Time Tells All: The Apple Watch One Year Later
Has Tim Cook's Apple proven it can create a new product in the wake of the late Steve Jobs? Robert tells us his thoughts on the Apple Watch one year after its launch and whether or not it was a success or failure.
The Apple Watch launched on April 24, 2015. The whole world watched and waited to see if Apple could turn another product category on its head. So what has it accomplished?
I've been wearing my Apple Watch every day for a year, well-- a year and 9 days. The watch hasn't changed my life, but it has become a very convenient addition to my day to day practices. I have never run out of battery life, not once, in that year. I do charge it nightly, which some may find to be bothersome, but I was never too keen on wearing one while I sleep anyways. Apple made a big fuss about how it would usher in the rise of the wearable app market, but in reality they were way off the mark. There are a few apps that are nice, but even after the watch received its first full firmware update (Watch OS 2.0) it still fails to be quick enough or find real use for the apps to make them worth using over their phone counterparts. In fact, the only use for the apps I've ever been fond of are the ones that have found a way to make good use of the "glances" feature. I would love to see Apple really double down on these rather than full apps. Glances are a widget of sort that you can get to by swiping up from the watch face screen and provide quick insight into different apps. The ones I've found most useful are Apples own AirPlay glance which allows the user to control volume and playback options for any media that the phone is currently using, the Battery (and Power Reserve) glance, the Control Center glance which might contain my personal favorite feature of the watch- a find my iPhone button that makes the phone ring to help locate it if lost, and their Activity Glance to keep track of my active calories burned throughout the day.
If Apple hasn't been able to find a good use for apps then what does the watch do well? Besides the glances it has made my life at work so much better. I'm now able to check my watch for the notifications that I've deemed most important to pop up on my wrist without appearing awfully rude to my co workers and customers by pulling out my phone and getting lost in the black hole that is checking Facebook, Twitter, and other various social networking deterrants. As silly as it may sound, it works very well as a watch, crazy huh? I don't find myself switching between watch faces too often, but I do have my casual watch face, my gym watch face, and if I ever need it, my dress watch face. I love the complications on the watch faces, but I truly hope that there will be more of them and more options for them in the future.
Apple succeeded far more with their watch bands than I ever imagined they would. I'll admit it here, I'm a watch band addict. I own 6 bands now. Two sport bands, a brown leather loop, black classic leather buckle, silver Milanese loop, and one of the new spring nylon bands. I switch my bands at least once a day from wearing a sport band while working out and then changing it to an appropriate band for work, and then to fit my evening attire if I go out with friends to a bar, dinner, or whatever we have planned.
What do I never use? I never send sketches. Occasionally I'll have a friend who will spam my wrist with taps and a hand written message of "hey" or "sup?", but other than that you won't find me using the feature. The "favorites" button on the side of the watch also rarely gets use from me- come to think of it, the only time I press it on purpose is when I'm attempting to use Apple Pay.
Speaking of Apple Pay, I live in a fairly large city so I can find places to use it, but it's still not everywhere. I can use it at GameStop and various restaurants (Panera, McDonald's), but other than that I'd have to go out of my way to find places to use it. I can't use it at my grocery store, but I could choose to go just a little further down the road to Walgreens to use it if I really wanted. I never make that choice, but it's nice to know that if I forget my wallet at home, I won't be stuck in an awkward situation.
There you have it, a year later the Apple Watch has faded a little bit from the public eye and while it is the market share leader, it still hasn't redefined the industry. It's not a necessity quite yet, but it is very convenient. I'm very glad I took the plunge and purchased one and I'm looking forward to seeing future iterations. It's my favorite luxury item that I own.
Four Days With the Apple Watch: A Consumers Perspective
Here at The Gamers Lounge we are not all about video games. We are tech heads as well. Robert, our resident Apple guy, was lucky enough to get his hands on Apple's newest gadget the Apple Watch. After his first four days with the device here are his impressions.
If you are reading this I'm sure, by now, you've read impressions and reviews from many different sources, but how many of those were from actual consumers rather than the "tech titans" of the internet? I'd bet few-to-none, so I thought it would be refreshing to hear from someone like you who has spent some time with this much talked about new device.
