom text on the fly, I’ve noticed the speach recognition/self correction AI to be actually quite decent now. So much so that for me Siri is Apple Watch’s killer feature.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      Yes, I’ve long used Siri to dictate almost everything on my phone – I think the watch has led a lot of people to try it again and see just how good it is these days.

  13. vinicits - 9 years ago

    The notification is smarter than it’s Mac and ipad counterparts, when it realizes you’re looking at the iPhone screen, it sends to iPhone. When your iPhone is locked it sends to Apple watch, try the same test with this in mind. It’s working flawless for me right now!

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      Sadly rather less flawlessly here. But a clean install on the watch is so painless I’ll try that and see if it makes a difference.

      • outlanderbz - 9 years ago

        Speaking of clean install, Do you know if a clean install removes activity tracker info or is that data stored on the iPhone app and/or cloud. I know it will come back if I restore the watch from a backup but I am in the habit or never restoring since all my apps/data is cloud based through my email, Evernote, things, etc.

  14. Soluble Apps - 9 years ago

    Your results tie up with mine.

    The Facebook notification “click bait” applies equally well to their email, it’s all just trying to draw you back to Facebook.

    I’d like to see notifications sent to both watch and phone, but dismissing on either device should remove it from the watch.

    I would like to see emails be more readable on watch- perhaps with an upper limit to length, and a tiny graphic res for images.

  15. rnc - 9 years ago

    On that notification it’s simple:

    You have your iPhone on and you’re using it -> all notifications go to iphone, the device you have in hand.

    You have your iPhone locked -> all notifications go to the watch.

    It’s obvious.

    • Alex Moran - 9 years ago

      Btw I posted a comments stating the same thing you just anot 15min ago and it’s been deleted

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      That’s the theory but not the practice in my experience. It’s interesting, though, that some are reporting it working well and others having the same experience as me. I’m going to try a clean install and see if that improves performance.

  16. Graham J - 9 years ago

    FYI when you tap a complication it opens an app, not a glance.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      I think in some cases it’s one and the same. Open the Weather glance by swiping up (and left/right as needed). Now return to the watch face and access your apps via the digital crown and open the Weather app. I see exactly the same thing in both cases.

  17. Martyn (@bluefroguk) - 9 years ago

    Just a thought – What is the watch like for directions when cycling. That could be useful, specially with the windy london streets

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      I have a Garmin Edge 810 GPS on my bike, so it’s not something I need personally, but I do think the haptic taps in Apple Maps is very clever – you could navigate through a sketchy area with no gadgets visible.

    • dirtbagg - 9 years ago

      The notifications for maps are great, they’re probably the most noticeable type. I -only- listen to my phone over bluetooth while driving, no radio, so it’s easy to just use Maps or (preferably) Google Maps, but if I wasn’t, the watch would be a great alternative.

  18. Jay Porta (@JayPorta) - 9 years ago

    If an app’s notifications don’t work the way you want them to, it’s because the developers haven’t updated their apps to add Apple Watch support. It’s not a limitation of the watch.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      These are all apps supported by the watch, but agree it’s down to how the developers choose to implement that support.

  19. Josip Ricov (@Josip_R) - 9 years ago

    I do find it appealing but seems too much overpriced for first generation. It still hasn’t arrived in Croatia but I am traveling to USA soon so will check it out in NYC Apple Store.

  20. Simone Tommy - 9 years ago

    You can see messenger and whatsapp message if you let your iPhone show on block screen. So you can read it on your watch too.

  21. Merrae McCann - 9 years ago

    I receive FB, text messages, calendar events, etc. notifications on my watch. I tap the icon on the watch face to view the content.

  22. fabrica64 - 9 years ago

    Notifications do not arrive reliably even on the iPhone itself. I live in an area with bad 3G/4G connection and sometimes they simply do not arrive at all. I suppose there’s some issue with retrying sending notifications

  23. charismatron - 9 years ago

    I don’t own an Apple Watch, and don’t plan to for the foreseeable future, and this excellently-written, but unenthusiastic article explains why

    That said, I’m a huge Apple fan and have watched and read uncountable reviews (much to my wife’s chagrin). The general consensus seems to be that the watch adds a new way to experience the information on your phone. It doesn’t offer any superiority of experience in any respect, just a new way of experiencing it that, in some cases, could be considered convenient, but mostly isn’t. And this is a considerable problem.

