Apple Watch isn't That Useful; Also Needs Major Design Change

[Sword86]

Apple Watch should come in a 50 or 60mm version. Its too small at 42mm.

IMO, I wouldn’t want it any larger since I despise large watches. I looked briefly at men’s watches today in Costco. The vast majority were ‘eyesores’ IMO, but I respect anyone else’s tastes. Somebody has to like them. They wouldn’t have a glass case full of ‘em if they didn’t sell.

S

 

[Lloydbm41]

Sometimes I get trapped into these clickbait threads. And I feel stupid for doing so. ☹️

 

[zhenya]

I have never, ever considered my AW to be a replacement for my phone. It is a supplement and a convenient one at that. I very much dislike carrying my phone everywhere with me - especially around the house, at work, or when I'm outdoors. The Watch fills this role brilliantly. When I got the first S0 I could immediately see this even though it really could do very little. I immediately put my phone on silent and only allowed a few types of alerts to pass to the watch - also on silent. They have remained that way for 2.5 years. If you've ever had your phone sitting halfway across the room while you are doing something else and you hear it ding and even if you don't go check it the urge is there anyhow and it's a disruption. The AW fixes that.

Now that it's good enough to replace my Garmin for tracking 98% of my running, and fast enough to be a real companion, I miss it when it's on the charger even if only for an hour (and I can go nearly 2 days on a charge despite 60-90 minutes of running with it every day.) I have no need for this to be a primary computing device. I use it to set up calendar alerts or reminders as I think of them, or to respond quickly to text messages that come in, or to let my wife know I'm running longer than anticipated on my run. I use it to control the volume of my music as it plays around the house, and to set timers repeatedly every time I cook. I always know the temperature and the upcoming forecast at a glance, what I have to expect on my calendar for the day. I could go on and on, but why bother? Seems pretty phenomenal from a tiny device on my wrist...

 

[Allyance]

Like I said before, I love it. I use it to check emails, If I need to reply I switch to the iPhone, same with texts. The one exceptional feature is the ability read heart rates and keep track of them on a daily basis along with alerting me when they spike or drop too far. I am 73 with mild high blood pressure, my brother is almost 80 and he uses his to monitor his heart rate and irregular beats, as he has AFIB. I really don't care what you think, if you don't like it return it and stop complaining, for us it is a potential life saver.

 

[booksbooks]

I never thought I would be replacing my phone with a watch, ever. I know the limitations of a smartwatch. My point is that the Watch needs to be better at a certain set of things to make a person use it vs. a smartphone, or else it has no reason to live.

Many of us have our smartphones on our persons most of the time, which is why the above is even more relevant and applicable.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

I never thought I would be replacing my phone with a watch, ever. I know the limitations of a smartwatch. My point is that the Watch needs to be better at a certain set of things to make a person use it vs. a smartphone, or else it has no reason to live.

Many of us have our smartphones on our persons most of the time, which is why the above is even more relevant and applicable.

It's better at a lot of things, as mentioned throughout your thread by several people. Which you've apparently chosen not to acknowledge.

 

[booksbooks]

Check your bank balance on the Watch?

Not faster or better for me compared to my iPhone. My banking App is quick access on my phone, and the screen size of the iPhone makes the view of the banking info much better than how cut off things are and limited they are on the Watch. Also, while the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Check and respond to Email?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. The screen is so small... the functionality so limited on the Watch... it's not very effective. It's handy occasionally to do quick responses, but that's about it. Also, while the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Check and respond to text messages?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. No keyboard makes it impossible to reply with anything but canned responses in many situations. Siri is not sufficient in public or in the office, and scribbling is far too time consuming. The Watch is handy occasionally to scribble something back, Siri something back, or used a canned response. But overall text messaging is not as good as it is on the iPhone. Also, see below.

Use Apple Pay?

A good experience on the Watch, but see below.

Digital Flight Passes?

Haven't tried it, but see below.

Shopping lists?

Haven't tried it. While the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Weather?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. While the Watch face with weather is good to glance at, drilling into weather information is much better on the iPhone because of the limitations of the screen size and App functionality on the Watch side. Also, see below.

Checking your calendar?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. The calendar is limited in its functionality and how much information it can present. Any kind of appointment input is a strain as well, save for Siri. Also, see below.

One major issue with the speed... the usability... of using the Watch vs. a Smartphone: REQUIREMENT FOR TWO HANDED USE

It's intuitive to just think a computer watch is faster at things than a smartphone, until one analyzes it and tests it in the real world. I knew before the Apple Watch came out that a smartwatch would be flawed in certain situations for one reason: that it effectively requires TWO HANDS to use it. And when it's covered up by clothes, it amplifies the problem. This is all a much bigger issue than people might think.

