4 years on and the watch faces still suck.

[mcdj]

Nevermind that 3rd party faces are still verboten, Apple’s faces are stagnant at best and crap at worst.

Liquid metal looks like trays of gelato.

Vapor? More like smog.

Solar dial? Visual train wreck.

Toy Story is such an obvious bureaucratic committee idea.

The rest of the dials are either tired or so cluttered as to be all but useless. And when you turn off the elements that make the face look cluttered, the design looks like it’s missing chunks.

Back in the early 2000s I worked on the design team behind the short lived Microsoft SPOT watch. It was ahead of its time by a decade. But it got some things kinda right, mainly due to the mandate from the design directors that the watch and its faces have maximum “glanceability” as much as possible.

This meant clean designs with bold numbers and the bare essentials in terms of data.

Apple could really use a few pages from SPOT’s book.

But more than anything, the lack of custom/3rd party faces is a completely missed opportunity.

 

[swarlos]

Mmmk, thanks for sharing?

Only thing I can say is I’ve looked at the watch faces on the Samsung Galaxy store and the wearOS store and I’ve looked at 100 faces and they were hot garbage. Sure there could be more faces but when you tout having “thousands of custom watch faces” but only 10 are somewhat decent, who gives a crap!?

 

[axantas]

I like clean watch faces. I like the possibility to display quite somewhat more than just time.
One of the acceptable reasons, not to allow custom faces: The world would be flooded with faked Rolex and alike faces. There are some apps which allow custome ones - running the app as watchface. Most of them look crappy...

What would your ideal watchface look like then?

 

[mcdj]

Here are a few I’d love to see

 

[Dobbel]

I suggest you sell your applewatch asap

 

[axantas]

Ok for the second example. I really have been waiting for something alike. We got a beautiful version with "California" - finally indeed...

For the other ones: I guess this is just the way, Apple does not want to go. The single-handed is a Meistersinger copy. The Bell&Ross is quite crowded IMHO...
The Bell&Ross works for mechanical watches with distinct, physical elements on the face. On a screen I would not really like to see that.

 

[mcdj]

I suggest you sell your applewatch asap

I hope this comment brings you all the internet points you seek.

 

[matrix07]

Apple could really use a few pages from SPOT’s book.

In my honest opinion, I believe this is rich coming from anyone who works on SPOT. I’m not even interested in a few examples you posted. Apple Watch needs Face Store that’s true. I still however wouldn’t download those 3 bad faces you posted.

 

[PugMaster]

I somewhat agree about the watch faces. But then again, it comes down to what you're after. Are you after pretty watch faces? Watchfaces that mimic mechanical watches? Faces that pack as much info as they can?
Personally, I use the Infograph faces a lot as I can customize exactly that kind of information that I need. For working out, I have another watch face ready that focusses on activities. That's handy. I don't like faces like California or the Hermes faces, absolutely not my taste. But I think the Nike+ faces are nice and I'm a bit sad they're limited to the Nike+ model which is only available in aluminium.
What I am missing is a visual touch up of the Infograph faces, so they can be as cool as the Nike faces but still show all the important complications.
But people are different and have different tastes. I always wondered about this super tacky Disney faces which I find pretty useless. But I realized these are one of the most used faces on the watch. I've seen so many people using it. I don't understand it as I really find them ugly and useless but people love it. So... there is no *one size fits all*.
About the custom watch faces... It should be made available to App Store developers in my opinion, just like watch apps. With a review process and all. This would ensure that a) only developers can submit watch faces, b) a certain quality of code is maintained and c) Apple could filter out copyright infringements etc.. I think a high level entry hurdle for submitting watch faces is beneficial. On some Android watches, there are drag and drop editors from 3rd parties where any dumb user can mash together a watch face without ever knowing about performance etc... These are the things that drain the battery and performance of the watch and I understand why Apple does not want that.

 

[maflynn]

The hope with the Apple watch back when it was released was that like apps for the iPhone, developers could design watch faces. That never materialized as apple locked it down. Additionally, they don't roll out many new watch faces and tend to stay away from many classic clean designs, but instead have these animated ones that for me, don't do much.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Here are a few I’d love to see View attachment 883694
View attachment 883695
View attachment 883696

Don't want to sound rude, but the examples you posted look absolutely hideous! 🤢

 

[Ericdjensen]

Don't want to sound rude, but the examples you posted look absolutely hideous! 🤢

Agreed. The ones available look so much better than those

 

[dfs]

Nevermind that 3rd party faces are still verboten, Apple’s faces are stagnant at best and crap at worst.

Liquid metal looks like trays of gelato.

Vapor? More like smog.

Solar dial? Visual train wreck.

Toy Story is such an obvious bureaucratic committee idea.

The rest of the dials are either tired or so cluttered as to be all but useless. And when you turn off the elements that make the face look cluttered, the design looks like it’s missing chunks.

Back in the early 2000s I worked on the design team behind the short lived Microsoft SPOT watch. It was ahead of its time by a decade. But it got some things kinda right, mainly due to the mandate from the design directors that the watch and its faces have maximum “glanceability” as much as possible.

