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ZebraDude

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 7, 2014
1,426
855
Naperville, IL
I own a Series 3, Series 4 and now a Series 7. Of all the new features of the Series 7 I am finding the always on Display to be useless. Whenever I glance at my 7 the data is always out of sync with the watch.

Am I expecting too much? What is the usefulness of an always on Display if it displays old (out of sync) information? I am considering turning off that feature but if I do how will I know if/when Apple "fixes" this issue (assuming it's a bug not expected behavior?).

any other thoughts?

Ps...I have a iPhone 13 PM on the latest release software. and my 7 is on the latest release as well...
 

ZebraDude

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 7, 2014
1,426
855
Naperville, IL
If I'm in timer it does not show the correct countdown time, Using Walkmeter app does not show the current workout time, most apps do not keep up...in my usage it's worthless...
 
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hanser

macrumors 6502
Aug 29, 2013
373
325
I think the idea behind alway on is, that one can always glean the time from it, which is the primary function of a watch. I personally love always on just because I expect of a watch to always show the time. I only got interested in AW after always on was implemented; I would never walk around with an empty black rectangle strapped to my wrist.
 

jz0309

Contributor
Sep 25, 2018
11,371
29,987
SoCal
I think the idea behind alway on is, that one can always glean the time from it, which is the primary function of a watch. I personally love always on just because I expect of a watch to always show the time. I only got interested in AW after always on was implemented; I would never walk around with an empty black rectangle strapped to my wrist.
totally agree, and if I need to see data, wake up the watch.
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,882
8,053
I would never walk around with an empty black rectangle strapped to my wrist.
I tried leaving always on for a few days. I found that my experiences using the watch didn't change. Perhaps because of my eyesight, but I just never manage to glance at the watch out of the corner of my eyes to read the time. I have to lift my arm close to my face to see the time, and any other info I from watch complications. And when i lift my arm like that, the watch almost always turns on. Basically, always on means using battery power so other people can see a watch face, not me. So I decided to turn it off.
 

jz0309

Contributor
Sep 25, 2018
11,371
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SoCal
I tried leaving always on for a few days. I found that my experiences using the watch didn't change. Perhaps because of my eyesight, but I just never manage to glance at the watch out of the corner of my eyes to read the time. I have to lift my arm close to my face to see the time, and any other info I from watch complications. And when i lift my arm like that, the watch almost always turns on. Basically, always on means using battery power so other people can see a watch face, not me. So I decided to turn it off.
of course everyone is different, I upgraded from my S4 to S7 like 3 weeks ago and I love AOD, never have to (sometimes briskly) raise my arm to glance at the time or other info, and my eyesight isn't the best either, but as I said, we are all different
 

jz0309

Contributor
Sep 25, 2018
11,371
29,987
SoCal
If I'm in timer it does not show the correct countdown time, Using Walkmeter app does not show the current workout time, most apps do not keep up...in my usage it's worthless...
I was looking at my watch earlier during my workout, and when in AOD mode, the tenth/hundreds of second were not displayed but the seconds kept on updating, and so did calories burnt ...
 

SaxPlayer

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2007
718
644
Dorset, England
I have a Series 4 Stainless Steel. I would *love* an AOD but the watch cost me so much money (and the resale value is so bad) that I'll stick with what I have for a while longer before buying a new one. I can think of lots of times an AOD would've been very useful for me, even one that only updates every 60 seconds or so (as suggested in the above comments).
 

the future

macrumors 68040
Jul 17, 2002
3,641
5,931
Glancing at my Infograph right now, I can clearly see the current time, the current date, the current temperature, steps taken today, and my next calender event. Pretty useful, I‘d say.

In general, my experience is that third party apps/complications sometimes have more trouble staying up-to-date than default ones.

Beyond the usefulness of glanceable watch faces, they make the Watch look so much better than the black void we used to have strapped to our wrists with S0-4.
 
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Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,882
8,053
of course everyone is different, I upgraded from my S4 to S7 like 3 weeks ago and I love AOD, never have to (sometimes briskly) raise my arm to glance at the time or other info, and my eyesight isn't the best either, but as I said, we are all different
Yeah, my peripheral vision is very bad, I have to really turn my head to check for cars when crossing streets.
they make the Watch look so much better than the black void we used to have
Yes, they make the watch look better -- mostly to other people. :)
 
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Analog Kid

macrumors G3
Mar 4, 2003
9,360
12,602
This is interesting. I've had a series 0 and now a series 3, neither have always on displays. I'm sure if you look through the forum posts, you'll find me ranting about how important an always on display is.

Now, I'm not sure I'd want it always on. I like that the watch doesn't draw attention (or battery power) when it's not activated. I find I keep it in theater mode quite often to require a tap to turn on-- but that may be just because the raise to turn triggers kinda randomly for me.

Maybe this is just a textbook case of the fact you can get use to anything, and that people resist change...
 

andrewstirling

macrumors 6502a
May 19, 2015
715
425
As far as I know, it does update every 60 seconds. Which is good, because you don't want to drain your battery unnecessarily fast.

It should be every second if implemented properly. The native workout app played every second. I use stryd for running and their app updated every 60 seconds which is pretty useless. They said they would need to rewrite their app to take full advantage and pulled the feature until they could implement a bigger roster next year.

But.. To the op..it’s probably not fair to blame apple if third party apps aren’t updating the screen frequently enough
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,882
8,053
Maybe this is just a textbook case of the fact you can get use to anything, and that people resist change...
Yes, but I think a lot of people who were demanding always on were just used to watches being "always on" because they were analog, and resisting the change to digital watches that can turn on and off. ;)
 

rbart

macrumors 65816
Nov 3, 2013
1,325
1,077
France
It should be every second if implemented properly. The native workout app played every second. I use stryd for running and their app updated every 60 seconds which is pretty useless. They said they would need to rewrite their app to take full advantage and pulled the feature until they could implement a bigger roster next year.

But.. To the op..it’s probably not fair to blame apple if third party apps aren’t updating the screen frequently enough
You can only update every second for workout apps.
My own workout app is using AOD, for me, it's a game changer while running.
You always have the right information without having to wake up your watch.
There are very few third party apps that use AOD, because you have to completely re-write the app in SwiftUI, and it can be a very huge work.
YouRace (my app) is written in SwiftUI and modern frameworks since the start, it was quite easy for me to bring AOD feature. But for other apps, it's painful !
 
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