A smartwatch can be used with one hand, including inputting passwords, scrolling, etc. Because the watch is worn on one arm, the arm that the watch is on must be utilized to raise it and put it into position for the other arm/hand to interact with it. It can't be used with just one hand, because the arm that it's being worn on renders the hand on that arm invalid for input into it.

And for the many people in the world that experience winter, we have to wear sweaters and jackets. Now that winter is upon us, I now have to pull my sweater sleeve and jacket sleeve back to reveal and access watch when I want to use it (this also applies to suits, etc.). This issue is further strained by having to hold the sleeves back at times while using the watch. So if I'm in the grocery store, I have to effectively stop and pull my sleeves back, hold them in place, then fiddle with the watch, where both arms and hands are subservient and occupied by this tiny little thing on one wrist.

It can be easier to pull out my smartphone that's in my jacket inside pocket, and use it with one hand. And then get the big screen and way more functional Apps in the process.

Also, if you're holding bags in one hand, you will have to lift the bags up with at least one of the arms (or put the bags down) because you're dealing with two handed/armed use. This is not necessarily the case with a smartphone.

I'm not saying I have no use for the Watch, but the usefulness of it in relation to the other device (smartphone) on my persons is very limited.

And to anyone commenting about "Why post this". I'm so sick of seeing that in people's threads. Stop posting that. Nobody makes you read this and respond. This is the Internet, and social site to hang out and talk about Apple stuff. This is a fair, legitimate, and relevant topic regarding the usefulness of smartwatches. It's important to Apple's future, to investment in the company, and to consumers who are thinking of spending several hundred dollars on one of these.

Finally, I am in no way the only person who has raised issues about the usefulness of smartwatches. The jury is still out about them and whether they will reach critical mass like smartphones.

 

[The Game 161]

the apple watch has never been to use instead of your iphone. It's for easy and quicker access to certain apps and notifications.

Fitness and notifications is why the apple watch is so important for me. I'm waiting on my series 3 watch now and miss it like crazy and couldn't handle just use my iphone for notifications. For one my battery life is far worse having to check my phone so much more than when i had my watch on me

 

[convergent]

I wore the original AW for two years until a few weeks ago. I'm going to just respond to your design comments, not debate the usefulness of the watch. I originally bought it when I upgraded to a plus size iPhone and my main goal was to be able to get notifications without having to pull that beast out if pocket. I loved the AW.

Now having used a Samsung Gear S3 for weeks, I completely agree with your design complaints. WatchOS2 fixed a horrible UI, but not completely. The Gear S3 UI is just way more intuitive and the rotating dial blows the tiny crown and swiping away. In the gym with sweaty hands, I really struggled with AW. Not at all with the Gear S3. Plus, it looks like a real watch... round.

AW has way more apps, but what I've realized is that most of them were somewhat novelty. I haven't missed them at all.

Granted this doesn't really help you if you have an iPhone, but just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone in your observations. Apple needs to do a redesign of the watch.

 

[booksbooks]

I am not quite as bearish as the below article on smartwatches, but I'm not bullish on them on.

The CEO of Chinese electronics maker Huawei raised eyebrows this week when he publicly trashed smartwatches.

“I am always confused as to what smartwatches are for when we have smartphones,” Eric Xu Zhijun said, adding that he would never ever wear one himself — despite the fact that his own company makes them.

That may strike some as cold but his words should serve as a much-needed reality check to anyone still laboring under the delusion that they can persuade the general populace that wearing tiny touch displays on their wrists is the way of the future.

In fact, it's high time we admit what Zhijun likely already knows: smartwatches are doomed.

http://mashable.com/2017/04/13/smartwatches-are-so-doomed/#fcuLE5J4ZiqQ

 

[bodonnell202]

Check your bank balance on the Watch?

Not faster or better for me compared to my iPhone. My banking App is quick access on my phone, and the screen size of the iPhone makes the view of the banking info much better than how cut off things are and limited they are on the Watch. Also, while the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Check and respond to Email?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. The screen is so small... the functionality so limited on the Watch... it's not very effective. It's handy occasionally to do quick responses, but that's about it. Also, while the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Check and respond to text messages?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. No keyboard makes it impossible to reply with anything but canned responses in many situations. Siri is not sufficient in public or in the office, and scribbling is far too time consuming. The Watch is handy occasionally to scribble something back, Siri something back, or used a canned response. But overall text messaging is not as good as it is on the iPhone. Also, see below.

