The Apple Watch keeps surprising us — Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac"
Posted on 04/30/2015 10:45:28 PM PDT by Swordmaker
The Apple Watch keeps surprising us — Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac"
Far from being a superfluous device strictly for hard-core Apple fans, the Apple Watch is a surprisingly delightful and useful device.
Now that we’ve spent enough time with the latest gadget from the mothership, we’re noticing quite a few sweet little positives (and a couple negatives) about Apple Watch.
Bottom line: The more you use this thing, the better it is.
Many of us were planning on carrying around an extra charger with us to keep Apple Watch’s gorgeous display working well into the afternoon. Luckily, the battery life is pretty darn fantastic — “all day” actually means all day, from when I wake up till when I go to sleep at night. Most of my friends can’t believe I don’t need to charge it more often.
The less you use your iPhone, the longer the battery lasts. Now my iPhone 6 Plus lasts all day without extra charges (in the car, with an external battery pack, etc.). That’s mainly because I leave the phone alone, routing many activities through the Apple Watch. Playing tunes, answering texts and checking the time are all things that I used to do on my iPhone, but now I initiate them on the Watch.
Launch your favorite streaming music app, like Rdio, Spotify or 8Tracks, and you can control it with your Apple Watch via the Music Glance. Simply start the playlist or album on your iPhone, set it down, then swipe up on your Watch face to pause, resume, forward or rewind tracks to your heart’s content. The music will play through your iPhone to whatever Bluetooth speaker it’s attached to — I’m loving this hidden feature in the car.
You’d think a $400 aluminum watch would come with a matching metal charger. Instead, the round white plastic charger that comes with Sport models feels like yet another disposable bit of Apple ephemera that will get lost (and filthy) after a while.
We’ve gotten next to no comments on our fancy new Apple Watches; more people commented on our massive iPhone 6 and 6 Pluses than on our smartwatches. That’s a good thing, though, since it doesn’t feel like you have a gaudy tech device on your wrist. Rather, if you’re wearing a Sport like us, you’ve got a fairly normal-looking watch on display that could just as easily be a Swatch.
Don't fear the depths of Apple Watch. — Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac"
I just took a shower with this Apple Watch on and, while it was a bit terrifying at first, my new favorite gadget came out unscathed. You can wash your hands without fear, shower with the Watch on at the gym to make sure it doesn’t get stolen, and even clean up your muddy backyard full of duck crap — just rinse clean and move on.
The design of Apple Watch is far more compelling than the ads, photos, videos or reviews would have you believe. It’s much more attractive in the flesh. If you haven’t already, you really owe it to yourself to head to an Apple Store and try one on to really “get” how gorgeously designed this thing is. The design, the high quality and the tiny details really add up — it’s an instant must-have experience.
The Apple Watch establishes a whole new way of interacting with a gadget. Just knowing about Force Touch doesn’t prepare you to use it when you want to change the watch face. The Apple Watch online manual — also available as an iBook — should definitely be your first stop when you get your own Sport or Watch. (If you got the Edition, you probably have someone who will read the manual for you, so feel free to disregard.)
Siri's humor circuits are as lively as ever. — Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac"
I needed to mail a package but had to run some other errands first. I simply held down the Digital Crown and said, “Remind me to mail my package when I get here.” Siri created a Reminder, linked it to Location Services on my iPhone, and I got a notification when I drove right by the post office on the way home. It saved me an extra trip. Setting timers or reminders, and calling or texting people, is a snap when Siri hangs out on your wrist, always available.
iFixit notes that Apple Watch’s heart rate monitor sensor looks and acts like a pulse oximeter, even though Apple won’t claim it can measure your blood oxygen level. The Digital Crown works via a rotary encoder like the Nest Thermostat does, measuring the “angular position of a shaft” when you spin that thing. The ambient light sensor in Apple Watch is tucked neatly behind the display panel, not mounted on the surface like the iPhone’s. There’s a ton of groundbreaking tech in this thing.
The packaging for the Apple Watch Sport looks like a futuristic glasses case, a tiny white submarine or something out of George Lucas’ seminal dystopian THX 1138. It also recalls the rounded curves of the old plastic MacBooks. The larger container box feels like something you’d find a fancy jeweled necklace in. Every step of the unboxing, from sliding off the luxurious box cover to peeling off the protective plastic around the submarine to finding the power cord and cable underneath it all, makes this a worthy event. Pairing the Apple Watch with your iPhone is a marvel of technology and perceptive theater — you simply aim your smartphone at the smartwatch and take a photo of the fancy, fractal-like design to connect the two devices. Simple, clean and utterly Apple.
If you’re using a selfie stick without a shutter-release button or want to place your iPhone on a tripod for a full-on group shot, the Apple Watch is your secret weapon. It works as a shutter-release remote but also shows you the actual image from the iPhone camera right on your wrist. You can tell your buddy to move in or make sure your head is in the shot without having to traipse back to the iPhone and reposition it. You also don’t need to set the timer and run back to the group as often, since you’re able to see exactly what the photo will be before tapping the shutter. Heck, you could even monitor a room from your Apple Watch if your iPhone was in there.
I am calling bs on this. Show us your Apple watch!! I am betting you don’t have one but are suffering from pathological apple watch envy. Plus you envy people like me who remain above the fray and reject this useless tool
If I ever get one it will have Bill Gates on its face, not Mick Mouse (Apple watch face option)
You feel free to call people liars.....where is your Apple watch? You don’t even own one.
“...I am betting you ... are suffering from pathological apple watch envy...”
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In Psychology 101 they describe what you are doing as “projecting”.
“... you envy people like me who remain above the fray...”
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I’m sorry dennisw, but do you even understand what the phrase “above the fray” means? Look it up...learn something if you are actually capable of learning. YOU have been IN THE FRAY and have tried your best to FORMENT FRAYS in Apple Threads. So either you have a low IQ or are minimally proficient in English.
I suspect you may have a mental illness and Mama always told me to stay away from the crazies...so I’ll try to avoid you.
Same as Sword guy you don’t own an Apple Watch, even after I told you there are plenty of dumps and bargains on craigs list and ebay. So buy one already!!!
You are clowning around. But thanks anyway.
You and sword clown and Kook Tim...what a combo! The Three Amigos of Apple buffoonery
LOL... at least the author has a sense of humor.
You have screwed up royally so your fealty will not be rewarded by kook tim kook. IOW you are on your own and don’t even own a crappy apple watch.
I call you a liar because you demonstrably are a liar, having been caught in numerous lies on these Apple threads. I have lost count of the numerous lies you've told on these threads starting with your shorting the non-existent Apple debentures four or five years ago, and selling non-existent Apple bonds.
When was the last time you told the truth on an Apple thread?
I have two watches on order, one for me, one for my girlfriend. We have both tried them out, more than you have ever bothered to do. . . hers is due in about two weeks, mine is due in four. Both ordered minutes after midnight on April 10th, when you were lying about being given a pre-release model by a "friend". . . which you claim you stomped to pieces.
Bottom line is you don’t own a Apple Watch. You endlessly tout it here but don’t even own one. You could go to your local craigslist and get one tomorrow morning but you refuse.
I don’t own one so I know more than you do about it which isn’t much. The Samsung watch will be twenty times better than what Tim Kook cooks up.
Yeah...snipe and gripe is your M.O. We are on to you! Like white on rice. Like Tim Kook on....whatever
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