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durangojim

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 31, 2013
147
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I’m an old mechanical wrist watch aficionato (Rolex, Omega, Panerai, Patek) and yet having a Ti S5 which I’ve returned, I actually find I prefer not having the always on display on. It’s strange but I find it more “peaceful” to only see the watch face when I’m purposely looking at it. Maybe it’s because of all the complications which my mechanical watches don’t have but I find I just don’t enjoy seeing all the info all the time. Anyone else feel like me?
 
I don’t know if I find it more peaceful to have AOD turned off but o did turn it off. Partly due to the poor battery life I was experiencing and partly due to it always seeming to be on faces that don’t make use of the AOD (so I just get the time), I decided to turn it off. I haven’t really missed it at all. I guess that’s partly due to years of using an Apple Watch without it and being ok with it. I like my Apple Watch 5, but AOD isn’t something I find particularly useful.
 
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I’m an old mechanical wrist watch aficionato (Rolex, Omega, Panerai, Patek) and yet having a Ti S5 which I’ve returned, I actually find I prefer not having the always on display on. It’s strange but I find it more “peaceful” to only see the watch face when I’m purposely looking at it. Maybe it’s because of all the complications which my mechanical watches don’t have but I find I just don’t enjoy seeing all the info all the time. Anyone else feel like me?

I hope you didn’t return it due to AOD not realising this can be turned off.
 
I must admit, I thought the AOD was a gimmick and I probably would turn it off. Now The battery life is sorted I have it on all the time - I turned it off for a bit yesterday and missed it :)
 
i turned mine off. i didnt like how my watch would illuminate walls in my home. i wish they could come out with a screen thats similar to a kindle with no back light but in full color as a watch face.
 
Havent got my watch yet, but would probably have this turned off as well TBH.
 
It’s great if you have wake with wrist raise off. Then battery life is great and you don’t need to wake it to see the time!
Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I tried doing that before I turned off AOD, and without Raise to Wake enabled, I felt like I was always having to touch the screen to see/do things. I also felt like there was a small delay before anything would happen when I touched the screen. For me, personally, turning off AOD was much easier to live with.
 
I don’t have an Apple Watch yet. I hope to buy one by the end of the year.

i think AOD is a great option to have. But I will probably turn it off.
 
I like the AOD and it’s the reason I upgraded from the AW4. I got used to it with the Tag Heuer Connected before moving to AW.
 
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I thought I won't use AOD when I purchased my S5. Now I can't imagine going back for a black screen. I'm using AOD 'raise to wake' off and it's a killer compination. I'm getting 35-45 hours battery life AOD on. (6.01)
 
Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I tried doing that before I turned off AOD, and without Raise to Wake enabled, I felt like I was always having to touch the screen to see/do things. I also felt like there was a small delay before anything would happen when I touched the screen. For me, personally, turning off AOD was much easier to live with.

you know what, sometimes my screen doesn’t recognize my touch to wake up too or crown twist. I am chalking it up to software. But the movements are still better than pulling out my phone and doing it on there. At least that’s how I look at it.
 
‘Raise to wake’ I think was tweaked perfectly over the years, especially with the sensitivity. An ‘always on display’ is not a selling point for me, even though I think it was probably requested by the Series 2, it took Apple three generations of the Apple Watch to actually implement it.
 
It’s one of the things I’m looking forward to most about the S5, though I wouldn’t have changed my S4 if not for my carrier throwing a new Apple Watch at me to stay with them, which I was going to do anyway. But that’s neither here nor there.

While I, like pretty much everyone else who has one, have gotten used to raise to wake over the years, it’s the one thing which still irks me a bit about Apple Watch. There are many occasions when I (still) glance at my Watch for the time, before remembering I have to do some gymnastics to see the bloody time.

Maybe it’s the near 40 years of mechanical watches, but I do miss that instant gratification of seeing the time - still the single most important use of a watch as far as I’m concerned.

So I’ll be leaving the AOD on and disabling raise to wake - probably. If battery life gets me through a day with raise to wake still enabled, I see no reason to disable it. So time (ahem) will tell on that one. But above all else, it’s going to be nice to see the time again as one would expect to on a watch.
 
Maybe it’s because of all the complications which my mechanical watches don’t have but I find I just don’t enjoy seeing all the info all the time...
Why not just choose a simple watch face without all the complications? You can swipe to another face WITH all the complications when you need them.
 
I am also a watch guy, both G-Shocks and my Automatic Omega's. I have had every Apple Watch since Series 0. I started with the Space Gray Aluminum and didn't like it. I upgraded to the Stainless Steel Space Black and for the weight and finish I like, it made it feel more like a real watch. I bought the Space Black Link bracelet when I got Series 0 and have stayed Space Black with that bracelet through every generation. It has held up incredibly well.

I would had skipped this update if they DIDN'T offer AOD. I have wanted AOD since Series 0 and am so happy they finally offered it. WatchOS 6.0.0 was a bit annoying between battery life and a little lag before it would wake up. WatchOS 6.0.1 definitely made some decent improvements on both. From what I am reading from the beta testers on 6.1, sounds like even more battery life improvement.

I have collected, bought, and sold so many watches over the years, and have had a watch on my wrist since I could remember. Apple Watch has dominated my watch rotation, I have found it to be such a great tool. The only thing I have always been disappointed with is that blank screen on my wrist. Always on for me has been making this so much more of a feeling of a watch than before. It's interesting reading the feedback in here, I thought that was one thing holding so many people back from owning an Apple Watch.
 
Went on a bike ride for the first time with my series 5 the other day and I loved the fact that I could actually glance and see where my workout was without having to flip my wrist awkwardly ha
 
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