Use Apple Pay?

A good experience on the Watch, but see below.

Digital Flight Passes?

Haven't tried it, but see below.

Shopping lists?

Haven't tried it. While the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Weather?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. While the Watch face with weather is good to glance at, drilling into weather information is much better on the iPhone because of the limitations of the screen size and App functionality on the Watch side. Also, see below.

Checking your calendar?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. The calendar is limited in its functionality and how much information it can present. Any kind of appointment input is a strain as well, save for Siri. Also, see below.

One major issue with the speed... the usability... of using the Watch vs. a Smartphone: REQUIREMENT FOR TWO HANDED USE

It's intuitive to just think a computer watch is faster at things than a smartphone, until one analyzes it and tests it in the real world. I knew before the Apple Watch came out that a smartwatch would be flawed in certain situations for one reason: that it effectively requires TWO HANDS to use it. And when it's covered up by clothes, it amplifies the problem. This is all a much bigger issue than people might think.

A smartwatch can be used with one hand, including inputting passwords, scrolling, etc. Because the watch is worn on one arm, the arm that the watch is on must be utilized to raise it and put it into position for the other arm/hand to interact with it. It can't be used with just one hand, because the arm that it's being worn on renders the hand on that arm invalid for input into it.

And for the many people in the world that experience winter, we have to wear sweaters and jackets. Now that winter is upon us, I now have to pull my sweater sleeve and jacket sleeve back to reveal and access watch when I want to use it (this also applies to suits, etc.). This issue is further strained by having to hold the sleeves back at times while using the watch. So if I'm in the grocery store, I have to effectively stop and pull my sleeves back, hold them in place, then fiddle with the watch, where both arms and hands are subservient and occupied by this tiny little thing on one wrist.

It can be easier to pull out my smartphone that's in my jacket inside pocket, and use it with one hand. And then get the big screen and way more functional Apps in the process.

Also, if you're holding bags in one hand, you will have to lift the bags up with at least one of the arms (or put the bags down) because you're dealing with two handed/armed use. This is not necessarily the case with a smartphone.

I'm not saying I have no use for the Watch, but the usefulness of it in relation to the other device (smartphone) on my persons is very limited.

And to anyone commenting about "Why post this". I'm so sick of seeing that in people's threads. Stop posting that. Nobody makes you read this and respond. This is the Internet, and social site to hang out and talk about Apple stuff. This is a fair, legitimate, and relevant topic regarding the usefulness of smartwatches. It's important to Apple's future, to investment in the company, and to consumers who are thinking of spending several hundred dollars on one of these.

Finally, I am in no way the only person who has raised issues about the usefulness of smartwatches. The jury is still out about them and whether they will reach critical mass like smartphones.

Well you have effectively ignored everyone else's points about how it is useful TO THEM and gone back to prattling on about how the screen is too small to input information, which in my opinion isn't the point of the device. It's really about glanceable notifications (which I can do by just raising my hand and doesn't require my other hand at all), fitness tracking and music and any watch that does those 3 things well makes a good smart watch. If those things aren't enough for you then I don't think a smart watch is for you.

 

[booksbooks]

I wore the original AW for two years until a few weeks ago. I'm going to just respond to your design comments, not debate the usefulness of the watch. I originally bought it when I upgraded to a plus size iPhone and my main goal was to be able to get notifications without having to pull that beast out if pocket. I loved the AW.

Now having used a Samsung Gear S3 for weeks, I completely agree with your design complaints. WatchOS2 fixed a horrible UI, but not completely. The Gear S3 UI is just way more intuitive and the rotating dial blows the tiny crown and swiping away. In the gym with sweaty hands, I really struggled with AW. Not at all with the Gear S3. Plus, it looks like a real watch... round.

AW has way more apps, but what I've realized is that most of them were somewhat novelty. I haven't missed them at all.

Granted this doesn't really help you if you have an iPhone, but just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone in your observations. Apple needs to do a redesign of the watch.

Thanks for the note, convergent. I was eying the Watch you bought. It looks very cool. I struggle with the AW in the gym as well for the reasons you mention.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

Check your bank balance on the Watch?

Not faster or better for me compared to my iPhone. My banking App is quick access on my phone, and the screen size of the iPhone makes the view of the banking info much better than how cut off things are and limited they are on the Watch. Also, while the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Check and respond to Email?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. The screen is so small... the functionality so limited on the Watch... it's not very effective. It's handy occasionally to do quick responses, but that's about it. Also, while the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Check and respond to text messages?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. No keyboard makes it impossible to reply with anything but canned responses in many situations. Siri is not sufficient in public or in the office, and scribbling is far too time consuming. The Watch is handy occasionally to scribble something back, Siri something back, or used a canned response. But overall text messaging is not as good as it is on the iPhone. Also, see below.