This meant clean designs with bold numbers and the bare essentials in terms of data.

Apple could really use a few pages from SPOT’s book.

But more than anything, the lack of custom/3rd party faces is a completely missed opportunity.

Well, one respect the current lineup of faces sucks a lot less than it used to. Ever since the invention of the wristwatch, watches have basically adhered to one rule: a round watch comes with a round face, a square or rectangular watch has a square or rectangular face. This is so simple and obvious a fact of life that it has rarely if ever occurred to anybody to make them otherwise. But for years Apple only offered round faces for a watch with a rectangular form factor. save for the benefit of those few customers who could afford to spring for a Hermes model. Deeply appreciated, Joni! A fine example of your design genius! Now Joni is mercifully gone and Apple deserves credit for getting in touch with the real world.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Such a First World problem. It was so simple in the old days - if you didn't like the face, you chose a different watch. A Mickey Mouse watch wasn't a touch of whimsy you could switch on and off at will, it's something you abandoned with other childhood things.

Designers? Designers diss the competition's designs. It's what they do. If they prefer a competitor's esthetic, they try to get a job with them.

Personally, I don't like any of the faces displayed above. First, I don't use 24-hour time - this dog is a bit old for new tricks. Second, never been a fan of the traditional rectangular/square dial; round sweep-hand in a square hole. Third, just not a fan of the whole divers watch aesthetic. I'm not a diver, and don't want people to think I am.

I really have to do some housecleaning on my Watch. I have a bunch of faces selected that I just never use. The only time I see them is when I accidentally swipe across to them. Back when Watch was new they were fun conversation pieces, but that novelty has worn off. I use the same face 99% of the time, as it has a "look" that I like along with the complications that I use on a daily basis. In other words, it does the job.

 

[dfs]

I. m. h. o. this the most handsome lineup of watches you can buy at any price: https://www.patek.com/en/collection/calatrava.

 

[swarlos]

Don't want to sound rude, but the examples you posted look absolutely hideous!

Agreed. The ones available look so much better than those

Exactly what I’m trying to say. The Galaxy store and googles wearOS section are littered with these types of fugly watch faces.

 

[techno-Zen]

I'd like more customization but I love the faces personally

 

[Bandaman]

Don't want to sound rude, but the examples you posted look absolutely hideous! 🤢

Probably some of the worst that I’ve seen.

 

[jonblatho]

Back in the early 2000s I worked on the design team behind the short lived Microsoft SPOT watch.

I take it you’re bragging about that? It looks like the atrocious left button–right button interfaces of flip phones. Nothing about the design seems intuitive at all as to communicating how it actually works.

This meant clean designs with bold numbers and the bare essentials in terms of data.

I’ve looked for a good 15 minutes, and I have yet to see a single image of a SPOT watch that had any watch face design that I’d call “clean” or, for that matter, “good.” Not like I have a device to test on, but maybe they’re seemingly all digital time only because LCDs at the time weren’t really the best cut out for displaying clock hands. If so, that’s fine; I get that. But even setting that aside, the time isn’t really central to the design of any of the SPOT watch faces I’ve seen, which…well, it needs a better excuse than it had.

Good design makes a product useful. When I raise my wrist to check my watch, chances are I’m more interested in the time than the weather (for example). It looks like the time’s not what gets the spotlight, though.

 

[44267547]

I think what I like to see most, would be Apple offer some type of ‘watch face store’ in the future, where maybe the user can select from different types of watch faces, customize them and add them into watchOS where you can download them specifically. I think that time will come eventually, but for now, Apple really takes pride in having watch faces that are exclusive to the Apple Watch with some unique designs.

I think users are becoming more satisfied with what Apple is offering with watch faces, compared to how it used to be with the first GEN watch, where it was fairly limited.

 

[Plett]

Clearly we all have subjective tastes in watch faces. I think we all have ideas of what watch face we would like to see, and might be cool to have a watch store and see what people come up with.

At the end of the day they really have made some unique watch faces that might not be my thing, but some are, and isn't that the point?

My only challenge is deciding which face to wear? I can change the highlight colors to match whatever shirt I might be wearing, or match my mood with complicated vs. simple. I for one am generally pleased with the offerings.

 

[AppleHealth]

As I use my watch for health, the watch face with 8 compilations for me is the best.
I think it’s great

 

[Alameda]

Here are a few I’d love to see

View attachment 883694
Wait... What... Huh???
I guess I don’t get it :-(

 

[nickdalzell1]

I kind of miss the Apollo DSKY face I used on my Galaxy Watch Active...It looked like the Apollo AGC and showed time date, and had a stopwatch. Also miss the Pip Boy face. But I'll live. Wish there were more Disney faces though, such as Goofy or Donald Duck. That would remind me of my old C-Watches I used in the late 1990s.

 

[MisterSavage]

I do get frustrated with the choices we have available. Why can't I have a watch face like Infograph Modular where there's a large, digital time with seconds in the center and complications on top/bottom? Why are there Disney watch faces but we can't get (or buy) watch faces with other Disney properties such as Star Wars?