Airlines Embrace Apple Watch With Upcoming Apps

[samcraig]

Some of the info is cool. But for check in? The watch isn't ideal.

http://www.androidcentral.com/smartwatch-boarding-pass-anything-first-class

 

[OllyW]

I wonder if the Watch, once paired with an iPhone, will require an Apple ID before pairing with a different iPhone.

The Edition Watch will have an intrinsic value based on the gold content. The bands could be removed and sold. But if the watch itself needs to be authenticated before being transferred to another owner, it won't really be worth stealing.

If disassembly isn't too difficult then...

Steal an Edition Watch & remove the internals from the gold case. Buy the cheapest standard Watch in the same size and remove the internals. Fit the legally purchased internals into the gold Edition case.

Authenticate and enjoy.

 

[palmerc2]

So American Airlines and Delta can make a whole new app for the watch but can't update their existing iOS app for the 6 Plus screen? Cmon....

 

[samcraig]

So American Airlines and Delta can make a whole new app for the watch but can't update their existing iOS app for the 6 Plus screen? Cmon....

Well from a PR standpoint, it makes more sense. Get your name out there as an early adopter and hitch onto all the press about the watch... or "silently" update an App that won't get any mentions....

 

[Jason83]

Maybe the pilot will share his or her heartbeat with the passengers. That would be reassuring as long as it's not too fast

 

[doelcm82]

If disassembly isn't too difficult then...

Steal an Edition Watch & remove the internals from the gold case. Buy the cheapest standard Watch in the same size and remove the internals. Fit the legally purchased internals into the gold Edition case.

Authenticate and enjoy.

No problem for me. I won't be wearing the Edition Watch. Or a Rolex. I will leave it to the Rolex and Edition Watch wearers to protect themselves from the TSA, the NRA, the PTA, and other unsavories.

But perhaps Apple could have an ID chip that is not as easy to remove from the case as the rest of the internals. If the internals and the ID chip don't match, then the watch can't be authenticated by anyone who doesn't have the proper credentials.

 

[doelcm82]

The descriptions here and the implication of watch apps functionality I saw while watching the keynote seem to say "here is something you can do on your watch that you can't do some other way".
It start me wondering if there are things you can do with the watch that you can't do with just your iPhone. I'm too lazy to start looking up individual apps but I certainly hope anything to watch can do there should be equivalent functionality available on the iPhone.

I don't see much described here with the airline apps they couldn't work just as well on only your iPhone.
I hope that's the case since some of the stuff looks very useful and I really don't think I'll start wearing a watch again.

The Apple Watch has a heartbeat sensor, which the iPhone doesn't. Other than that, it's mostly an extension of the phone (so far).

The way I see it, the iPad is just an iPod Touch with a bigger screen. So, why would anyone buy an iPad, when the iPod Touch is cheaper and easier to carry in your pocket? Answer: Some of the things an iPod Touch can do would be easier with a larger display to work with. Some apps aren't worth developing for the small screen on the iPod Touch, but with the bigger screen, they become practical.

The Apple Watch is good for things that you could do on your iPhone, but probably wouldn't, because getting it out of your pocket to do them is not worth the trouble. If only the iPhone could be comfortably and stylishly strapped to the wrist!

Some people are looking for one single use case to justify spending $350+ on a wristwatch that mostly duplicates iPhone functionality. There may not be one. But as with the iPad, there are many use cases that in aggregate will make the Apple Watch an indispensable part of people's lives.

 

[finnns2000]

I have this funny idea for a cartoon....Steve Jobs is up in heaven and he has an Apple watch on his wrist which he is talking into, he says "beam me down Cookie", can some clever illustrator draw this and submit to the New Yorker?

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But seriously, take the number of people who fly on a really regular basis, divide by the fraction of US people with an iPhone, then divide by accepted take up rate for the Apple watch and my guess is you will have a figure in the low thousands.
So what's wrong with a regular watch for that occasional flight?

You're delusional if you think this will have an adoption rate in the low thousands. The airlines obviously disagree with this ridiculous thinking too.

 

[Herdfan]

They left out the part where I have to take off the watch to go through the metal detector, and the TSA agent steals it.

