Biggest Problem with Apple Watch. EASY Fix

[VinegarTasters]

I know that Apple Watch has been out for a long time. But have you noticed that it has almost no traction compared to the iPhone? Do you know why? The stupid screen is too small. Nobody enjoys squinting at a tiny screen when they have the Time on a big iPhone screen to appreciate. The other big problem is that the battery life is too short on a single charge. Can you imaging going on a weeks trips and the watch dies because you can't charge it? What do you do if you are in the desert hiking for a week? No more time keeping? It is not like you can easily connect a usb-c cable to it either. The proprietary power connections really hinders its acceptance as a "watch" because people do happen to travel all over the world with a watch (notice the different time zones on the turnable dial fixture for many popular non-digital brands). OK. Enough of this gripe. I will tell you now the two main points of this post.

1) Apple needs to take out the battery and put it in the bands. You can have 5 or six segments for the band and each segment is mini-battery. It can even be designed to match the rugged 2-tone steel/gold bands of Rolex and others. This would increase the battery life on a single charge to match that of iPhones. Short battery life is BAD BAD BAD.

2) Use a different display technology to offset the small real estate of the watch face. For example, make a small projector inside that can project onto a wall or your chest or hands, or ANYWHERE so that you actually see a larger image (at a minimum project light at least to the size of the iPhone clearly). For example, with the watch on, make a gesture or sound and the projector beams a display for 15 seconds (adjustable) that you can then project anywhere. Or even wirelessly send the image to your fashionable Rayband digital image enabled sunglasses (maybe apple's ar glasses if it is not too bulky).

 

[Lifeisabeach]

That sounds like an awful lot of extra weight on your wrist. And who needs a smart watch in the desert for a week? Maybe just wear a more traditional watch for such excursions???? And... I'm PRETTY SURE that adding a small projector to the Watch would add not only more weight, but also be a significant battery drain. And wirelessly send the image to sunglasses? Now you will have to charge the sunglasses also. 😂

 

[StumpyBloke]

Thanks OP, you really cheered me up with your post

 

[VinegarTasters]

That sounds like an awful lot of extra weight on your wrist. And who needs a smart watch in the desert for a week? Maybe just wear a more traditional watch for such excursions???? And... I'm PRETTY SURE that adding a small projector to the Watch would add not only more weight, but also be a significant battery drain. And wirelessly send the image to sunglasses? Now you will have to charge the sunglasses also. 😂

You are not getting it. The watch can be THINNER once you remove the battery and put it into the bands. The thickness really is off-putting to a lot of users. Look at the tremendous effort of slimming down the iPhone at Apple. That bulky Apple Watch is a turn off (along with the small screen). Moving the battery to the band will slim it down AND give it a long lasting life per charge. Do you know how heavy a Gold Rolex or whatever luxury brand is? Heaviness is NOT a factor for watches. For Apple products, thinness is the rage (look at iPhone...), and the MOST important factor (besides the small watch LED/LCD size). Why do you think large iPhones sell more than small iPhone screens? Stop moving backwards into the past and move into the future of thin design and long lasting battery life.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

The Watch is too big, but the screen is too small. Riiiiight....

How much bigger does the screen on a watch need to be for you?

 

[BeerDrinkerDan]

What do you do if you are in the desert hiking for a week? No more time keeping? It is not like you can easily connect a usb-c cable to it either.

Ok, hang on...if you're in a desert, or anywhere, where you can plug in a USB-C cable then you can plug in the AW puck charger. 🤷‍♂️

-dan

 

[mascotmac]

My first two watches I didn't really get them, but now I do:

1) You can get a small pocket power bank that's a watch charger as well.

Alternatively adding one cable to your kit is easy if you want to charge from something else.

With the fast charging on the newer ones it's no problem. I put mine on charge when getting ready in the morning and it's fully charged well before I need it.

There's no need for extra weight of more battery or a longer battery life with daily charging. You can even run a charger from a small solar power bank if you are completely off grid.

2) The mistake I made with my 7 was trying to do everything on the watch.

As a companion to the iPhone it works best, switching between them when you want a bigger screen or full keyboard.

I also made the mistake of typing on the 7 instead of using voice instead, but switching between devices is best when you can.

 

[VinegarTasters]

The Watch is too big, but the screen is too small. Riiiiight....

How much bigger does the screen on a watch need to be for you?