Use Apple Pay?

A good experience on the Watch, but see below.

Digital Flight Passes?

Haven't tried it, but see below.

Shopping lists?

Haven't tried it. While the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Weather?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. While the Watch face with weather is good to glance at, drilling into weather information is much better on the iPhone because of the limitations of the screen size and App functionality on the Watch side. Also, see below.

Checking your calendar?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. The calendar is limited in its functionality and how much information it can present. Any kind of appointment input is a strain as well, save for Siri. Also, see below.

One major issue with the speed... the usability... of using the Watch vs. a Smartphone: REQUIREMENT FOR TWO HANDED USE

It's intuitive to just think a computer watch is faster at things than a smartphone, until one analyzes it and tests it in the real world. I knew before the Apple Watch came out that a smartwatch would be flawed in certain situations for one reason: that it effectively requires TWO HANDS to use it. And when it's covered up by clothes, it amplifies the problem. This is all a much bigger issue than people might think.

A smartwatch can be used with one hand, including inputting passwords, scrolling, etc. Because the watch is worn on one arm, the arm that the watch is on must be utilized to raise it and put it into position for the other arm/hand to interact with it. It can't be used with just one hand, because the arm that it's being worn on renders the hand on that arm invalid for input into it.

And for the many people in the world that experience winter, we have to wear sweaters and jackets. Now that winter is upon us, I now have to pull my sweater sleeve and jacket sleeve back to reveal and access watch when I want to use it (this also applies to suits, etc.). This issue is further strained by having to hold the sleeves back at times while using the watch. So if I'm in the grocery store, I have to effectively stop and pull my sleeves back, hold them in place, then fiddle with the watch, where both arms and hands are subservient and occupied by this tiny little thing on one wrist.

It can be easier to pull out my smartphone that's in my jacket inside pocket, and use it with one hand. And then get the big screen and way more functional Apps in the process.

Also, if you're holding bags in one hand, you will have to lift the bags up with at least one of the arms (or put the bags down) because you're dealing with two handed/armed use. This is not necessarily the case with a smartphone.

I'm not saying I have no use for the Watch, but the usefulness of it in relation to the other device (smartphone) on my persons is very limited.

And to anyone commenting about "Why post this". I'm so sick of seeing that in people's threads. Stop posting that. Nobody makes you read this and respond. This is the Internet, and social site to hang out and talk about Apple stuff. This is a fair, legitimate, and relevant topic regarding the usefulness of smartwatches. It's important to Apple's future, to investment in the company, and to consumers who are thinking of spending several hundred dollars on one of these.

Finally, I am in no way the only person who has raised issues about the usefulness of smartwatches. The jury is still out about them and whether they will reach critical mass like smartphones.

Is this whole post obnoxious to anybody else? It's like OP just doesn't know what the purpose of the watch is.

 

[bodonnell202]

I am not quite as bearish as the below article on smartwatches, but I'm not bullish on them on.



http://mashable.com/2017/04/13/smartwatches-are-so-doomed/#fcuLE5J4ZiqQ

Again, this goes back to the delusion that smart watches will be the next big thing like smart phones or will even replace smart phones. They won't. I don't think smart watches will ever sell in numbers even close to that of smart phones. However just because not everyone has a use for them doesn't mean they don't serve a useful purpose in some people's lives.

 

[booksbooks]

Is this whole post obnoxious to anybody else? It's like OP just doesn't know what the purpose of the watch is.

Could you imagine people having a grown up conversation about whether a product has a purpose. In fact, the purpose of smartwatches is a current running debate in the tech world. Many articles exist questioning the need for smartwatches. Smartwatches are far from foregone conclusions.

 

[44267547]

Could you imagine people having a grown up conversation about whether a product has a purpose. In fact, the purpose of smartwatches is a current running debate in the tech world. Many articles exist questioning the need for smartwatches. Smartwatches are far from foregone conclusions.

So what's the correlation between many articles questioning the existence for the need of smart watches versus the actual uses somebody uses a smart watch for? And given the growth of the Apple Watch, which we all know has exponentially increased, it seems you're more dismissive of all these non-issues for most, when The Apple Watch does so many things well.

