• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Apple Watch |OT| Apple invents the watch!

mrkgoo

Member
Unreleased space black Modern Buckle Apple Watch band image spotted at premium reseller from 9to5mac

JrGzHnt.png

That's the weirdest photo to me. The lighting is very good as to appear like a render but ten the perspective skew makes the watch look like an awkward shape.
 

Phreaker

Member
Anyone have their watch charger/cable stop working?

Mine had been working fine since launch and the other day I took my watch off the charger and noticed a red lighting bolt with just the time displayed (power save mode). Turned out it would no longer charge. I thought maybe it was my watch, but a co-worker had his charger at the office so I tried it and it worked. Apple is swapping it out for me. The thing just sits on my nightstand so I can't really understand how it would suddenly stop working.
 

Ollie Pooch

In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
Anyone heard anything about whether 2.2/9.3 solve the battery drain issues on this thing? My battery life is great one day then the next it's appalling, going flat in about 3-4 hours with no third party apps, minimal notifications, screen on wrist raise OFF, and minimal use. It's driving me insane.
 

mrkgoo

Member
Anyone heard anything about whether 2.2/9.3 solve the battery drain issues on this thing? My battery life is great one day then the next it's appalling, going flat in about 3-4 hours with no third party apps, minimal notifications, screen on wrist raise OFF, and minimal use. It's driving me insane.

What do you day to day that's any different?

Like I notice things like workouts will take chomp into my battery.
 

Ollie Pooch

In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
What do you day to day that's any different?

Like I notice things like workouts will take chomp into my battery.
That's the weird thing - today nothing is different. I haven't done any workouts this week, though that does cut into the battery a bit (expected as I use bluetooth headphones, which i 'forget' in the bluetooth settings to make sure they're not draining it).

For example this morning it was at 100% when I came in to work, hadn't touched or used the watch beyond a few glances at the time, looked at it around 10am (i started at 8) and it'd dropped about 25-30%. Other days, I'm at 80%+ battery left by 2-3pm.

Yesterday I put it on charge at about 10pm with 50% left.

Today its barely 2.30pm and I'm at 25%.

Some people are claiming 1-2 days battery life and it's driving me insane that mine is so bad from one day to the next.

It sounds like a software bug that Apple won't admit to existing, but who knows. I'm basically avoiding installing anything or using it to its full potential because it just drops like a rock. Really hoping these new updates help. I've restored as new and from backup a few times now.
 

japtor

Member
That's the weird thing - today nothing is different. I haven't done any workouts this week, though that does cut into the battery a bit (expected as I use bluetooth headphones, which i 'forget' in the bluetooth settings to make sure they're not draining it).

For example this morning it was at 100% when I came in to work, hadn't touched or used the watch beyond a few glances at the time, looked at it around 10am (i started at 8) and it'd dropped about 25-30%. Other days, I'm at 80%+ battery left by 2-3pm.

Yesterday I put it on charge at about 10pm with 50% left.

Today its barely 2.30pm and I'm at 25%.

Some people are claiming 1-2 days battery life and it's driving me insane that mine is so bad from one day to the next.

It sounds like a software bug that Apple won't admit to existing, but who knows. I'm basically avoiding installing anything or using it to its full potential because it just drops like a rock. Really hoping these new updates help. I've restored as new and from backup a few times now.
I was gonna ask if you've tried restoring cause that's what worked for me when I saw bizarro battery drain like that but you've already tried that. Saw similar issues mentioned on another forum recently, guy said what ended up working is turning both phone and watch off for a few minutes before turning the phone then watch back on. So if you haven't tried just turning both things off and on give that a shot.
 

Ninja Dom

Member
Dang that is nice. I love my modern buckel but that black one is suwheet.

It is an existing band & buckle. It's just the lighting on that specific photo.

We're not actually too far off a year from the first of us having our Watches. Someone may have to make an Apple Watch, one year later thread.
 

Red

Member
I am still not totally sold on the first gen Apple Watch, but I am optimistic about a revision. Maybe more than any other Apple product. I think the experience could be very good with only a few small refinements.
 

