Apple Watch Getting Hand Washing Feature With 20-Second Countdown and Haptic Feedback

[CarlJ]

lol. Really? This is something we need? Have we become that stupid and helpless that we need technology to help us wash our hands?

I've seen quite a few people who think that a spritz of water on their fingertips constitutes "washing" their hands, so, apparently, yes, at least part of the contingent of humans in the world do need this.

Me, I count already, I won't mind having the watch help.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Such a silly feature

It’s probably going to be pretty useful even after the pandemic for medical professionals and those working in medical research labs.

 

[QCassidy352]

I needed technology to remind me to stand.

Yeah, I turned that one off, too. turned off fitness tracking entirely, actually, and track my workouts with a third party app. If I can’t get up and walk around every hour, or work out every day, it’s because I’m too busy, not because I don’t know to do it.

 

[JosephAW]

You all laugh but my nurse friends love it. No singing happy birthday twice.

But I can sing HBD 2x faster than 20 seconds. So my hands are cleaner faster than most.

 

[C DM]

Slow days at Apple. What a useless feature.

Clearly nothing else was announced today.

 

[damphoose]

Do they have this for teeth-brushing as well? If not, they should!

Yes. My toothbrush beeps every 30 seconds to indicate that I need to change quadrants and then beeps and vibrates once I hit 2 minutes (the recommended total brush time). That’s just on the brush. It you use the app there are other reminders. I took an old fashioned manual toothbrush on vacation. By the third day my app was going nuts reminding I have not brushed in two days! Of course I had, just not with the electric which was at home.

 

[pdaholic]

I can’t wait for watchos 8, where we get an app to tell us if we have been on the toilet long enough. My wife says I spend too much time on it.

 

[Brien]

Will it also yell at you to take off your watch if you have a leather band? That's what I need!

 

[chi_cowboy]

If Apple Watch does this by detecting hand motion and the sound of water, how does it know I'm not jerking off in the shower?

 

[brenton289]

Hmm... it’s not April. 🤔

 

[wbeasley]

how about adding GPS public toilet location and if detected remind people to wash their hands?

honestly the number of people in shopping centres who walk out and don't wash and then push shopping trolleys and touch ATMs is astounding. especially during the virus times.

washing hands is the SINGLE most important preventative measure to slow the spread.
I find it odd so many think this is a useless feature.
If you worked in healthcare, you would know few people wash the full 20 seconds. Including health workers.

 

[macduke]

Love all the people pissed off about this and wondering why we even need this.

1. We’re in a pandemic
2. The pandemic numbers are rising again because people are idiots
3. Most people are idiots who don’t wash their hands long enough
4. If you’re such an easily offended snowflake idiot then turn the damn feature off. You probably don’t care about other people anyway and are likely making the problem worse by not wearing a mask and not social distancing.
5. Maybe this will help people who are uneducated about how long to hand wash or have a poor internal timer. Even if it helps a few percent of people it will save lives across millions.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

lol. Really? This is something we need? Have we become that stupid and helpless that we need technology to help us wash our hands?

In a word: yes. Just look at society around you!

 

[incoherent_1]

Can it also sound an audible alarm when a wearer doesn't wash their hands?

Yes! Reminds me of that Gary Larson cartoon! Classic!
[automerge]1592923045[/automerge]

Love all the people pissed off about this and wondering why we even need this.

1. We’re in a pandemic
2. The pandemic numbers are rising again because people are idiots
3. Most people are idiots who don’t wash their hands long enough
4. If you’re such an easily offended snowflake idiot then turn the damn feature off. You probably don’t care about other people anyway and are likely making the problem worse by not wearing a mask and not social distancing.
5. Maybe this will help people who are uneducated about how long to hand wash or have a poor internal timer. Even if it helps a few percent of people it will save lives across millions.

::slow clap::

If I had a printer, I’d print this and stick it on the wall.

And yes, it’ll be great for people like my wife, who want to do the right thing (and she’s in a vulnerable group), but she has the internal timer of a hummingbird on speed so she can really benefit from this.

 

[tl01]

No more having to hum the "happy birthday" song to yourself twice, as the Apple Watch features a new hand washing feature in watchOS 7.

Using its motion sensors and microphone, the Apple Watch automatically detects hand washing and starts a 20‑second timer, which is how long the CDC and many other health organizations recommend washing your hands. If your Apple Watch detects that you've stopped washing your hands early, it will encourage you to continue for the full 20 seconds.

In addition, the Apple Watch can remind you to wash your hands when you get home.

watchOS 7 is available in beta for registered Apple developers today, with a public beta to follow next month. The software update will be released to all users with an Apple Watch Series 3 or newer in the fall.

Article Link: Apple Watch Getting Hand Washing Feature With 20-Second Countdown and Haptic Feedback

Can it remind my kids to wash their hands before they eat at school?!

 

[eleuthero]

Can anyone with the beta confirm that the feature can (at least at present) be turned off? Having my watch return me to elementary school will be a deal breaker for me. Technology should help us be more effective, but it shouldn't take over our ability to function as adults. As a bit of perspective, I'm one of those people that makes every effort to avoid using calculators (except when documenting tax info), and I try to help my kids/students from using them either. At the same time, I'm a big fan of cars, toilets, electric lights, and word processors... There's got to be a balance in there, and it seems like having my watch tell me how long to wash my hands without any input from me is a bit much.

 

[EricNau]

Can anyone with the beta confirm that the feature can (at least at present) be turned off? Having my watch return me to elementary school will be a deal breaker for me. Technology should help us be more effective, but it shouldn't take over our ability to function as adults. As a bit of perspective, I'm one of those people that makes every effort to avoid using calculators (except when documenting tax info), and I try to help my kids/students from using them either. At the same time, I'm a big fan of cars, toilets, electric lights, and word processors... There's got to be a balance in there, and it seems like having my watch tell me how long to wash my hands without any input from me is a bit much.

I’m curious why you feel this way. Humans use tools: it’s an innate feature of our species, and perhaps our biggest strength. I don’t see how using a timer to effectively wash our hands—or using a calculator for that matter—is a bad thing. Imagine how stunted the fields of mathematics and engineering would be if the calculator didn’t exist, for example.

Put another way: my electric toothbrush has a built-in 2min timer. So I know when I’ve brushed my teeth long enough. Isn’t this a good example of technology helping me be more effective (both in terms of the electric toothbrush, and the timer)? I don’t feel my toothbrush having a built-in 2min timer “takes away my ability to function as an adult.” It helps me function as a self-aware adult, who knows that I probably wouldn’t be brushing my teeth for long enough if I didn’t use a timer.

And wouldn’t owning a watch fall into the same category? It’s a tool that has largely removed our ability to tell time based on the position of the sun, after all...

 

[mrxak]

Take it from a retired EMT, it's not about time, it's about technique. Most people don't have the first clue how to wash their hands properly. Good handwashing takes time, but simply taking more time to wash your hands poorly won't do you any good. Another virtue signal from Apple that will accomplish nothing.

 

[cmaier]

Can anyone with the beta confirm that the feature can (at least at present) be turned off? Having my watch return me to elementary school will be a deal breaker for me. Technology should help us be more effective, but it shouldn't take over our ability to function as adults. As a bit of perspective, I'm one of those people that makes every effort to avoid using calculators (except when documenting tax info), and I try to help my kids/students from using them either. At the same time, I'm a big fan of cars, toilets, electric lights, and word processors... There's got to be a balance in there, and it seems like having my watch tell me how long to wash my hands without any input from me is a bit much.

It can be turned off.