 

[telefono]

My Mac is useless as an iPad, my iPad is useless as an iPhone, my iPhone is useless strapped on my wrist as a watch, my Apple Watch was designed not to replace my iPhone......................all the above products are perfect for what they were designed for.

Im not upgrading to the AW3 because my AW2 is fast enough and I don't have a use for LTE, But I'm sure its useful for many people so I can't say its useless

 

[magicMac]

I was disappointed with the performance of the first Apple Watch. The ideas and concepts were great but were not usable or well executed. After a few OS changes and massive peformance boosts I now find it far easier and quicker to speak into my watch than type a message on the phone.

The Watch was never going to be an essential device but the same could be said for any Watch. If you don’t wear a Watch at all you’ll get by just fine. The Apple Watch is the only Watch I see value in wearing.

Now that the features, usability and performance are all ticked off Apple should now look at battery life. Not that it’s bad by any stretch, but for a Watch it would really be nice to just leave it off the charger for 4-5 days.

 

[Veridis]

I never thought I would be replacing my phone with a watch, ever. I know the limitations of a smartwatch. My point is that the Watch needs to be better at a certain set of things to make a person use it vs. a smartphone, or else it has no reason to live.

Many of us have our smartphones on our persons most of the time, which is why the above is even more relevant and applicable.

Here's a few things it's better for, for me:

1. Making/answering phone calls around the house without having to pick up my phone.
2. Making/answering phone calls when I'm out with my son. Many times my hands are full and I would have missed the call otherwise.
   
3. Timers any time. Timers for cooking, alarms to go out.
4. Stopwatch to keep track of my piano practice time.
5. Workouts.
6. Calendar
   
7. APPLE PAY!! No need to dig my bag for my wallet.

Short of hanging the iPhone on your neck I don't see anything more convenient.

 

[Nell]

I’m wearing a cardigan and coat today and have just glanced at my wrist to see the time; my watch was immediately visible.

Yes, I get that for many things use of my watch effectively occupies both hands but I’m typing this with my right hand while holding my phone in my left; one handed use of my phone has been off the agenda since phones got bigger (I’m on a 6s; the plus sizes are too big for my pockets and my hand).

Being able to use hey Siri on my watch to set a timer while I’m cooking is another fantastically useful thing for me. I don’t want to have to wash my hands to pull my phone out or risk spilling things on it by having it on the worktop.

The fact that the watch isn’t useful for you doesn’t mean it’s a flawed product; the fact that it’s useful to me doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved.

 

[broadbean]

Amuses me no end when someone who totally doesn't get it, thinks s/he gets it, better than anyone else..

 

[Abazigal]

I
Here are the issues with the Watch:

[*]Any kind of productivity stuff is horrible. For instance, reading and responding to Emails; taking notes; writing text messages...

The watch is more for quickly looking at incoming notifications and deciding if they need your immediate attention. For example, I am at my desk and my watch notifies me of an incoming email. I can read the contents of the email from my wrist there and then, instead of having to unlock my phone.

If I need to respond to the email, then I reach for my phone or laptop. If not, that’s done, and I return to my job at hand.

You are not going to be formulating lengthy responses on your watch, and I don’t know what gave you the impression that you could, or should.

[*]Other Apps, like news Apps, Chipotle, Parking, etc. are so hamstrung as to be in many cases close to useless, and especially when you have to fiddle with your phone for logins.

That’s on the app developers themselves, not Apple. I myself have watch apps that are well-designed and make sense on the wrist, and which I refer to from time to time, such as 1Password, Authy, Overcast, Bear, my banking app and workflow. Not every phone app is going to need a watch app, but the ones Apple has made are pretty well-designed overall.

[*]The design is terrible. It's too thick and the Crown and second button complicate the design and use. I hardly ever use the Crown to scroll; the other button is jarring and I only really use it for Apple Pay. The screen is also too small.

I use the crown all the time. You have never needed to scroll through a long email, or zoom in and out of photos?

Thickness? It’s still thinner than my previous G-shock watch at any rate.

[*]Battery life is terrible. It's nice that a User can get through a day, but this is a watch. It's good that it can be charged relatively quickly, but it's annoying to have to deal with charging it so often, particularly in the context of having other electronic devices that a person has to deal with. This has really started to wear a bit on me.

It helps if you stop thinking of it as a watch, and more as a miniature computer which you wear on your wrist. 1.5 day battery life is already very good considering the sheer amount of stuff it does.

I have a 5-usb port charging hub which I use to charge my iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch every night, and I am not finding it a hassle at all, unless you wish to wear your watch to bed?