    The biggest complaints are all here, and the largest among these is the lag time when trying to retrieve any information. Example after example, the watch seems to fail to deliver on its main function: quick, convenient access to what you need to know “at a glance”. It’s just not happening

    Yes, it’s an accompaniment to your phone, but the lag and lack of readily consumable information hold this otherwise great device back. It seems that Apple let this one out of the gate too early, and perhaps they should have waited to get these basics sorted (along with the nightmare of a launch).

    Two positives that stand out for most reviewers seem to be the battery life lasting close to (but not quite) two days, and the ability to do dishes or take a shower–and even swim–with the watch on.

    There’s no doubt it will improve with future iterations, and things like data collection for medical purposes are largely overlooked elements of the watch. But for an Apple product that should “just work”, unfortunately this one doesn’t.

    • Kai Cherry - 9 years ago

      Actually, a lot of your comment seems to be a bit of confirmation bias – in reality it is NEVER faster in any case I have come across to get the phone out to get info for anything that I’m already looking for (in a glance) with any of the ones I use *because they are written correctly*.

      I mean this sincerely – while people will say “it isn’t instant” even tho no one promised this as a feature, a 1-2 second load time is not untenable…it is about the amount of time you get when you aunch an app on your phone…in most cases *longer*

      But I see a lot of “it doesn’t” or “it isn’t” comments from people that have, review after review (something that is a bit epidemic in the “dramapress” actually) essentially decided not only to not rate or review it on its own merits, but even in the larger ecosystem. Most commentary is along the lines of:

      “I think Apple Watch should be or do X, even tho Apple Proper never said it would nor should” and from this you can write any confirmation bias-laden narrative you choose. I’m convinced that in many of the things I’ve red, if Apple would have made the thing round (a bit of a skeuomorphic choice I think – there is no reason for it to be…no gears inside, etc that would benefit from this) then a whole host of nits would have been tossed aside simply because :)

      But at any rate, I just wanted to clear up for you this notion of “lag and lack of readily consumable information” – I have 20 glances installed and can get up-to-the-minute status on all 20 things in less than 30 seconds. If there is a way to do this on an iPhone, I do not know how :)

      -K

      • charismatron - 9 years ago

        Kai,

        As I don’t own the watch, I can’t speak on it myself.

        There’s nothing about confirmation bias in what I’ve written, as I am reporting, in general, what I’ve found through more reviews than I can count. Most reviewers do not find the product necessary, most do not find it handles quickly, but most do find something they like about it.

        If most users don’t know how to properly use the watch, that’s not necessarily the fault of the user, entirely. One of Apple’s main slogans is, “It just works”. Make whatever excuses you like for the watch (you’re not alone), but unlike most of their other products, this one doesn’t live up to the hype–otherwise, why does Apple require multiple “here’s how to use the watch” videos? Because it’s not an intuitive device. At least not for masses that don’t hang out on Apple blogs. :)

        As for clearing up the notion of lag, take it up with the author of this fine piece: he’s one in a chorus of writers and bloggers saying differently.

        I’m happy for you that you enjoy the watch. Many have found something to like about it.

      • Kai Cherry - 9 years ago

        Again…”most”…”quickly”…”properly use”…”hype(!)”…”excuses”…all of these words are loaded and subjective.

        *Objectively* on the other hand:

        “What is ‘lag’?” – launch time. This exists on every iOS device and it is no different on WatchOS. Interesting aside – WatchKit initially supported “launch images” (a trick iOS uses to make apps appear/launch ‘instantly’) but these were removed.

        For Apple Watch however, this is a liability for some reason. Same launch time as anything else, but this is a “thing” on this platform. Why? What is it about this product that makes it a negative? I’ll tell you what I think: people “know” that WatchKit apps are loaded from the device. The fact that this load time is no different than launch delay seems to be irrelevant *with this product*…why?

