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Apple Watch Series 3 Can Now Track Skiing and Snowboarding Activity
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I think this is great! I didn't see much difference between the Series 1 and Series 2, so I've been holding off from buying one so far.
This has 100% just encouraged me to upgrade! I'm hopefully booking a last minute ski trip in March too, so I better get a move on!
This has 100% just encouraged me to upgrade! I'm hopefully booking a last minute ski trip in March too, so I better get a move on!
iPhones have (at least since the 6) an altimeter/pressure sensor, (and GPS too of course) meaning that Apple Watches series0 (and up) should also be able to do exactly the same (track and show information) while connected to the iPhone. However, I think they've chosen not to do this for battery considerations. It looks like it takes more battery to communicate with the phone, than using a watch's internal pressure sensor and GPS chip.
In case that isn't true, then Apple has done this purely to promote upgrading to newer watches for no other reason than profit.
I wonder how the battery performance is on newer Series3 watches anyway. When I go skiing with my Series0, I could theoretically track the basic activity with the workout app (it has a skiing mode), but in practice you can't do this because the battery would be empty in no time. Normally I can still make one day (not 2 anymore like when it was new) on the watch, including a few short workouts up to like 30 minutes. But when I do longer workouts/activities, I need to recharge the watch during the day. As skiing is usually an all day activity, so that's a no-go to track with the watch (at least with series0). So for now, I just wear the watch and entered the skiing workout data later manually, so I don't have a dead watch after a few hours of skiing.
GPS uses much more energy and can take longer to lock in on the user and offers varying levels of accuracy.
My first gen Apple Watch is almost unusable with the latest watchOS because it is painfully slow. Today it took me 4 minutes just the get the music started
Wouldn’t feel bad those gold watch owners. I’d wager most have PLENTY more where that came from.
They bought 10s of millions and it routinely lasts 2 days. If what you enumerated is not compelling, then you're not ready for a smart watch, simple as that.
BTW, music connected to Airpods and controlling homekit, yeah through Siri, is a big thing too.
Not to mention now, it's untethered and still the smallest watch with that much feature set there is.
Leaving GPS on for an entire day of skiing would kill the battery. Altimeter is a much more efficient way of determining your altitude.
Barry life on 3 is fantastic, some people get to 3 days, though 2 is closer to norm.
Few people I know actually sking the whole day, though they claim they do...
Downhill skying has a large amount of time were you're not going downhill.
Technically yeah every year a new watch is released with a new watchOS but the improvements have only been incremental in my opinion. I've had the Apple Watch since Series 0 and I haven't noticed any significant update since its inception (except watchOS 2 which gave a nice performance boost). The only neat feature that was added was the watch's ability to unlock my Mac if its on my wrist and near the computer. Rest, the fitness stuff for the gym/running, notifications, applications, etc have stayed similar throughout the years.
Yeah we have cellular watches with GPS now that are a lot faster with better battery but in terms of features I haven't seen anything crazy to get rid of my Series 0. Yeah it was never officially "water resistant" but I have never had any problems when it gets soaked while I wash my hands or the few times I forgot to take it off before hopping into the shower. It also still lasts the whole day for me and I just put it on charge alongside my phone before I sleep.
This is all just my personal take. It varies with everyone's use cases like if someone swims a lot or if people need to have cellular on their watch.
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Interesting question. Yes, you can use GPS with Series 2, but it is getting it from your iPhone. There may be an issue with responsiveness of using GPS from other device, versus accelerometer, types of measurement, etc., but using GPS would also be a significant battery drain issue.
One app to track that, a different app to track that, a third app to track that, an app or two to be able to export/import to popular PROPER health-oriented websites and services, and then use the integrated workout app for certain things. Oh and figuring out which apps works best for certain activities takes forever, and costs a lot more money than what the watch initially costs. And the ease of navigating a touch-screen, and tiny not-so-very tactile buttons with ski/snowboarding/winter gloves on... Which is something that many people wear 4-5 months out of the year. Yes, this is exactly why I am dumping my Series 3 42mm for a Garmin Fenix 5.
The Apple Watch is a nice iPhone remote, but it can't stand on it's own. The day it can, with proper battery life, I will reconsider it. As of today it's a nice city watch for people that live in an office or a gym though, as long as they have an iPhone.
The Apple Watch is a nice iPhone remote, but it can't stand on it's own. The day it can, with proper battery life, I will reconsider it. As of today it's a nice city watch for people that live in an office or a gym though, as long as they have an iPhone.
You've apparently never skied any of the places with EpicMix for example...people are obsessed with tracking their total vert.
I'd kind of like to know a bit about the math on these data points. I'm no skier and, correct me if I'm wrong, but does standing on two slabs of wood and sliding down a hill, for a change of X number of vertical feet, count as exercise and therefore burn calories? Okay I'm being a little sarcastic here, but seriously - how do you measure calories burned when downhill skiing?