Yes, now you get it. Not big enough because the wrist limits the size. An optional method is to make the watch face the same width and height as those two watches FUSED together into one watch. then it maybe is 1/4 of an iPhone and at least a bit more usable with the touchscreen. But that is the point, it will ALWAYS be smaller than an iPhone, and you know large iPhones sell more than small iPhones. That is why the solution is to use projection or some sort of relay so the image screen instantaneously appears in front of your eyes bigger... NOT on a small screen on your watch. Because of this small screen, nobody will buy it if they can use an iPhone to give time. Plus, that Watch is too bulky. Ugly bulky while iPhones are thin and sexy. Move the batteries to the band or do a remote power thing with the power emitter maybe located elsewhere on your body or in an iPhone (if that technological hurdle can be solved).

 

[VinegarTasters]

My first two watches I didn't really get them, but now I do:

1) You can get a small pocket power bank that's a watch charger as well.

Alternatively adding one cable to your kit is easy if you want to charge from something else.

With the fast charging on the newer ones it's no problem. I put mine on charge when getting ready in the morning and it's fully charged well before I need it.

There's no need for extra weight of more battery or a longer battery life with daily charging. You can even run a charger from a small solar power bank if you are completely off grid.

2) The mistake I made with my 7 was trying to do everything on the watch.

As a companion to the iPhone it works best, switching between them when you want a bigger screen or full keyboard.

I also made the mistake of typing on the 7 instead of using voice instead, but switching between devices is best when you can.

Yes, then you get back to square one. Why do you need to carry a power brick if you can carry an iPhone instead and remove the watch? That extra weight to make your watch useful can be replaced by an iPhone that tells time on a bigger screen. So if you remove the heavy power brick and keep the light watch, then at least make the watch band hold the battery life longer so it is long lasting. This will solve the short battery life, but not the small display.

 

[MisterSavage]

I know that Apple Watch has been out for a long time. But have you noticed that it has almost no traction compared to the iPhone?

But has huge traction compared to other watches. 😵‍💫

 

[BigMcGuire]

I've forgotten my watch charger on a few work trips. Trip to the local Best Buy and I was golden. Now with my Ultra, I can almost last a 3 day work trip without needing to charge once.

Batteries are extremely volatile substances. A band that has lithium polymer (moldable) batteries in it will be subject to combustion if bent too far or damaged.

What I love about my watch is that I can use it as a key for my car and leave my phone at home. I can also use it as my wallet (though I don't usually leave that home anyway). It is really nice not to have to lug around a 14 PM, especially in the summer time when my shorts cannot keep the phone from pulling them down. lol.

Agree with other posters here - the watch is designed and best used in conjunction with an iPhone.

 

[JustinKent]

Great ideas! Have you applied for a job at Apple in the Watch team? I know they have some openings. Or perhaps they'd welcome you as successor CEO.

 

[toobravetosave]

are you playing doom on the thing?

 

[bricktop_at]

A watch is a watch… it’s not meant to be ginormous…. 😉

 

[hirsthirst]

2) The mistake I made with my 7 was trying to do everything on the watch.

As a companion to the iPhone it works best, switching between them when you want a bigger screen or full keyboard.

I also made the mistake of typing on the 7 instead of using voice instead, but switching between devices is best when you can.

yep, agree with this - it's a companion device for me too.

I have never typed once on my Apple Watch, only tapped on notifications / to silence alarms / start or stop a run etc.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Yes, now you get it. Not big enough because the wrist limits the size. An optional method is to make the watch face the same width and height as those two watches FUSED together into one watch. then it maybe is 1/4 of an iPhone and at least a bit more usable with the touchscreen. But that is the point, it will ALWAYS be smaller than an iPhone, and you know large iPhones sell more than small iPhones. That is why the solution is to use projection or some sort of relay so the image screen instantaneously appears in front of your eyes bigger... NOT on a small screen on your watch. Because of this small screen, nobody will buy it if they can use an iPhone to give time. Plus, that Watch is too bulky. Ugly bulky while iPhones are thin and sexy. Move the batteries to the band or do a remote power thing with the power emitter maybe located elsewhere on your body or in an iPhone (if that technological hurdle can be solved).

Just my opinion, but this is laughable! It is a watch. It is a device where people take a quick look at it, maybe press the screen a couple of times and that’s it.

You keep going on about your de facto solutions, however what I believe you fail to realise is there is actually no problem in the first place for the absolute vast vast vast majority of owners.