        Why does Apple require “Here’s how to use the watch videos” – This is literally what Apple did when they introduced the iPhone. Nothing worked like it. But *for this product*…this is a liability :) Why? What is it about this product that makes having tutorials a negative?

        The reality is – it isn’t hard to use at all…it is just different. It becomes “hard” if the narrative requires different to be “difficult” or “confusing”…

        Other word choices of yours, as I pointed out before, are loaded – “hype”…I’ve followed the Apple Watch’s *official* narrative, for both users and developers…and there hasn’t been any hype *from Apple* any greater or different than any other Apple marketing message. Apple is notoriously *predictable* in this regard, so much so that other companies large and small have been aping their methodology. Apple has actually *under emphasized* aspects of the device, (water resistance, battery life, sensor accuracy), telegraphed future moves vis a vis ‘native’ apps – tho this doesn’t mean what people thinks it does, more to see soon at WWDC – vs ‘non-native’ apps (aka device-resident) and have been pretty even-keeled about it. If anything, ‘hype’ has been generated by people pontificating about what it shoulda/woulda/coulda been…tho no one making the thing (Apple) ever said it would/could/should be anything other than what they’ve been trying to ship.

        That said, it doesn’t really matter to me personally if other people like the Watch or not. My issue, if I have one at all, is reading pieces ad comments that have smack of un-eveness, that might be factually inaccurate or don’t have enough opinion language. An appeal to the authority of a lot of wrong people doesn’t actually make a difference to me :)

  24. Ben, in FB Messenger on iPhone, go into “Settings” and turn on Notification Previews (Show name and message). This should solve that particular notifications issue…

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      That’s already on – see the long post from Kai, which seems to explain things nicely.

  25. Kai Cherry - 9 years ago

    About Notifications:

    They work in a *very specific* and predictable way:

    1. If the phone is unlocked/screen on/being used, you will *never* get a notification on the watch. This is how it is designed

    2. If you are set to “mirror” mode and DND is no – no notifications

    3. Short Look time: Since the update, Short Look time has been increased by about a second

    4. Ben’s complaints are a combo of implementation details for specific apps and the way WatchOS works with “Dynamic Notifications”:

    – Apps must actually have custom notifications implemented so you can see (useful) content
    – Apps must not take “too long” to construct/show a Dynamic Notification
    – In the case that an app takes “too long” WatchOS automatically “fails over” to show the basic/default notification. This can happen if the Glance/Watch app has to do too much computation to figure out what to show.

    About Glances:

    They “are what they are” essentially – if your Glance needs “new info” it is up to the developer to implement the Glance in such a way that the info is available “instantly” via continuous background updates. If the Glance needs more than a second or two to get the info it needs (again, implementation) then you get the “lag”…what we used to call ‘loading’ back in the day :)

    Like anything new, people need to learn how to create things for it that are optimal. A lot of the “it isn’t life-changing” and the litany of nitpicks really have to do with individual expectations (I mean, it is a watch, not a medical breakthrough) and for what it is (I’m a dev, I have a different perspective), what it does, how well it is doing it and how fast, it is far and away the best of class.

    I figure people will “come around” in the Fall after whatever “justifying” ‘killer app’ or whatever shows up. For most people, besides being a not-crappy smartwatch (considering the previous offers I’ve owned and written software for, you’ll just have to take my word for it if you aren’t convinced) the ‘killer app’ for the thing is timed saved and better general social interactions. I’ve found myself becoming *extremely perturbed* with people in social situations now that are constantly “in” their phones. It is kind of weird :)

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      Great info, Kai – thanks! I think this part explains the different experiences people are reporting: “In the case that an app takes “too long” WatchOS automatically “fails over” to show the basic/default notification. This can happen if the Glance/Watch app has to do too much computation to figure out what to show.”

