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Hands-On With watchOS 3: Instant App Launching, Favorites Dock, New Watch Faces and More

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watchOS 3, set to be released this fall, introduces some radical changes to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. There are new apps and watch faces, interface tweaks overhaul the way we interact with watchOS, and a new feature for keeping apps running in the background allows for instant launch times.

Since most of us won't be able to check out watchOS 3 until the fall of 2016 following an extended beta testing period, we've created a video to highlight the must see features.


Glances are gone in watchOS 3, replaced with a "dock" accessible by pressing the side button. 10 favorite first and third-party apps can be added to the dock, where they'll be kept continually up to date and able to launch in a second. Changing watch faces is done with a left and right swipe, while a downward swipe now brings up the Control Center.

Activity Sharing features allow Apple Watch owners to share workout and activity information with friends, and there are new options for Wheelchair users. A Breathe app guides users through daily deep breathing sessions, an Apple Watch can unlock a Mac, and Apple has added apps for Reminders, Find My Friends, and accessing one's heartbeat.

Watch faces support more complications, there are three new watch faces to choose from, including a new Activity watch face, and an SOS feature will make sure an option to get help in an emergency is always right at your fingertips. On the iPhone, there's a new Face Gallery for customizing Apple Watch faces, and watchOS 3 allows the Apple Watch to be located via Find My iPhone.

For full details on the new features coming in watchOS 3, make sure to check out our watchOS 3 roundup. Don't miss out on our previous videos, which have covered iOS 10 and macOS Sierra features:

- WWDC 2016 Overview in Seven Minutes
- iOS 10's Overhauled Lockscreen
- The New iOS 10 Photos App
- The New iOS 10 Messages App
- macOS Sierra - Siri
- iOS 10 Hidden Features

We've also got roundups for all of the upcoming operating systems, including iOS 10, macOS Sierra, and tvOS 10.

Article Link: Hands-On With watchOS 3: Instant App Launching, Favorites Dock, New Watch Faces and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/06/20/hands-on-with-watchos-3/
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Watabou said:
Correct.

The dock is a vastly better concept because the app is both glance-able AND background refreshed, so it will be more accurate and faster, AND it's all kept in memory so the apps you keep in the Dock should instantly launch.

Good riddance to glances for these reasons.
Click to expand...

So if your watch app has multiple pages, wouldn't you then need to always make sure its back to the right page before you exit so that when you Glance at it its showing the correct information? Or does the app still have a Glance page thats always shown in that view?
 
stiligFox said:
I've been wondering this though - I'm glad glances are gone, good riddance. But is the friends wheel still here somewhere that I'm missing? It was kind of handy for giving a quick call to my parents if I needed to verify something on a shopping list...
Click to expand...

The friends wheel is gone. Not sure if they're going to replace this or not. But in watchOS 3, you can just have your Phone app in the dock, and since it is in the dock, it will instantly launch so you can just pick your favorite contact and dial.

tgwaste said:
So if your watch app has multiple pages, wouldn't you then need to always make sure its back to the right page before you exit so that when you Glance at it its showing the correct information? Or does the app still have a Glance page thats always shown in that view?
Click to expand...

If you leave the Dock at a specific app, then the next time you launch the Dock again, it will open it up at the same location you were in before.
 
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stiligFox said:
I've been wondering this though - I'm glad glances are gone, good riddance. But is the friends wheel still here somewhere that I'm missing? It was kind of handy for giving a quick call to my parents if I needed to verify something on a shopping list...
Click to expand...
Can anyone verify this? It seems like the friends button is gone.
 
Watabou said:
The friends wheel is gone. Not sure if they're going to replace this or not. But in watchOS 3, you can just have your Phone app in the dock, and since it is in the dock, it will instantly launch so you can just pick your favorite contact and dial.
Click to expand...

Aww, I liked the wheel in that it seemed like a creative use for the digital crown; granted it lost a lot of handiness if you didn't have an image set for a contact. Oh well! Thanks for the reply.
 
Anyone know what band that is in the video opener? - The brown leather band with the white stitching? It's not one of Apple's original bands. It can also be seen better at 3:46 in the video.
 
Watabou said:
If you leave the Dock at a specific app, then the next time you launch the Dock again, it will open it up at the same location you were in before.
Click to expand...

Thats what I thought. Thats dumb and defeats the whole purpose of Glances. So now we've ruined glances and forced the user to go back into the app to make sure they are always on the page they want to glance at.