[*]Overall, it hardly does anything better than a smartphone, and for that reason, barely has a reason to live. When I go to my MacBook Pro over my iPhone 6 Plus, it's like a calming feeling because I know I get the full Web, full Apps, and productivity is at a relative max. But the 6 Plus is capable. With the Watch, it's like a third "distraction". I'm better off skipping things like Email, etc. on it and just using my smartphone. In other words, the Watch is so hamstrung and so much worse at several things compared to a smartphone, it's just not worth spending time and energy doing those things on the Watch; I just go for the smartphone. The Watch comes in handy sometimes when I'm really on the go, but it's few and far between.

I find my Apple Watch is useful as a remote for my phone, just like how the remote control makes interacting with your television more convenient.

My watch basically lets me perform certain tasks more quickly than if I were to do the same thing on my phone, such as viewing my bank account balance or composing quick messages to a friend.

It’s all about using the right tool for the job, and I use my watch enough that it has a reason to live.

[*]LTE: Terrible. 1 hour of talk time, and $10 per month. I'm no longer using it, and it really isn't necessary either, because of how much I have my phone on me. In other words, the LTE functionality does nothing for me and if it did, it's flawed because of how quickly it drains the battery and the expense of it.

And there are people who have started leaving their phone at home and leaving home with only their watch.

So you either find a way to integrate the device into your life, or be resigned that you don’t have a use for it (yet), but not finding a feature useful is different from the feature being useless.

I can’t comment on this further since the LTE version isn’t available in my country, but I see myself possibly picking it up should it be accessible next year.

So I will keep the Watch for health stuff like heart rate monitoring, Apple Pay, and the convenience of having some smartphone functionality in an extremely portable, wearable form factor. But it's not an essential device and quite a flawed computing form factor.

I think you have to be realistic that one can only do so much on so small a device.

If Apple dumped the Crown and second button, and offset the screen to make it larger, and thinned out the device with better battery life, it would help. But it still wouldn't change this into anything more than it is: a bit of a gimmick computing category with some nice to haves.

For you.

I am happily using my series 2 Apple Watch and loving this complement to my iPhone.

Here's what I am currently doing on my Apple Watch.

1) Apple Pay.

2) Interacting with notifications. I love being able to triage incoming email and dictate short replies to messages from my wrist, especially when my phone is not on me.

3) Siri on the wrist can be handy. I am using it to calculate discounted prices of products in shopping malls (e.g. "What is 70% of $139”)

4) Use the workout app to track my runs. Loving the heart rate sensor as well (not sure how accurate it is though).

5) Have apps like 1Password and Authy saved to my dock. I can now retrieve passwords and 2FA codes directly from my wrist.

6) It's just an nice watch all round (albeit one I have to charge every 1-2 days).

If I am going to wear a watch on my wrist, may as well be one with more functionality.

 

[bruinsrme]

Check your bank balance on the Watch?

Not faster or better for me compared to my iPhone. My banking App is quick access on my phone, and the screen size of the iPhone makes the view of the banking info much better than how cut off things are and limited they are on the Watch. Also, while the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Check and respond to Email?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. The screen is so small... the functionality so limited on the Watch... it's not very effective. It's handy occasionally to do quick responses, but that's about it. Also, while the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Check and respond to text messages?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. No keyboard makes it impossible to reply with anything but canned responses in many situations. Siri is not sufficient in public or in the office, and scribbling is far too time consuming. The Watch is handy occasionally to scribble something back, Siri something back, or used a canned response. But overall text messaging is not as good as it is on the iPhone. Also, see below.

Use Apple Pay?

A good experience on the Watch, but see below.

Digital Flight Passes?

Haven't tried it, but see below.

Shopping lists?

Haven't tried it. While the App Dock is decent, the App homescreen on the Watch is terrible, so getting to Apps can be tedious on the Watch. Also, see below.

Weather?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. While the Watch face with weather is good to glance at, drilling into weather information is much better on the iPhone because of the limitations of the screen size and App functionality on the Watch side. Also, see below.

Checking your calendar?

Not faster and not better on the Watch. The calendar is limited in its functionality and how much information it can present. Any kind of appointment input is a strain as well, save for Siri. Also, see below.

One major issue with the speed... the usability... of using the Watch vs. a Smartphone: REQUIREMENT FOR TWO HANDED USE

It's intuitive to just think a computer watch is faster at things than a smartphone, until one analyzes it and tests it in the real world. I knew before the Apple Watch came out that a smartwatch would be flawed in certain situations for one reason: that it effectively requires TWO HANDS to use it. And when it's covered up by clothes, it amplifies the problem. This is all a much bigger issue than people might think.