Ollie Pooch

In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
I was gonna ask if you've tried restoring cause that's what worked for me when I saw bizarro battery drain like that but you've already tried that. Saw similar issues mentioned on another forum recently, guy said what ended up working is turning both phone and watch off for a few minutes before turning the phone then watch back on. So if you haven't tried just turning both things off and on give that a shot.
Thanks for the responses everyone. I restored again BUT also changed the charger and the socket it was in, and I've had a good few days of excellent battery life. so not sure exactly which bit helped . Haha.
 
Thanks for the responses everyone. I restored again BUT also changed the charger and the socket it was in, and I've had a good few days of excellent battery life. so not sure exactly which bit helped . Haha.

Strange... Glad your getting better battery life.

I feel bad only using my watch for MLB, texting and the health app.
 

japtor

Member
Thanks for the responses everyone. I restored again BUT also changed the charger and the socket it was in, and I've had a good few days of excellent battery life. so not sure exactly which bit helped . Haha.
Heh, meanwhile mine hit the power reserve warning last night, which usually only happens with a long workout at some point during the day...but I didn't workout yesterday. I did notice FB Messenger app was missing from the watch, and the app was updated on my phone recently, so I'm guessing something bugged out there.
 
D

Deleted member 22576

Unconfirmed Member
I have had some wonky days of battery life too. Not very often but maybe twice a month. I quit using the one third party complication I had installed thinking maybe it would prevent it.
 
Devs have complained that the watch is just crazy underpowered for what they want to do, and even if it had enough the APIs are developed enough to do anything meaningful

Maybe Gen 2
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Devs have complained that the watch is just crazy underpowered for what they want to do, and even if it had enough the APIs are developed enough to do anything meaningful

Maybe Gen 2

I never really understood the point in the watch needing to do anything itself anyway. Why can't it just use the phone as the host and act as a thin client?
 
Devs have complained that the watch is just crazy underpowered for what they want to do, and even if it had enough the APIs are developed enough to do anything meaningful

Maybe Gen 2

I can see it being an issue. What is apple really trying to do with the watch. I use mine minimally so I am not the target for uber amazing apps. But having the resources there to tap into for development needs to be addressed.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
I never really understood the point in the watch needing to do anything itself anyway. Why can't it just use the phone as the host and act as a thin client?

That's kinda what Apple tried with watchOS 1 but bluetooth/WiFi was a bottleneck and it was still too slow. Native apps was actually supposed to be the solution but here we are 15 months after the first sdk was released and still no good apps
 

Gobbly

Banned
They should have had native apps from the go, so many apps are not updated and just stuck in their original state. I just can't find anything worth using on the watch itself - someone needs to make a decent notification centric app as that is the one aspect of the watch I love, in stark contrast to how annoying they are on the phone itself.
 

jts

...hate me...
The future of Apple Watch is very intriguing, I think. Exaggerations aside, it’s relatively safe to say that it didn’t live up to the expectations.

No matter what angle you can make it out to be a success, it is not an “Apple success”.

It doesn’t deliver on functionality, even though it’s still an interesting product and complement to the Apple ecosystem. Nice toy for tech aficionados and especially Apple aficionados.

I’m a bit worried that Apple are actually not fast tracking a new generation at all but will actually just sit on this one. Let the technology come up to speed a bit more and wait for the right time to kind of reboot it altogether (or even let it go). Falling in line more with the unpredictable Apple TV upgrade cycle.

Definitely curious to hear the chosen wording to support the Apple Watch on this month’s event.
 

Moreche

Member
I agree, I feel the Apple Watch was produced just to put a product on the shelves.
The lack of apps and update of apps prove that it's a disaster.
Apple should've really just brought out a fitness band similar to Fitbit or Microsoft band.
 
I agree, I feel the Apple Watch was produced just to put a product on the shelves.
The lack of apps and update of apps prove that it's a disaster.
Apple should've really just brought out a fitness band similar to Fitbit or Microsoft band.

I could get behind this. I am interested in seeing what happens with the watches future.
 

aparisi2274

Member
I happened across a cool little feature that I didnt even know the watch did...

So, I was going to stop by my mom's place for dinner and she txted me while I was at the gym and he asked:

"Do you want Roast Beef sandwich or with mashed potatoes?"