Also, it is the best selling watch on the planet and nothing you are coming out with is based, in my opinion anyway, in any form of reality. You are inventing issues where no issues exist.

Oh and your “fix”: far from easy.

 

[boss.king]

I know that Apple Watch has been out for a long time. But have you noticed that it has almost no traction compared to the iPhone? Do you know why? The stupid screen is too small. Nobody enjoys squinting at a tiny screen when they have the Time on a big iPhone screen to appreciate.

The watch isn’t meant to completely replace a phone. It’s for basic interactions and health tracking. The display is big enough for everything it needs to do.

The other big problem is that the battery life is too short on a single charge. Can you imaging going on a weeks trips and the watch dies because you can't charge it? What do you do if you are in the desert hiking for a week? No more time keeping? It is not like you can easily connect a usb-c cable to it either. The proprietary power connections really hinders its acceptance as a "watch" because people do happen to travel all over the world with a watch (notice the different time zones on the turnable dial fixture for many popular non-digital brands). OK. Enough of this gripe. I will tell you now the two main points of this post.

I’m travelling with an Apple Watch right now. I’ve done month-long trips camping and hiking. Charging is no different to charging any other device, I plug it into a power bank and in ~45 mins I’m good to go for another day. It would be great if the battery lasted longer, but charging isn’t the hassle you’re making it out to be.

1) Apple needs to take out the battery and put it in the bands. You can have 5 or six segments for the band and each segment is mini-battery. It can even be designed to match the rugged 2-tone steel/gold bands of Rolex and others. This would increase the battery life on a single charge to match that of iPhones. Short battery life is BAD BAD BAD.

Hell no. Not only does this make the batteries more exposed and at risk of puncturing, it would make for horribly bulky bands. It also means your watch would die when you go to switch bands, and it would make some styles of bands either incredibly ugly or just impossible.

This is an awful idea.

2) Use a different display technology to offset the small real estate of the watch face. For example, make a small projector inside that can project onto a wall or your chest or hands, or ANYWHERE so that you actually see a larger image (at a minimum project light at least to the size of the iPhone clearly). For example, with the watch on, make a gesture or sound and the projector beams a display for 15 seconds (adjustable) that you can then project anywhere. Or even wirelessly send the image to your fashionable Rayband digital image enabled sunglasses (maybe apple's ar glasses if it is not too bulky).

First of all, why? This is so much clunkier than just pulling out my phone when I need a bigger display. On top of that, the tech needed to project an image in sunlight would make this unusable bulky. This is a science fiction idea with absolutely no real-world practicality in mind.

The glasses thing seems like a no-brainer, but of course that requires Apple to first invent AR glasses.

 

[BeerDrinkerDan]

An optional method is to make the watch face the same width and height as those two watches FUSED together into one watch.

You want a watch that is 3.5-4 inches wide? Not a chance. You have got to represent the .0001% in this.

-dan

 

[ignatius345]

. Can you imaging going on a weeks trips and the watch dies because you can't charge it? What do you do if you are in the desert hiking for a week? No more time keeping?

Sounds like a great use case for a basic, durable quartz watch.

 

[TGM85]

I believe the watch is primarily supposed to be a health and fitness tracker and is not meant as a stand alone device that completely replaces a smart phone.

 

[KingofGotham1]

I know that Apple Watch has been out for a long time. But have you noticed that it has almost no traction compared to the iPhone? Do you know why? The stupid screen is too small. Nobody enjoys squinting at a tiny screen when they have the Time on a big iPhone screen to appreciate. The other big problem is that the battery life is too short on a single charge. Can you imaging going on a weeks trips and the watch dies because you can't charge it? What do you do if you are in the desert hiking for a week? No more time keeping? It is not like you can easily connect a usb-c cable to it either. The proprietary power connections really hinders its acceptance as a "watch" because people do happen to travel all over the world with a watch (notice the different time zones on the turnable dial fixture for many popular non-digital brands). OK. Enough of this gripe. I will tell you now the two main points of this post.

1) Apple needs to take out the battery and put it in the bands. You can have 5 or six segments for the band and each segment is mini-battery. It can even be designed to match the rugged 2-tone steel/gold bands of Rolex and others. This would increase the battery life on a single charge to match that of iPhones. Short battery life is BAD BAD BAD.

