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Apple Watch Can Use Known Wi-Fi Networks for Limited Functions Even When iPhone Is Off
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This is the kind of stuff they should have been talking about months ago. For a lot of the doubters, myself included, one of the biggest weaknesses was that it only could do most functions tethered to the phone. Only NOW are we finding out, and not from Apple, that it has independent abilities. The Apple Watch has a lot of capabilities without the phone and that is huge. Marketing was so fixated on style and appearance, and getting on the cover of Vogue and what it could do through the iPhone, that they have been not mentioning huge features like this. This is a huge screw up by marketing.
Yeah, when I perused the SDK, I had a good sense of the limits being imposed on 3rd party development. Several moments of "if it had/allowed X, I could do Y, and that would be very cool" - at least one major OS update, parallel to expanding the SDK and we'll see some _really_ slick apps, and of course, like you indicated, the next major hardware revision will probably be the "golden age" for wearables
I put money it being able to make a FaceTime Audio call, if not now, in the very near future. If it has WiFi based messaging, WiFi based VOIP services seem like a logical step
That of course that would limit it to other iOS/OSX recipients, but in my case, that covers 98% of my friends/family/peers
Dick Tracy stuff for sure. By the time they get to single digit nano-meter chips, it may be possible to do a ton of stuff with the watch that we won't be able to do with the first iteration. Which is why I think the big question that no one can answer is how people will upgrade the watches. For me it would be awesome if Apple had an upgrade service for the internals. Otherwise spending up 17k on a watch seems off. If I buy say the Apple watch with leather band for $800, even if I hold out for 4 years before upgrading, that is still $200 a year for something that is essentially a fashion statement. The phone cost about the same and is replaced every two years, but we can all agree that we get $400 of value a year from the phone.
That's a pretty notable discovery! Up to this point, I think it's been assumed the Watch without the iPhone tethered had zero network capabilities[?]
I'm assuming since the article said texts, and talked WiFi, they would be through the Messages app (i.e., to/from other iOS/OSX clients).
Side note: I think the model pictured is the exact one I'm buying
Me too! looking forward to 3rd party strap explosion
Apple said the watch will have independent apps later so they're building frameworks and foundations for it so the watch app can run without iPhone. I think when it's ready, you just need to do a software upgrade and your watch will be free from the phone.
Apple is keeping their watch OS open for changes in the future. It's not like they just think about it after the first release of the watch. It's all planned out.
Apple is keeping their watch OS open for changes in the future. It's not like they just think about it after the first release of the watch. It's all planned out.
What about people you text who do not own an apple device? That's the limitation of iMessage .
If it's to an iOS or OSX recipient, that's it's not really SMS, it's Messages which is an IP based service (that's when you see the "blue bubble"), and can be a phone number (for identity), email address, etc.
If the recipient is a non-Apple device, say a Samsung phone, then it can only receive actual cellular based SMS, so that's when you have to have your iPhone on the same network, using Yosemite, and your iPhone acts as a "cellular router". Mac -> [WiFi] -> iPhone -> Cell network
Nope it wasn't an iMessage it was green, and I know the recipient has a Blackberry and it worked even though my phone was at home and I was at the office on a different network about 20 minute drive away. I know it worked because he responded to the SMS while I was still at the office. My phone was on 8.1.2 and computer on 10.10.2 at the time
Apple watch zzzz
Wow, great news on limited wifi access on the Apple watch. haha maybe you can surf the web on a small screen.
Since I've eliminated myself from buying this piece of fluff (it doesn't add any net value to my Apple experience). I think the watch is an interesting direction to go but I don't wear a watch and it would be an adjustment to have one on again. Maybe rev 2 or 3 will more feature rich and cheaper.
Wow, great news on limited wifi access on the Apple watch. haha maybe you can surf the web on a small screen.
Since I've eliminated myself from buying this piece of fluff (it doesn't add any net value to my Apple experience). I think the watch is an interesting direction to go but I don't wear a watch and it would be an adjustment to have one on again. Maybe rev 2 or 3 will more feature rich and cheaper.
I thought I heard that the Apple watch has WIFI.
This is good news, although, realistically I'm not sure if I would want to use WIFI if it's going to be sucking up battery life like crazy.
This is good news, although, realistically I'm not sure if I would want to use WIFI if it's going to be sucking up battery life like crazy.
Well, since their are over 500mm iPhones and 95% of the people I talked to use an iPhone it is no big deal to me, but it will send to the others as a green SMS message.
I guess we test this out and see.
Wow, great news on limited wifi access on the Apple watch. haha maybe you can surf the web on a small screen.
Since I've eliminated myself from buying this piece of fluff (it doesn't add any net value to my Apple experience). I think the watch is an interesting direction to go but I don't wear a watch and it would be an adjustment to have one on again. Maybe rev 2 or 3 will more feature rich and cheaper.
If I never wore a watch, I probably wouldn't ever buy an Apple Watch.
I love that Apple left out numerous small features like these in their keynotes and web pages so users can discover them! Fun way to raise hype for the Watch!
Macs and non-iPhone iOS devices send SMS via your iPhone, but it's via the iMessage service. Your iPhone doesn't need to be on the same Wifi network. It'll find it, and relay it through your iPhone as long as it's on and connected to the Internet somewhere.
That's a pretty notable discovery! Up to this point, I think it's been assumed the Watch without the iPhone tethered had zero network capabilities[?]
I'm assuming since the article said texts, and talked WiFi, they would be through the Messages app (i.e., to/from other iOS/OSX clients).
Side note: I think the model pictured is the exact one I'm buying
Why is this notable? Apple said that even when the
Watch is out of your iPhone's Bluetooth range but on the same WiFi network they can communicate to each other, that doesn't mean they have only have a direct WiFi connection to each other.
The clowns they've got doing tech reviews at WSJ are a sorry replacement for the thoughtful reviews that Mossberg once did. Their analysis is one dimensional and un-insightful, regardless of the product reviewed.
Exactly.
I just tested this by sending some SMS texts back & forth between my iMac at home and my phone here at work. So the watch should work with SMS texts - this is great news because if I go out walking I can just bring my watch, and likely still have a way to communicate if i have to (there are cable company hotspots throughout my area).
As long as I don't get lost and need an accurate map
(Though I wonder if it can do wifi location services)