      • Kai Cherry - 9 years ago

        Hey Ben. Yes…it is quite…tricky. In our experience, the best way to avoid “lag” is to basically do what Apple tells us to….not what we thought made more sense :)

        The notifications are a little more of a PITA to devs because there isn’t a way to say “this is a ‘watch-only’ notification – what devs have to do is basically put extra keys into a notification so that if it shows up on the watch they can determine quickly what needs to be shown. In the case of a notification that say, shows an image, a bit of work is needed on the dev’s part to make sure that image is shown as fast as possible or the glance isn’t “held up” (technically, returns from “willActivate”) or it will not be shown/the os will show the “generic” version instead. In most cases, “pre-caching” images allows them to show up in less than 3 seconds. In some cases, I’ve been told by other devs they changed their backend to auto-generate watch “thumbnails” that can be pulled over the network quickly.

        Writing for WatchKit has challenges, but these challenges are really no different (to me) than “phone” vs “tablet” – we had to learn to re-think what we wrote to fit the platform and use cases. The same applies here.

        The difference is, people have had since 2007 to get used to all of the things iOS brought to the table and years to integrate it into their lives. I have found the Watch to be the same. Even while I was typing this reply, my wife sent me a message. Now, I could have flipped to Messages to type the reply there, or reached over and grabbed my phone, unlocked it/handoff (still requiring an unlock) then typed the reply.

        Or I could have done what I did: saw message, hit reply, spoke reply, kept it movin. Both ways work :)

        -K

      • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

        Makes sense. Please check your ‘Other’ tab in Facebook messages – thanks!

    • Hi Kai,

      As a developer, do you think that there is enough ‘headroom’ (for lack of a better word) in the Watch’s processor and hardware to be able to ‘comfortably’ handle the upcoming ability to run Watch native apps? Or do you think that a hardware update is needed?

      May I ask, which watch did you get? and why?

      I got the SS Watch, but have been really considering the ‘this is a 1st gen device’ debate.

      Thanks

  26. Kevin Put (@PUTIWAN) - 9 years ago

    Thanks.

    For your notification problem, try turning Custom notifications for messages etc. on (and off again). Worked for me.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      I’ve reset the watch completely, as well as toggled notifications off and on again, so will see over the next day or so if that makes a difference – but Kai Cherry’s post seems to explain it.

  27. Roger Stockburger - 9 years ago

    The novelty wore off after around 40 minutes after receiving it. FAULTY WATCH!!!!!!!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03zpySlCpIw
    Best to buy in-store not on-line, then you can go back to the shop and get it changed over.
    Surely for $579 (more for SS + Gold), one could reasonably expect Apple to ACTUALLY TEST THEIR WATCHES before sending them out ??????

  28. Kris404 - 9 years ago

    It’s astonishing to me that I can make/receive Cellular Phone Calls on the Apple Watch but cannot do FaceTime Audio calls.

    Answering FT Audio calls on the Watch activates my phone but keeps it ‘On Hold’ until you unlock the phone.

  29. Tinny - 9 years ago

    SLOW is the word. 10 second for the stock weather app to appear ar too much. Except for this, I love it.

  30. Kenneth Sean Campbell - 9 years ago

    Your experience mirrors my own. A month in, I am still wearing my Milanese Loop every day. I read the blogs and gather information and, each day, I learn something new…that makes the watch more useful to me. My favorites are the activity and fitness apps. And I love that I can “ping” my iPhone when it’s fallen between the couch cushions! Keep us posted!

    • Soluble Apps - 9 years ago

      For me the watch isn’t about one killer app for everybody, it will be three or four great little things that you really like (say, advancing your music to the next track from the shower, pinging your phone when you lose it, sending pics to your partner, getting taps to turn when riding your bike etc.) which all add up to make it worthwhile.

      Now I see why they tried to make it do so many things. It’s because these combinations are different for everybody.

  31. Daryl A (@Darylal) - 9 years ago

    Having my Moto360 for almost a year now I can tell you the same applies. Great for telling the time and notification. The other function are interesting at times but basically any smart watch works best as a device to not have to take out your cell phone. Especially as they get bigger and bigger. Still like the style of the Moto better and it has gotten is fair number of complement. Oh and like the extra cash in my pocket.

  32. cleesmith2 - 9 years ago

    For me, it’s about: 1.) the time, 2.) the weather, 3.) notifications, and 4.) fitness tracking – in that order. Not having to fumble around for my phone make the watch worthwhile. Everything else right now is just overkill.