A smartwatch can be used with one hand, including inputting passwords, scrolling, etc. Because the watch is worn on one arm, the arm that the watch is on must be utilized to raise it and put it into position for the other arm/hand to interact with it. It can't be used with just one hand, because the arm that it's being worn on renders the hand on that arm invalid for input into it.

And for the many people in the world that experience winter, we have to wear sweaters and jackets. Now that winter is upon us, I now have to pull my sweater sleeve and jacket sleeve back to reveal and access watch when I want to use it (this also applies to suits, etc.). This issue is further strained by having to hold the sleeves back at times while using the watch. So if I'm in the grocery store, I have to effectively stop and pull my sleeves back, hold them in place, then fiddle with the watch, where both arms and hands are subservient and occupied by this tiny little thing on one wrist.

It can be easier to pull out my smartphone that's in my jacket inside pocket, and use it with one hand. And then get the big screen and way more functional Apps in the process.

Also, if you're holding bags in one hand, you will have to lift the bags up with at least one of the arms (or put the bags down) because you're dealing with two handed/armed use. This is not necessarily the case with a smartphone.

I'm not saying I have no use for the Watch, but the usefulness of it in relation to the other device (smartphone) on my persons is very limited.

And to anyone commenting about "Why post this". I'm so sick of seeing that in people's threads. Stop posting that. Nobody makes you read this and respond. This is the Internet, and social site to hang out and talk about Apple stuff. This is a fair, legitimate, and relevant topic regarding the usefulness of smartwatches. It's important to Apple's future, to investment in the company, and to consumers who are thinking of spending several hundred dollars on one of these.

Finally, I am in no way the only person who has raised issues about the usefulness of smartwatches. The jury is still out about them and whether they will reach critical mass like smartphones.

If you were my friend I would call you a whack job.
I say that because my friend gave me every reason why the AW was a waste of time and money.
He finally got one and won't shut up about it , in a manner exactly opposite of you.
yes he got the whack job label as well.

I appreciate you pointing out all the short comings of the watch as it make me appreciate all the things it can do.

one question is there a watch out there that doesn't "effectively require TWO HANDS to use it"

 

[convergent]

Thanks for the note, convergent. I was eying the Watch you bought. It looks very cool. I struggle with the AW in the gym as well for the reasons you mention.

After thinking about this thread more... I find that my use of the watch has changed over time. When I first got the AW, I tried a bunch of apps and ended up with a few that I kept on the watch that I argued were useful and cool, but the reality is they are mostly novelty because I use them rarely and could easily do it on my phone. Nice to haves, I guess I'd say. So most of what I do on the AW is the core functions as I've listed here. As it turns out, most of these are just better on the Gear S3 than AW.

• Checking the time, sometimes multiple time zones when traveling - Gear S3 is always on, so works better
  
• Checking the weather - like AW a little better because of complications, but there are thousands of watch faces on Gear S3 and many include weather
  
• Quickly seeing notifications - about the same on both, although with more apps on the AW, you can sometimes do more on the watch after notification, but don't see much value in that. I go to the phone pretty quickly in either case if something needs to be dealt with
  
• Gym/workouts/health - a lot better on the Gear S3, assuming you are good with the built in apps. The UI and rotating dial are much more usable with sweaty hands vs. AW. I'm not a professional athlete and find the app is much easier to use. It plots my workouts, runs, etc... give me stats per km, and lots of data in a well organized manner about all aspects of my health. It also does a great job tracking my sleep without my having to even tell it to do so.
  
• Controlling music - using Spotify and works great. I never tried downloading music or streaming to AW, so can't comment on that, but like not having to bring phone to gym anymore. Its kind of crazy some of the contraptions people use when working out to hold their phone, or they just leave it laying somewhere.
  
• Making payments - On AW gen 0, I gave up on this quickly because it didn't seem to work well. Using it all the time on the Gear S3... partly because Samsung Pay works in way more places in the US than Apple Pay, so I'm pretty confident it will work and try it everywhere first now.
  
• Responding to texts - Hardly ever used this on AW. I don't like talking to my watch in public. Gear S3 lets you use a keyboard to actually create a custom response, which is way more usable.
  
• Answering the phone when I'm away from it - Mostly at the gym, but there have been times at home where I walked away from my phone laying on the table and the phone rang. Works great

Where the AW excels is in lots of apps... which like I said end up in a lot of cases being novelty, and complications on the face.

Is this whole post obnoxious to anybody else? It's like OP just doesn't know what the purpose of the watch is.

