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Apple Watch - Terrible at Showing the Time

I have mixed feeling about the raise to wake so far. As the name suggests, you literally have to raise the watch to activate the screen which is fine in most positions but if you're lying in bed or reading lifting your wrist isn't always natural.

I've also had a few embarrassing situations where I've been showing the watch to other people and every time I go to angle the watch towards them to see it it switches off. Not a big problem at all but its always a bit awkward.

About 85% of the time however it works as it should so I'm happy!
 
tomaustin44 said:
I have mixed feeling about the raise to wake so far. As the name suggests, you literally have to raise the watch to activate the screen which is fine in most positions but if you're lying in bed or reading lifting your wrist isn't always natural.

I've also had a few embarrassing situations where I've been showing the watch to other people and every time I go to angle the watch towards them to see it it switches off. Not a big problem at all but its always a bit awkward.

About 85% of the time however it works as it should so I'm happy!
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You don't have to raise it. I've had it on my lap and just slightly turn it towards me and it goes on.
 
Mine has been great as a time piece and I don't even have the automatic "twist the wrist to activate" on. I just tap the screen and presto the time.
 
Apple should at least allow just digital time, small in the lower corner, always on.

If you raise your wrist - then it should go to the desired face as it does now.
 
Apple Watch being a first gen product is going to have bugs and annoyances. That's normal. Think about it, iPhone 6 series still isn't fully sorted and bug free.

Apple shills that do reviews are mainly going to be very quick to praise Apple. It's in their best interest, they certainly don't want to upset the company that pays their bills based on the articles they write that keep their employers in good standing with Apple.

Be patient, focus on the fact that it will get better at some point as Apple works to solve the various issues.
 
tantantheman said:
If you think that the main selling point of the Apple Watch is to tell time, then I'd suggest you look at every other non-smartwatch out there. Of course, as a watch it's reasonable to expect timekeeping to be a big feature. I personally find Apple's tilt to wake much much better than the android wear watches' waking that I've tried.
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Then why call it a "watch"?
 
This is something that John Gruber also mentioned in his review. I guess I will have to see if it bothers me when I get my Watch sometime in June..
 
8CoreWhore said:
Apple should at least allow just digital time, small in the lower corner, always on.

If you raise your wrist - then it should go to the desired face as it does now.
Click to expand...

If they find they can pull that off with minimal battery usage they could do it with a software update. It would have to be pretty tiny.
 
This was a major concern of mine before I bought the watch because - for me - the Apple Watch is primarily a watch.

My fears have not been confirmed. Pretty much every time I want to see what time it is the watch knows and it's there: no extravagant gestures are needed. A subtle wrist movement - akin to what you'd do with any other watch - is enough.

I'm perfectly happy about this aspect of the watch.
 
The watch does a lot of things quite well but having used a pebble for the last 12 months I can relate to what the OP is saying.

With the pebble due to the ink display it's always on which means you never have to move your wrist to see the time or even check a notification. The pebble also has a backlight function which is activated when it's dark or if you flick your wrist.

Hopefully this might be addressed in the next gen to have some sort of low level always on display.
 
You guys are great! This whole time you talk about taking your phone out being too time consuming and cumbersome. Now, you say that taking extra time and flicking your wrist just right so that the watch works as intended 90% of the time is perfectly acceptable. Which is it? Perhaps we could just admit this is a flaw that hopefully gets fixed soon?

Oh, and the guys that say this isn't sold as a "watch" to tell time, you may want to have a chat with Apple about that:

An incredibly precise timepiece.
High-quality watches have long been defined by their ability to keep unfailingly accurate time, and Apple Watch is no exception. In conjunction with your iPhone, it keeps time within 50 milliseconds of the definitive global time standard. It even lets you customize your watch face to present time in a more meaningful, personal context that’s relevant to your life and schedule.
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That is the very first piece on the Apple Watch homepage. Apple marketing at its best!
 
The only way this product is related to a watch is that it sits in the same spot a traditional watch used to be. Just as the way the iPhone is similar to a dumb phone from back in the day is that it also makes calls.
 
Black in OLED doesn't use any energy right? In theory could apple create a reserve mode that displays a super simple watch face with a pure black background?

It seems like if people are willing to acknowledge battery life problems, apple would do this.

The fact is the apple watch becomes completely useless if the thing dies...

Which is probably why this isn't an option
 
Trius said:
If you're worried about wasting milliseconds, ...
Click to expand...

You should be more worried about interrupting other people and wasting their time. But if you look quick enough, most people won't even notice or drop a beat in the flow of what they were saying. That's where a fraction of a second can make a massive difference.

Tiny things matter. That's often one of the reasons Apple makes Billions more than their competition.
 
From the responses here and elsewhere, I am wondering if some of the watches are sluggish in showing the time, while others are not. Could it be something like overloaded apps vs. few apps on a watch, maybe? Or some difference in production.

Whatever, I hope they get it ironed out. I have actually grown tired of pulling out my iPhone to check the time, and was looking forward to the watch being as good a watch as they have hyped it to be, in addition to the other features.

(Just ignore the naysayer trolls that abound here. They thrive on arguing with everyone instead of sharing thoughts.)
 
Mac128guy said:
So, this is the exact reason I did not order the Apple Watch. For me, a guy who wears a watch every day, time is the #1 most important feature, then notifications. I really wish there was an Always On mode with a power saving monochrome screen. I have a Pebble and love the fact that the screen is always on so I can easily glance at the time without moving my wrist (like when I'm typing!).
Click to expand...

Doesn't Apple watch have a power reserve mode? What happens if you put the watch in that mode?

Yes, compared to traditional watches, the Apple watch is slower ar showing the time. But it's a lot faster than digging your phone out of your pocket to see the time, as I've been doing since I got my first iPhone. So it depends on where you are coming from. For those of us who never wore watches or haven't worn watches in a while, the Apple watch is an improvement at telling time. For those people used to wearing traditional watches, yes, it's a step back, and you have to decide whether all the other smartwatch functions are worth the trade off of slower time display.
 
mrkramer said:
Smart watches are not primarily intended to show the time
Click to expand...

That's a dumb remark.
The sensor may not be working perfectly and the software may be buggy. All it takes is some engineering effort to tweak it, or they can simply add an option to change the sensitivity. Samsung Tizen watch and Android Wear watch both have this option.
 
Mac128guy said:
So, this is the exact reason I did not order the Apple Watch. For me, a guy who wears a watch every day, time is the #1 most important feature, then notifications. I really wish there was an Always On mode with a power saving monochrome screen. I have a Pebble and love the fact that the screen is always on so I can easily glance at the time without moving my wrist (like when I'm typing!).
Click to expand...

Then stick to your Pebble
 
ohaishawnn said:
Then stick to your Pebble
Click to expand...

Well ok then...but it seems based on this discussion that a lot of people would love to have some Always On component (or at least an option for it), whether it's a small time font in the corner, a low power full screen solution or something else.

I'm sure when Apple figures it out (which they obviously will), you'll think it's brilliant to not have to turn your wrist to see the time!
 
Mac128guy said:
Well ok then...but it seems based on this discussion that a lot of people would love to have some Always On component (or at least an option for it), whether it's a small time font in the corner, a low power full screen solution or something else.

I'm sure when Apple figures it out (which they obviously will), you'll think it's brilliant to not have to turn your wrist to see the time!
Click to expand...

I would sacrifice the .8 seconds it takes to raise my wrist and wait for it to turn on for better battery life.
 
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