FAIL
 
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tgwaste said:
Thats what I thought. Thats dumb and defeats the whole purpose of Glances. So now we've ruined glances and forced the user to go back into the app to make sure they are always on the page they want to glance at.

FAIL
Click to expand...

Trust me, you won't miss glances. Glances were slow and you couldn't scroll through them fast. The dock is a proper replacement for glances done right imo
 
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Watabou said:
Trust me, you won't miss glances. Glances were slow and you couldn't scroll through them fast. The dock is a proper replacement for glances done right imo
Click to expand...

I would agree if the dock knew what page to display during 'glance mode'.

For example, lets say you have a stock app monitoring 2 symbols. You always want to see SYM1 when you open the dock, but if you open the app and switch to SYM2 the next time you enter the dock you are watching SYM2 instead of SYM1 so you now have to go into the app and switch back.

Where as with the old glances I knew what information I was going to see whenever I glanced at the app.
 
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Watabou said:
Trust me, you won't miss glances. Glances were slow and you couldn't scroll through them fast. The dock is a proper replacement for glances done right imo
Click to expand...
Agreed, now that you can use the Digital Crown to scroll between apps, it feels smooth and reliable. Plus you get to access the full app's functionality instead of a mini-version of the already mini-app.
 
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tgwaste said:
I would agree if the dock knew what page to display during 'glance mode'.

For example, lets say you have a stock app monitoring 2 symbols. You always want to see SYM1 when you open the dock, but if you open the app and switch to SYM2 the next time you enter the dock you are watching SYM2 instead of SYM1 so you now have to go into the app and switch back.

Where as with the old glances I knew what information I was going to see whenever I glanced at the app.
Click to expand...


Oh I think I misunderstood you there. I thought you were talking about the location of the app in the dock itself.

If you're talking about the page in the app, then that depends on the app. Most app return to the first page if you don't use the app for a while.

I'm not sure if watchOS 3 offers a glance-able page to the developer so that they can always show one page when the user views the app in the dock, but that makes sense to me.
 
MacRumors said:



watchOS 3, set to be released this fall, introduces some radical changes to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. There are new apps and watch faces, interface tweaks overhaul the way we interact with watchOS, and a new feature for keeping apps running in the background allows for instant launch times.

Since most of us won't be able to check out watchOS 3 until the fall of 2016 following an extended beta testing period, we've created a video to highlight the must see features.


Glances are gone in watchOS 3, replaced with a "dock" accessible by pressing the side button. 10 favorite first and third-party apps can be added to the dock, where they'll be kept continually up to date and able to launch in a second. Changing watch faces is done with a left and right swipe, while a downward swipe now brings up the Control Center.

Activity Sharing features allow Apple Watch owners to share workout and activity information with friends, and there are new options for Wheelchair users. A Breathe app guides users through daily deep breathing sessions, an Apple Watch can unlock a Mac, and Apple has added apps for Reminders, Find My Friends, and accessing one's heartbeat.

Watch faces support more complications, there are three new watch faces to choose from, including a new Activity watch face, and an SOS feature will make sure an option to get help in an emergency is always right at your fingertips. On the iPhone, there's a new Face Gallery for customizing Apple Watch faces, and watchOS 3 allows the Apple Watch to be located via Find My iPhone.

For full details on the new features coming in watchOS 3, make sure to check out our watchOS 3 roundup. Don't miss out on our previous videos, which have covered iOS 10 and macOS Sierra features:

- WWDC 2016 Overview in Seven Minutes
- iOS 10's Overhauled Lockscreen
- The New iOS 10 Photos App
- The New iOS 10 Messages App
- macOS Sierra - Siri
- iOS 10 Hidden Features

We've also got roundups for all of the upcoming operating systems, including iOS 10, macOS Sierra, and tvOS 10.

Article Link: Hands-On With watchOS 3: Instant App Launching, Favorites Dock, New Watch Faces and More
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1466470024][/doublepost]Hi. Has anyone experienced Sierra yet? I know it's early days but I was wondering how it performed on 4GB Ram. If I were buying a cheap second laptop would I be better going for 8gb?
 
BornAgainMac said:
When the Watch can unlock a Mac, does that mean any Mac (assuming running the Sierra release?) There doesn't seem to be any requirements.
Click to expand...

Any Mac with Bluetooth LE I think. So if your Mac supports handoff and continuity, it then yes you will be able to use the feature.

The auto unlock was not included in watch OS 3 beta 1 though.
 
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