Isn't the point of a discussion forum to discuss differing ideas to learn... or is that obnoxious to you because someone has a different idea than you do?

So what's the correlation between many articles questioning the existence for the need of smart watches versus the actual uses somebody uses a smart watch for? And given the growth of the Apple Watch, which we all know has exponentially increased, it seems you're more dismissive of all these non-issues for most, when The Apple Watch does so many things well.

The AW only works with iPhones, so its going to always have less sales than the iPhone and likely less than other smartwatches over time. Its just logic since iPhone is like 15% of the global smartphone market. I also think that a lot of people buying AW are doing it as a fashion statement more than anything else. (I said "a lot", not all, before someone attacks me on that) All the stuff I listed above is purely convenience, and not necessity. I survived without a smartwatch for quite a while, and could do it again. Smartphones are necessity for most people, smartwatches are not. So some people will like them and some will not. Going on a 3rd year wearing one daily, I would miss not having it, but would certainly adjust.

 

[sonicrobby]

• Any kind of productivity stuff is horrible. For instance, reading and responding to Emails; taking notes; writing text messages...
• Other Apps, like news Apps, Chipotle, Parking, etc. are so hamstrung as to be in many cases close to useless, and especially when you have to fiddle with your phone for logins.
• The design is terrible. It's too thick and the Crown and second button complicate the design and use. I hardly ever use the Crown to scroll; the other button is jarring and I only really use it for Apple Pay. The screen is also too small.
• Battery life is terrible. It's nice that a User can get through a day, but this is a watch. It's good that it can be charged relatively quickly, but it's annoying to have to deal with charging it so often, particularly in the context of having other electronic devices that a person has to deal with. This has really started to wear a bit on me.
• Overall, it hardly does anything better than a smartphone, and for that reason, barely has a reason to live. When I go to my MacBook Pro over my iPhone 6 Plus, it's like a calming feeling because I know I get the full Web, full Apps, and productivity is at a relative max. But the 6 Plus is capable. With the Watch, it's like a third "distraction". I'm better off skipping things like Email, etc. on it and just using my smartphone. In other words, the Watch is so hamstrung and so much worse at several things compared to a smartphone, it's just not worth spending time and energy doing those things on the Watch; I just go for the smartphone. The Watch comes in handy sometimes when I'm really on the go, but it's few and far between.
• LTE: Terrible. 1 hour of talk time, and $10 per month. I'm no longer using it, and it really isn't necessary either, because of how much I have my phone on me. In other words, the LTE functionality does nothing for me and if it did, it's flawed because of how quickly it drains the battery and the expense of it.

I sort of agree and disagree with some of these.

I will say that the watch isnt really meant for productivity, but more of connect-ability in knowing when you have incoming emails and texts. But at the same token, this is my issue with it, as when I had bought the original apple watch, it was simple a notification device for me, and had to pull out my phone to do anything. So I sold it. I do however like the ability to be able to reply to messages and emails with voice or scribble. To think of the downside, the could have released the watch without the capability, but then what is the point?

Similarly with the apps, I hate that it is dependent on your phone for all of that. I understand the workings and how the phone is the main processor behind all of that to conserve battery, but it doesnt seem optimal to me.

I have no complaints on the design, I would prefer something more minimalistic as well, but I really have no issues with the crown and side button being there, nor any issues with the thickness.

No complaints on battery life for me. I used to charge it everyday just like my phone.

My thoughts on this is that it isnt supposed to do anything better than any of the devices except for increased portability and instant accessibility. In my mind, the apple watch should have been a device that has the basic necessities of a phone - emails, texts, calls, maps/gps, health, and time. I feel like everything on a phone is overkill, Im normally on my computer or ipad for anything other than the above.

Agreed with the LTE. I understand the science of not being able to fit a battery to support 9 hours of LTE, but at the same time, 1 hr isnt much of a use to me. It is convenient for those small periods of time where you want to leave your phone at home while you go shopping, movie, or beach and still have the ability to stay connected.

All that being said, while the series 3 was a breakthrough IMO, it has a long way to go before it can provide practicality into my workflow. If I could use the LTE watch to stay connected without the need for a phone at all, it would have changed so much more. And while I cant expect 9 hours of LTE, I would have at least liked 3 hrs of LTE - as my phone calls usually last 30-45 minutes each. Everyday I contemplate getting one for the sole use of not having to worry about my phone at the gym, but it still feels like compromising a lot for that simple use. If the LTE plan were less than 5$ a month, I probably would have got one. But my expectations in terms of LTE battery life and phone independence were not met enough for me to justify the purchase.