Always on Display, Useful???

[andrewstirling]

Yeah! Thanks for providing a far better technical explanation. That’s pretty much what the stryd developers were saying. They need to rebuild the app using swift ui. They did implement always on display into their existing app but disabled it after complaints that it only updated every 60 seconds.

As I was suggesting though, this obstacle doesn’t make always on display useless, it just needs to be properly implemented.

 

[Bandaman]

For exercising it's essential.

 

[GlenK]

S7 is my first AW and I love this feature but it's all I've ever known.

 

[theanimala]

For exercising it's essential.

This is what I’m thinking. I have an AW3 and I hate if I’m in the middle of push-ups or a plank and my watch buzzed but I can’t see what the notification is. I often exercise during work hours so wits important for me to see these notifications. Pick up my AW7 today, hoping always on works like I hope…

 

[tamara6]

Well, if you are sitting at a meeting or a presentation or somewhere where you'd like to see the time but it would be embarrassing or awkward to do the dramatic wrist raise or twist, it is nice to be able to to slightly turn your wrist and see your watch. I guess with it off you could always turn your watch and gently tap it, but sometimes that activates something on your watchface and then you have to fiddle around turning that off.

 

[Night Spring]

Well, if you are sitting at a meeting or a presentation or somewhere where you'd like to see the time but it would be embarrassing or awkward to do the dramatic wrist raise or twist, it is nice to be able to to slightly turn your wrist and see your watch. I guess with it off you could always turn your watch and gently tap it, but sometimes that activates something on your watchface and then you have to fiddle around turning that off.

There's another way to check time discreetly. Go to Settings>Clock>Taptic Time. Turn it on, and pick from three ways the watch can tap the time to you. So now, if you are in a meeting and want to check the time, you keep your arms out of sight, and tap and hold with two fingers to get the time. Now, you could get distracted counting the taps, but people won't see you raising your wrist.

 

[jz0309]

I'm wearing my S4 now at night for sleep tracking, it is rather annoying now (for me) to look at the time, esp when you're laying down ... I love AOD!

 

[chanerz]

It’s worth it.

 

[Bandaman]

This is what I’m thinking. I have an AW3 and I hate if I’m in the middle of push-ups or a plank and my watch buzzed but I can’t see what the notification is. I often exercise during work hours so wits important for me to see these notifications. Pick up my AW7 today, hoping always on works like I hope…

It’s very very very very very very very annoying to have to tap on the watch repeatedly because it’s not coming on with a wrist turn like it’s supposed to on the non-always on display version of the watch. For exercise it’s a must. Angrily fiddling with the watch mid-exercise kind of pulls me out of the moment. 😂 The always on works great. You’ll like it.

 

[hmorneau]

Yes, that's what make the Apple Watch a watch.

 

[Sital]

I never felt "wake on raise" was fast/sensitive enough. I love the AOD.

 

[ZebraDude]

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

You make a good point. I was hoping that AOD was automatic not requiring third party developers to have to modify. I love third party apps as I believe they REALLY add to the experience. I guess I will have to revisit this thread in five years and see if the apps that I have embraced added AOD to their apps.

 

[hmorneau]

You make a good point. I was hoping that AOD was automatic not requiring third party developers to have to modify. I love third party apps as I believe they REALLY add to the experience. I guess I will have to revisit this thread in five years and see if the apps that I have embraced added AOD to their apps.

For third party it's new since WatchOS 8 (current release) https://developer.apple.com/documentation/watchkit/designing_your_app_for_the_always_on_state

Seems like in some case not change is needed: "Many apps can use the system’s default Always On appearance. For example, if your view is mostly black and uses system controls, you may not need to change anything."

 

[ZebraDude]

For third party it's new since WatchOS 8 (current release) https://developer.apple.com/documentation/watchkit/designing_your_app_for_the_always_on_state

Interesting! I did not know.....Thank you for posting this...

 

[TonyC28]

Idk how useful it is. In my experience, I have to go out of my way to not turn my wrist, thereby leaving the screen dimmed, if I for some reason want to look a dim screen. Now that I’m thinking about it I’m really wondering how useful it is.

 

[Night Spring]

Idk how useful it is. In my experience, I have to go out of my way to not turn my wrist, thereby leaving the screen dimmed, if I for some reason want to look a dim screen. Now that I’m thinking about it I’m really wondering how useful it is.

Yes, exactly. Maybe if you do an exercise where your wrists don't move much, like ride a bike. But other than that, I'm not finding much use for it in everyday use.

 

[andrewstirling]

Nah even running is a pain without it. You need to consciously wake it sometimes. There’s also always a slight delay as it detects movement to wake. AOD is a basic and the watch should never have been released without it.

 

[ssledoux]

I like it, mainly because I think it just looks better than a solid black rectangle on my wrist.

 

[Howard2k]

I don't have AOD but I'm still somehow able to tell the time and run with my watch.

I'd probably use it if I had it though, assuming the battery hit was not significant. But since the complications and time don't tend to be too accurate it seems like it's still pretty questionable. Maybe it would just be super annoying knowing that it's showing the time but it's wrong.

 

[firedept]

I find it useful for quick glances of the time or notifications. I also use it when going to the gym.

 

[bluespark]

I don't have AOD but I'm still somehow able to tell the time and run with my watch.

I'd probably use it if I had it though, assuming the battery hit was not significant. But since the complications and time don't tend to be too accurate it seems like it's still pretty questionable. Maybe it would just be super annoying knowing that it's showing the time but it's wrong.

The time is accurate. The AOD drops the second hand, but it does update the minute hand every minute.

With complications, the situation is more varied, but there are still plenty of complications that are useful without every-second updates.

For me, one of the most attractive features of AOD is that it always looks like a real watch. The aesthetic benefit is a pretty big deal, IMO.

 

[Night Spring]

For me, one of the most attractive features of AOD is that it always looks like a real watch. The aesthetic benefit is a pretty big deal, IMO.

This sense of wanting it to look like a real watch is always puzzling to me. I mean, I understand that people feel that way, but that feeling is just something I can't emphasize with. It's not a "real" watch, and I've never felt this desire to have it look like one.

 

[millerj123]

I don't have AOD but I'm still somehow able to tell the time and run with my watch.

I'd probably use it if I had it though, assuming the battery hit was not significant. But since the complications and time don't tend to be too accurate it seems like it's still pretty questionable. Maybe it would just be super annoying knowing that it's showing the time but it's wrong.

I turned it off on my new watch. I’m used to intentionally flicking my wrist up to check the time, and notifications happen regardless.

 

[bluespark]

This sense of wanting it to look like a real watch is always puzzling to me. I mean, I understand that people feel that way, but that feeling is just something I can't emphasize with. It's not a "real" watch, and I've never felt this desire to have it look like one.

This might be a semantics issue. When I say "real watch," I don't mean a mechanical watch (I'm a committed antiskeuomorph), but rather a timepiece, which it absolutely is. When the screen was off, though, it didn't look like a timepiece.

 

[hmorneau]

I turned it off on my new watch. I’m used to intentionally flicking my wrist up to check the time, and notifications happen regardless.

I guess you are the type who prefer floppy drive too.