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Apple Watch's Rumored Low Power Mode 'Still in Development' for watchOS 9

My S7 has "always display on" turned off since new. Most days have 50% power or more remaining. And that is with getting 18-20 hours of stand time and maybe one or two calls bounced to the watch. Even my S6 had whole day battery.

There is really not a battery issue in my normal use.
 
This would definitely be handy, I went on a two night trip last week and forgot my watch charger. I didn’t notice until the end of the first day, but I managed by turning the always-on screen off and using power reserve at night. If there was a low power mode, I imagine I could increase that time from three days to five.
 
When you must disable Always on to preserve battery life, that's fail... we can kiss Apple's behind, but they need to improve battery life on AW...

Do something... make it bigger, cram more battery inside...
 
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MrMacintoshIII said:
Why is that such a hard concept for people? Why do people want the next greatest thing, but for free? You loved your Series 5, 6, or 7 when you bought it right? Or did you buy an already old Series for cheap, were happy with your discount, and are still complaining that a new feature isn’t coming to your old watch?
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Because a low power mode isn’t an advanced feature? When people bought their watches, the batteries weren’t degraded and would last longer. There’s nothing wrong with hoping they could get the SAME performance from it. In my book, low power mode should not be a shiny new headline feature.
 
Böhme417 said:
Because a low power mode isn’t an advanced feature? When people bought their watches, the batteries weren’t degraded and would last longer. There’s nothing wrong with hoping they could get the SAME performance from it. In my book, low power mode should not be a shiny new headline feature.
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You thinking it’s not advanced doesn’t make it so…
 
Has anybody else lost interest in the Apple Watch and WatchOS upgrades like I have? I own a Series 6 and love it for a number of reasons but have seen nothing in the Series 6.1 or Series 6.2 (marketed by Apple as the Series 7 and Series 8) that make for a compelling reason to spend money to upgrade.

When mine goes, I break it by accident, I lose it or it gets stolen then I’ll upgrade to the latest in the 6.x Series but I’ve seen nothing in the existing hardware nor heard any rumors about the hardware yet to ship nor in rumors about newer versions of WatchOS that would make for a compelling reason to spend the money to upgrade.

I’m afraid that nothing shy of a blood pressure monitor or a blood sugar / glucose monitor would compel me to upgrade at this point. I can see how something that monitored for sleep apnea might be compelling for others but since I’ve already been diagnosed and use a C-PAP machine that alone wouldn’t be compelling for me unless they work with leading C-PAP manufacturers to allow them to communicate with the Watch or the iPhone directly to report and track my numbers in the Health app. Right now I’ve got a ResMed 10 with a built in cellular chip and their app which I can use to check my numbers and my recent history from anywhere once they are uploaded from my machine which happens automatically in the background when I’m done using it but it doesn’t automatically populate anything in the Health app so that would be nice.
 
votdfak said:
When you must disable Always on to preserve battery life, that's fail... we can kiss Apple's behind, but they need to improve battery life on AW...

Do something... make it bigger, cram more battery inside...
Click to expand...
If one doesn't need to look at the screen 24/7, why waste battery keeping the screen on that you aren't looking at unless you have to?
 
foobarbaz said:
You might as well ask when they will make a round iPhone or iPad.

Just like the phone isn't the primary function of the iPhone, showing an analog watch face isn't the primary function of the Apple Watch. And most other functions, especially stuff that involves text or scrolling, would look worse on a round display. I think the 10k gold watch has shown that it doesn't make sense to compete on fashion. Most people buy the Watch for the functionality.
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While a rectangular face allows more information, it doesn't necessarily always mean better functionality.

Notably, for running, often I want less information per screen for quick at a glance metrics. Something a round watch face does easily.

Which is why many use the Nike App or RunOutdoors and customize their screens to lessen the clutter that the stock Apple app brings. Or they get a Garmin or Polar watch.

And honestly, even with round faces there's enough space for complications. And remember, it's a device on your wrist meant for quick views. If you want to read an article, use your phone.
 
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Macaholic868 said:
Has anybody else lost interest in the Apple Watch (…) I own a Series 6 and love it for a number of reasons
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So you haven‘t really „lost interest“, you‘re just satisfied with the Watch that you already have. As you should be as it‘s not even 2 years old!

People need to understand that it‘s really hard to cram new features into this tiny wrist computer every year. Which doesn‘t mean the upgrades aren‘t worth it, they‘re just naturally incremental and add up. Also, different folks upgrade for different reasons. I personally care a lot about the look of the Watch and so the bigger screen (smaller bezels) of the S7 was a good reason for me to upgrade (which I did). The fast charging is fantastic, too, by the way. Other people only care about the fitness/health functions, so for them there was nothing new in the S7. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Apple_Robert said:
That would be good. You can (now) also create a Siri shortcut to easily turn the screen on and off.
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Display always on/off toggle is definitely needed, because theater mode doesn't wake up display without touching display... I don't know... there are places to improve battery life still...
 
votdfak said:
Display always on/off toggle is definitely needed, because theater mode doesn't wake up display without touching display... I don't know... there are places to improve battery life still...
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Hopefully, the battery ability will increase notably in the next few years. This is a case of the software ability exceeding the hardware ability. With Macs, it is reserved lol
 
mystery hill said:
Apple Watch needs standalone (prepaid) cellular plans so that it can be used without being tethered to an iPhone when travelling internationally.

Currently the cellular functionality can only be used for emergency calls when overseas.
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Agreed -- the problem is Apple's insistence on making it "secondary" to your phone -- if they allowed it to work with any network as a primary device, the cellular model could actually be useful.
 
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To date, the watch and iPhone need to be on the same network(s) to talk to each other for software updates, transfer calls and shared data.

When the “always on” feature came out, I saw it as a way to advertise to others the owner had the latest model.

I do not need my watch to add distracting lights/information when driving al night. An incoming call notification on the watch works with the display off.
 
satchmo said:
I’m curious how this would be hardware-exclusive when it’s software that’s telling apps and the display to power down.
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That way apple can use it to upsell. No different than rumored always on display only working on the 14 series when the 13 pro also has a LTPO display and could do it (android has been doing it for years).
 
Adding sleep features or apps, are pointless unless they make the battery last for more than 24 hours.
 
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I7guy said:
What is the primary function of the iPhone then?


How many would buy a watch / smart watch if the device couldn’t tell time?
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With all due respect, please tell me you’re joking.
I pretty much use my phone constantly… but make… probably like maybe three or four actual phone calls per week.
And I know The majority of people are about the same.
And if I do make some sort of phone call, more than likely it’s not an actual phone call and it’s a FaceTime call, or a zoom, or some type of voip Service.
As for the watch, its no better or worse at telling time than any modern phone, tablet, computer, or anything else with a clock function.
People are not purchasing Apple watches for the clock
 
DHagan4755 said:
When will Apple make this design round like a normal watch? The Apple Watch's square design doesn't appeal to me. At all. Which is why I haven't bought one yet
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One of Apple’s top priorities is to create product designs that have broad appeal across consumer demographics but at the same time are instantly recognizable and easy to tell apart from other brands.

Apple has achieved this for AW, creating the most profitable and popular smart watch ever. I don’t know why they would change much about AW at all?

Furthermore, a round Watch would need a round display and thus require a whole new iteration of WatchOS just for the round models, and third party devs would need to do rounded versions of their AW apps. That’s not very efficient.

I wouldn’t hold my breath for a round AW. It was never Apple’s goal with AW. It’s not happening.
 
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