2) Use a different display technology to offset the small real estate of the watch face. For example, make a small projector inside that can project onto a wall or your chest or hands, or ANYWHERE so that you actually see a larger image (at a minimum project light at least to the size of the iPhone clearly). For example, with the watch on, make a gesture or sound and the projector beams a display for 15 seconds (adjustable) that you can then project anywhere. Or even wirelessly send the image to your fashionable Rayband digital image enabled sunglasses (maybe apple's ar glasses if it is not too bulky).

1) You're still missing the point, why isnt the Apple Watch selling (well besides it being the number 1 selling smart watch) its because the battery, and your idea doesn't go far enough...by putting a battery in the bands but reducing the battery from the watch you're not gaining much...BUT if you include a Magic Battery pack like the one the Vision Pro will have, you can keep a huge battery on your hip! This would prob last weeks as you mentioned when people get lost in the dessert for weeks on end. I was swimming in the artic circle and was lost for weeks and I wished my watch had longer battery life, my battery pack idea would have def helped!

2) You're still iving in the past, you need to move to the future...why waste time and bulk to have a projector?? The Apple Watch should wirlessly transmit signals to contacts you can wear, and that way you have information available at all times! You could make a small hand gesture..OR EVEN BLINK YOUR PASSCODE! This is the future

 

[chocoshuffle]

So where’s the easy fix part that you mentioned in the title?

 

[Night Spring]

This would increase the battery life on a single charge to match that of iPhones.

What do you mean? My iPhone has to be charged daily, just like my watch. Their battery life already match.

 

[jz0309]

I know that Apple Watch has been out for a long time. But have you noticed that it has almost no traction compared to the iPhone? Do you know why? The stupid screen is too small. Nobody enjoys squinting at a tiny screen when they have the Time on a big iPhone screen to appreciate. The other big problem is that the battery life is too short on a single charge. Can you imaging going on a weeks trips and the watch dies because you can't charge it? What do you do if you are in the desert hiking for a week? No more time keeping? It is not like you can easily connect a usb-c cable to it either. The proprietary power connections really hinders its acceptance as a "watch" because people do happen to travel all over the world with a watch (notice the different time zones on the turnable dial fixture for many popular non-digital brands). OK. Enough of this gripe. I will tell you now the two main points of this post.

1) Apple needs to take out the battery and put it in the bands. You can have 5 or six segments for the band and each segment is mini-battery. It can even be designed to match the rugged 2-tone steel/gold bands of Rolex and others. This would increase the battery life on a single charge to match that of iPhones. Short battery life is BAD BAD BAD.

2) Use a different display technology to offset the small real estate of the watch face. For example, make a small projector inside that can project onto a wall or your chest or hands, or ANYWHERE so that you actually see a larger image (at a minimum project light at least to the size of the iPhone clearly). For example, with the watch on, make a gesture or sound and the projector beams a display for 15 seconds (adjustable) that you can then project anywhere. Or even wirelessly send the image to your fashionable Rayband digital image enabled sunglasses (maybe apple's ar glasses if it is not too bulky).

really? no traction - where's your data to prove that?

putting the battery in the band is a real bad idea, the band needs to be flexible and batteries don't like to be "flexed", and since most bands are not metal, heat will be a problem.

screen too small? too small for what? and if the watch replaces your iPhone - how do you solve the input ability?

 

[BostonQuad]

But have you noticed that it has almost no traction compared to the iPhone?

Not a meaningful comparison IMO. They serve different needs.

1) Apple needs to take out the battery and put it in the bands.

In addition to the serious problems boss.king pointed out, this would make the bands much more expensive. We already complain about $50 and $100 bands.

2) Use a different display technology to offset the small real estate of the watch face. For example, make a small projector inside that can project onto a wall or your chest or hands, or ANYWHERE so that you actually see a larger image (at a minimum project light at least to the size of the iPhone clearly). For example, with the watch on, make a gesture or sound and the projector beams a display for 15 seconds (adjustable) that you can then project anywhere. Or even wirelessly send the image to your fashionable Rayband digital image enabled sunglasses (maybe apple's ar glasses if it is not too bulky).

Projection: 1) Assuming the projector had auto-focus, it could only focus on a point. The rest would be out of focus on anything other than a flat surface that you aligned the watch perfectly with. 2) You'd have color distortion on anything other than a white surface. 3) Compared to glancing at my wrist, glancing at my chest is awkward; finding a surface in front of me is not convenient or always possible... and for what? Not all of us squint to read our watch. 4) $$$

Glasses: Not everyone wants to wear glasses. They wouldn't be throwing them on just to see the time or check the latest text message.