My initial impressions right out of the box was how heavy and "stylish" Apple went with their packaging. They've always been known for having a lot of pride in the presentation of their new gadgets, but make no mistake, they took it to a whole new level with the Watch. In fact, "stylish" could really be the main tagline for their entry device into the convoluted world of wearables. They really wanted you to feel like you were putting on precious jewelry rather than some tech gadget or phone accessory.
The Apple Watch looking pristine right out of the box
I got my hands on the 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with a white fluoroelastomer band. The package was a little over a pound in weight. Beneath the layers of cardboard there was a thick, dense, plastic rectangular prism that housed the watch. It felt very similar to the white part of the casing used for the iPhone 5C, but much thicker and heavier. Upon opening it, you are greeted by the pristine new watch propped up by a groove in a sort of felt, or faux-felt material. Classy stuff. Apple enthusiasts might want to take note that this is the first Apple product that didn't come with the Apple logo stickers, but instead came with an additional half band in case the M/L size is too big. Not a bad trade off...we all have those stickers lying around anyway, don't we?
The watch has a very premium feel to it, the steel is shiny, the curved glass feels luxurious, the band is smooth- oh so smooth, and the whole piece together has a very nice weight to it. Not to be read as heavy, but just heavy enough to help remind you that it's there.
The elegant "digital crown" is not to be outshined by the rounded sapphire crystal display
Enough about how it looks, am I right? After all, we've all seen the pictures a dozen times. Let's talk about how this thing works. The "Digital Crown", as Apple calls it, is very responsive, but I did notice that if I scrolled back and forth too fast, I could occasionally out run the screen and I would have to stop moving it to get response back. I was a little surprised with the speed in which the crown rotates. I was expecting it to have just a hair more resistance, but after about four or five minutes, I adjusted. I do find myself at odds occasionally between using the screen and the crown to scroll. Since so many of the gestures require touch, my mind doesn't think to return to the crown, but I do like that I have the option to do either. It makes reading messages a pleasure by not having my fingers constantly in the way.
Speaking of clarity, Oh. My. God. That screen looks sharp! It might just be Apple's nicest looking screen thus far. It really makes all the different watch faces pop. There are 9 watch faces and they can all be customized in various ways (no you can't change anything on Mickey Mouse's character). I started out with one of the round classic faces, but it had been so long since I'd read a radial watch face I eventually changed to a more modern digital display. I have a feeling that for different outfits, and different occasions I'll be changing the face I use to suit accordingly. The whole process is a breeze once you learn and remember this one Pro Tip: force touch everything.
The screen even holds up well in the sunlight at the default brightness- medium
Before I had the watch in my possession I heard a lot about how difficult it was to learn the new WatchOs, but I've had very little problems. There are a lot of swipe-downs, swipe-ups, left, right...all the normal things we do with our phones. The biggest difference is the inclusion of Apple's new Force Touch technology. I spent a few moments using Force Touch everywhere I could to get accustomed to the types of things it would be used for, most of the time they were things you expected to find in a "right click" menu.
I'm very pleased that the apps aren't front and center as once you get over the initial new tech honeymoon period you're probably not going to use them a whole lot, at least not until developers figure out new and interesting ways for us to use the watch. I found myself swiping up from the watch face much more often and looking at the glances to check my activity or what's trending, or using Siri's help from voice commands. She has never been more accurate.
It's hard to tell if this is a problem or not, at least so far. Apple has been speaking out a lot about their apps and while they do have a lot of apps (over 3,000) most of them don't really serve any purpose or take just a bit longer then their iPhone brother. Even the glances take a moment to load and sync up, but so far I haven't had to wait more than just a moments time.
I absolutely love not having to pull my phone out of my pocket all the time to check notifications that really matter. I had already set up the most important ones to show up on my wrist and by not looking at my phone I don't see all the little distractions from other apps that would take my attention away from what I was already doing.
My wrist already feels naked without it
So far, I like the watch. It feels good, I like the way it looks, and it's a fun addition to my iPhone. I need more time to try out the fitness apps in depth. How does it perform over time? Do you need one? Is it worth the money? Does Apple have another revolution on their hands? These are all questions I'm going to try and answer for you after a little more time to form a full concise opinion- stay tuned!