When I clicked on my watch to reply, it actually split her choices into options for me to reply with, so I was able to just say "Roast Beef Sandwich"

I had no clue the watch did that..
 
I happened across a cool little feature that I didnt even know the watch did...

So, I was going to stop by my mom's place for dinner and she txted me while I was at the gym and he asked:

"Do you want Roast Beef sandwich or with mashed potatoes?"

When I clicked on my watch to reply, it actually split her choices into options for me to reply with, so I was able to just say "Roast Beef Sandwich"

I had no clue the watch did that..

Yeah, it's done that since the beginning. If someone texts you a question that has options, the generated replies will list out the options
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
I agree, I feel the Apple Watch was produced just to put a product on the shelves.
The lack of apps and update of apps prove that it's a disaster.
Apple should've really just brought out a fitness band similar to Fitbit or Microsoft band.

The thing is, interaction on the watch is not a pleasant experience. It occupies both your hands, and is cumbersome.

So the watch is best used as a quick notifications screen, portable sensor and the most handy Apple Pay device. Things which require little to no interaction. That's why apps make very little sense, in my opinion.
 

Moreche

Member
The thing is, interaction on the watch is not a pleasant experience. It occupies both your hands, and is cumbersome.

So the watch is best used as a quick notifications screen, portable sensor and the most handy Apple Pay device. Things which require little to no interaction. That's why apps make very little sense, in my opinion.
Exactly, I think Apple tried to hard with the watch and having the scroll wheel and trying to make it look like a watch.
It would have been far better as a band with a screen that gave notifications much like the Microsoft band but not as bulky, they have tried to compete with the watch and fashion market and they shouldn't have, it will never be looked at like a timepiece. It's a tech gadget that will be thrown out or in a drawer within 3 years no matter how good it looks or what materials it's made from.
A £200 band was all they needed.
Although I like my space black stainless steel, I do think it's a terrible waste of an opportunity.
 
If the next Watch is a massive leap forward, I'm going to feel a bit burned. I'll probably get it, but it would mean they came to market with a really poor offering the first time.

And I think the next Watch, whenever it comes will have to be a massive leap forward as developers aren't happy with the first one.
 

mrkgoo

Member
The thing is, interaction on the watch is not a pleasant experience. It occupies both your hands, and is cumbersome.

So the watch is best used as a quick notifications screen, portable sensor and the most handy Apple Pay device. Things which require little to no interaction. That's why apps make very little sense, in my opinion.

I really like the watch. it's a little laggy,but that's to be expected on 1st gen product.

Hell, I'm still using my iPad 1.

but yeah, it is something I discovered that a lot of basic interaction requires your other hand. For example, it'd be neat to tilt the watch to scroll up if I'm looking at a notification.

maybe. What do I know, I bet they've done the research on what works best.


Also, yes, when Jony Ive talked about horological research and making an actual time piece, I guess he meant it. That's the nature of the digital crown, which blew my mind when they announced it.

Maybe in future it will evolve like the click wheel and become a sort of non-mechanical"touch" experience later. In some ways, though, it has to start here, so I don't begrudge them for doing it.

Personally, I'm really happy with my watch, but perhaps I generally have tempered expectations to begin with.
 

Red

Member
If the next Watch is a massive leap forward, I'm going to feel a bit burned. I'll probably get it, but it would mean they came to market with a really poor offering the first time.

And I think the next Watch, whenever it comes will have to be a massive leap forward as developers aren't happy with the first one.
A massively improved second generation product does not mean the first generation was a poor offering.
 
Glad this thread is here because my wife has been very interested in a smart watch. She's pretty loyal to Apple after going through Android devices years back and then getting an iPhone. So I'm using this as some guidance to figure out the best stuff to get for her (the band reviews above were REALLY helpful, because that shit is confusing to me).

I really am hoping Amazon has a $100 price drop soon so I can grab one then.
 
A massively improved second generation product does not mean the first generation was a poor offering.

If it comes out 2 years later, it will be more acceptable to me. But if it comes out a year later with no explanation on how they arrived at the new version, I can only assume they delivered a shoddy product developers couldn't bother with by taking too much gross margin.
 