  33. Brent (@upright) - 9 years ago

    “Facebook Messenger is a classic example. When someone sends you a message, the Watch notification shows you who has sent the message, and you can see that you can scroll down, so naturally you expect to be able to see the message … but no. Scrolling down merely offers you a Dismiss button.” That’s not what I’m experiencing — I can read messages from Messenger on my Apple watch. However, what you describe is what happens with WhatsApp.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      Whether it’s coincidence or not, I’m seeing the full messages since a hard reset of the watch. I’m going to monitor for a few days and then update.

  34. prentom87 - 9 years ago

    When using a Pebble watch, I get Facebook messages. If they are short, I can read the whole message on the watch. Looks like I made the right choice in waiting for 2. gen Watch.

  35. rdemsick - 9 years ago

    I now hate when people send me Facebook messages, can’t wait for the messenger app. A lot of the problems you listed will get better in time I think. What I think it comes down to is how active you are in your life. If you sit at a desk, and have your phone on the desk all day the apple watch won’t be that convienent, however if you are on the go, and your iPhone is usually in your pocket the apple watch makes a huge difference. I never sit and am always moving so the apple watch is very helpful for me.

  36. Nikki Wasagooddog - 9 years ago

    I went to the beach last weekend and left my Watch at home. I found myself missing it. A lot.

    For me, I mostly use it for monitoring my health and calorie burn. I have been losing weight over the past year, but this device really motivates me to go a little further. I also love the appointment reminders – I haven’t missed one since the Watch. I was notorious for calling in late to conference calls because I just lost track of the time (my iPhone was in my suit pocket). I can screen text messages and don’t need to run to my phone every time I hear a blip. I also use it to answer calls when at home. In fact, I can now place the phone on the charger when I get home and not have to lug it around the house. Finally, all the hype about poor battery life is hogwash. I haven’t been below 50% battery life since the first day.

  37. Joshua Glowzinski - 9 years ago

    Anchorage, AK, United States 06/01/2015 1:29 P.M. Arrival Scan
    Shanghai, China 06/01/2015 8:53 P.M. Departure Scan
    06/01/2015 2:03 P.M. Arrival Scan
    Suzhou, China 06/01/2015 1:47 P.M. Departure Scan
    06/01/2015 12:54 P.M. Origin Scan
    China 06/01/2015 1:33 A.M. Order Processed: Ready for UPS

    Mine shipped today. It says it will arrive here (in Maryland) tomorrow. If it does, fastest shipping ever. haha

  38. Gary Zieses (@GZieses) - 9 years ago

    Great continuing article, thanks.

    My own experience has me wearing mine daily as it truly makes my life sufficiently more convenient so as to want to make sure I have it on my wrist. This past weekend, I was sitting on my couch at home reading and wanted to make some calls. My iPhone was in the upstairs bedroom and I didn’t want to go get it because I’m recovering from some surgery. So, since both the watch and phone are on my home network, I made four calls, two of which lasted more than 30 mins, from my wrist. I’m pretty sure it used the wifi and not bluetooth since the phone was more than 100 feet away and about eight walls separating the two devices. I asked my four friends whether I was talking on my iPhone or my Apple Watch and they all said from the phone. They were surprised to find out that it was from the watch.

    Between that convenience, and all of the others that I’m finding daily, it is a slam dunk that the Apple Watch is staying on my wrist. True, it may not be a disruptive technology (yet) but it’s turning out to be an amazingly friendly and useful device that evolves and drives the Apple ecosystem. For it to tell time is a complete extra that I hardly care about. It is all the other fun and useful functionality that it brings to me.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      That’s a handy user case. :-) Agree that the watch seems to be all about convenience rather than any dramatic change in what we do.

  39. Soluble Apps - 8 years ago

    6 months later I’m still wearing my watch every day, it only took a few useful third party apps to make a difference, such as the one that shows when the next Metro (subway/underground) is due, on a complication, and Dark Sky to show impending rain. Every little thing adds up.

    It’s probably setting timers and reminders that I do most. As I can do that anywhere in the house, without my phone on me.

    Would still like better Mail support. I’d like to be able to choose whether to scroll through a long email on the watch or not.

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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