(Yes, metal detector, because I have pre-check. I'm not waiting in the long line so I can keep my watch on.)

No one has ever stolen my Rolex, so it is probably not a big issue.

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[/COLOR]Is that for the whole flight for some reason, or just basically the takeoff and landing portions (and otherwise they can be in airplane mode)?

Just take off and landing like it used to be. They said the FAA had not certified their planes. Maybe since they are a discount airline, they haven't paid to have the FAA do it.

 

[Garsun]

The Apple Watch has a heartbeat sensor, which the iPhone doesn't. Other than that, it's mostly an extension of the phone (so far).

The way I see it, the iPad is just an iPod Touch with a bigger screen. So, why would anyone buy an iPad, when the iPod Touch is cheaper and easier to carry in your pocket? Answer: Some of the things an iPod Touch can do would be easier with a larger display to work with. Some apps aren't worth developing for the small screen on the iPod Touch, but with the bigger screen, they become practical.

The Apple Watch is good for things that you could do on your iPhone, but probably wouldn't, because getting it out of your pocket to do them is not worth the trouble. If only the iPhone could be comfortably and stylishly strapped to the wrist!

Some people are looking for one single use case to justify spending $350+ on a wristwatch that mostly duplicates iPhone functionality. There may not be one. But as with the iPad, there are many use cases that in aggregate will make the Apple Watch an indispensable part of people's lives.

I completely agree with your last paragraph, Actually your entire post.
What I was trying to express (poorly) is that the impression being given is that the new (enter feature here) will only be available to owners of the watch.
Things like flight check in and Close to gate notification work fantastically on your wrist but would also work from your pocket. I'm just hoping that any neat new feature they put on the watch they remember to make available from the pocket. This is most likely already true,but like I said earlier I'm too lazy to do research on every feature.

 

[rowspaxe]

You're delusional if you think this will have an adoption rate in the low thousands. The airlines obviously disagree with this ridiculous thinking too.

Is it so hard to imagine apple is paying the development costs for these apps?
Percent of travelers with iphone--50 percent or more. Percent with watch...5 percent, or so.

 

[Roessnakhan]

Southwest can't even get their boarding passes into Passbook yet. It will be a cold day in hell before we'll see anything decent on the apple watch from them.

Yes they do. I just used Passbook for my SW boarding passes for a flight on March 14th and 18th.

 

[rowspaxe]

Really, where do you fly? I fly every week LAX to SEA back and forth so maybe I'm unfortunate lol.

In the U.S., Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibit the use of mobile phones aboard aircraft in flight.

 

[LudwigZildjian]

It's cool to adopt it, but check in is weird...

 

[troop231]

In the U.S., Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibit the use of mobile phones aboard aircraft in flight.

I forgot to add it's cell calls while boarding and waiting on the tarmac, and then WiFi calls while in the air.

 

[C DM]

I forgot to add it's cell calls while boarding and waiting on the tarmac, and then WiFi calls while in the air.

Calls while boarding and waiting have been there for years now, and nothing really different then calls in the terminal or other places outside the airport. WiFi calls, although perhaps possible, I haven't seen anyone actually make, and if people do make those it's quite likely uncommon. Not much to indicate the watch will affect any of that in any noticeable way.

 

[Saucesome2000]

Excited to see many airlines embracing this...but I wish Southwest would get with the program.

Give them time. They're already incorporating iPad Minis into the flight system.

 

[pdqgp]

Some of the info is cool. But for check in? The watch isn't ideal.

in general there's nothing about the apps shown that is really that revolutionary. I traveled to NYC this week via Delta and got great updates real-time including gate changes, etc. right from my account via the airline. Why use a completely separate app? They come through via text and email on my phone and relayed to my Gear S without a hitch. The S uses Tizen but Google Now reminders such as updates on traffic and when to leave all come through as well. So I not only saw i was on time at Gate 53 in terminal 4 at JFK I also got all the updates on gate changes with ease.

Boarding passes are the same. Just click the link, the 3D bar code is there and all the boarding pass information/image too. Works great and scans with ease. Not sure why the guy in the article had a hard time. Scanners aren't out of reach.