Red

Member
Glad this thread is here because my wife has been very interested in a smart watch. She's pretty loyal to Apple after going through Android devices years back and then getting an iPhone. So I'm using this as some guidance to figure out the best stuff to get for her (the band reviews above were REALLY helpful, because that shit is confusing to me).

I really am hoping Amazon has a $100 price drop soon so I can grab one then.
They've been on sale pretty regularly since November. B&H had $100 off with a $50 gift card like a week ago.
 

SuperPac

Member
The thing is, interaction on the watch is not a pleasant experience. It occupies both your hands, and is cumbersome.

So the watch is best used as a quick notifications screen, portable sensor and the most handy Apple Pay device. Things which require little to no interaction. That's why apps make very little sense, in my opinion.

I agree with this. It's not that the watch is a bad device - it's just that the things it does best are pretty unexciting and not even app related. The top things I do with the watch:

- Receive/reply to text messages.
- Check the time of my next meeting via complication (Fantastical 2).
- Check the weather via complication (CARROT Weather).
- Use the timer complication while cooking.
- Start/stop music and podcasts or adjust the volume coming out of the iPhone in my pocket.
- Boarding passes/movie tickets via Wallet.
- Fitness tracking.

None of these require me to open any app on the watch. And the few things that require a lot of interaction with the Watch aren't great to do - like initiating a text without using Siri. And using Siri on the watch is also kinda awful 80% of the time.

For me, if the second gen was faster, could do things in fewer presses/touches, had a better Siri, did more fitness tracking (like swimming or had a way to compete with friends), had better battery life - I would not hesitate to buy it. I already use the watch a *lot*, but just those few things would push me over the edge to get another model. And those things are refinements that could probably even show up on the original watch hardware.
 
If there isn't a nice version of a glance, barring a great complication, I'm not all that interested in having the app on the watch. I pretty much only open apps with complications or glances. I have the watch duplicating the notifications on the phone, so that's a 3rd way of opening an app on the watch.

If first gen watch owners get like 80 or 90% of the new watch apps, complications, and glances, I can live with that. If a large percentage of the new things won't work on 1st generation watches, that's going to tick me off. But I guess I don't expect that. Pretty happy with its current functionality as it does a great deal of things.

I think I have 4 bands now. Those would easily move over to any 2nd generation watch. And but for the Apple Milanese loop, none of my bands are very expensive.
 

Future

Member
If the new watch had gps in it for fitness I'd get one just for the convenience of running without my phone. Of course when I have my phone it could shut off the local gps and use my phones to save battery.

Smart watches are still a niche product in general. No killer app really. I remember when iPhone was first announce, mobile safari, google maps, YouTube.... These were killer apps even before 3rd party stuff. Watches don't have much and actually can have worse battery than the phone itself

Best thing to do is go all in on convenience. Long battery life. Thin profile. Fast applications. Wireless and fast charging
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
The thing is, interaction on the watch is not a pleasant experience. It occupies both your hands, and is cumbersome.

So the watch is best used as a quick notifications screen, portable sensor and the most handy Apple Pay device. Things which require little to no interaction. That's why apps make very little sense, in my opinion.

agreed. And I think if Apple focused on that, rather than any need to run native apps etc, they could have slimmed it down and/or given it longer battery life.


The focus on notifications is also why I'm considering getting another android wear watch which seem to work ok for notifications from an iphone, and I think they look nicer (huawei watch in particular)
 
When can we expect the next one? My wife has been interested but I keep telling her to wait.
Likely not launching until the Fall, possibly alongside the new iPhone's. I think all the rumors and people who have sources have said nothing is being manufactured at the moment which rules out a Spring launch, and the Apple Watch news at the March event will supposedly just be to show off more watch bands.
 

Ninja Dom

Member
When can we expect the next one? My wife has been interested but I keep telling her to wait.

Likely not launching until the Fall, possibly alongside the new iPhone's. I think all the rumors and people who have sources have said nothing is being manufactured at the moment which rules out a Spring launch, and the Apple Watch news at the March event will supposedly just be to show off more watch bands.

The current Watch also just launched to new markets earlier this year (Feb, I think).
 
Top Bottom