Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apps Clock app
- Thread starter tl01
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Such a thing is simply not possible to do in software on Apple Watch. The rules under which the screen activates are set firmly, and I can imagine could only be twisted if watch becomes jailbroken. Meanwhile, people came up with mechanical solutions to accomplish this, like this one:
![1*9D1gRq9Bmx-0CvGwAbO3VA.jpeg]()
Where an electric motor slowly spins the crown, which keeps the screen awake. Alternately, for a nightstand mode, a device could be fashioned that would create a small vibration every 10 seconds or so, and place it next to your watch. However, keep in mind that doing this would without question create a burn-in on the oled screen very quickly, most likely after just a few hours, and it could stay there permanently, or long enough that it looks permanent if you keep repeating this every night. This is a serious problem with OLED screens when displaying relatively bright, well defined image, like those green numbers are. I think overall you would regret doing this for how small the benefit is, and how large issue you would cause - for an always-on to make sense in the nightstand mode, they would have to program the clock numbers to shift slightly over time, which they don't do right now.
I am very curious how Samsung deals with this, as it has an always-on screen mode on Gear 3 watch. I've read that some people did notice burn-in after just a day of use, which went away when the disabled always-on mode. Others however said they did't notice anything.
Where an electric motor slowly spins the crown, which keeps the screen awake. Alternately, for a nightstand mode, a device could be fashioned that would create a small vibration every 10 seconds or so, and place it next to your watch. However, keep in mind that doing this would without question create a burn-in on the oled screen very quickly, most likely after just a few hours, and it could stay there permanently, or long enough that it looks permanent if you keep repeating this every night. This is a serious problem with OLED screens when displaying relatively bright, well defined image, like those green numbers are. I think overall you would regret doing this for how small the benefit is, and how large issue you would cause - for an always-on to make sense in the nightstand mode, they would have to program the clock numbers to shift slightly over time, which they don't do right now.
I am very curious how Samsung deals with this, as it has an always-on screen mode on Gear 3 watch. I've read that some people did notice burn-in after just a day of use, which went away when the disabled always-on mode. Others however said they did't notice anything.
Last edited:
They could easily work around the burn in issue...they could have the time move around the screen slowly like the old fashion screen savers that would project an image and it would shift slowly around. I would love the watch to be my clock at home and especially in hotels. I don't use a regular alarm clock anymore since I prefer the alarm on my phone. Hopefully they add it in the next OS update!
