If I read it correctly, with Watch OS2, you'll be able to use your own photos for Watch faces, correct? So does that mean people can take custom wall paper and scale it to the Apple Watch screen resolution then upload it to their photo album to use as a Watch Face? Would something like that be possible?
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Custom watch faces?
- Thread starter brolfsen
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Watch resolution.
Most likely. However, at the moment the only options are white, and some limited colors, which is going to limit your choice of backgrounds. Hopefully Apple will add an option for black to standout against lighter backgrounds, as they demonstrated during the September introduction. But you'll still likely be limited to Apple's numbers, hands, and hash marks.
But when you select an image from your Photos app on your watch, are you stuck with the digital display or can you use the analog hands and hash marks?
What I am hoping can be done is like take a high res picture of a real watch like a Rolex and use it as a Watch face and still have an analog display so it looks like a real watch. I wish Apple would take some stuff from the Moto 360 Smart Watch feature list. On the Moto 360 watch there are hundreds of downloadable custom watch faces (some that make your watch look like a Spy Watch, etc...)
I think that's exactly what Apple is trying to avoid. They want this watch to appeal to the fashion world, which is important in a wearable, rather than being simply a tech piece with a bunch of bad watch face styles.
You are stuck with the digital clock and date just like the image from the Apple website that Julien posted.
Regardless of the background the overlay will still display the digital date and time so I don't think that plan will work.
Does anyone know the correct size. I want to make my own watch face/picture using the NY Rangers Logo... 
Does anyone know the correct size. I want to make my own watch face/picture using the NY Rangers Logo...
Depends on the watch size.
38mm res is 272x340
42mm res is 312x390
Do you now this because you're working with the Watch OS 2 beta? Because Julien's reply doesn't specify that, it just gives two examples of how it can be used.
So they're OK with a tech piece with a bunch of bad watch bands? Because there's nothing stopping someone from doing that, and the band is arguably the most visible aspect of the watch.
The two examples in the image are the only ways of using your own photos as watch faces. A single photo, or a whole album that changes the photo each time you raise wrist or tap on the screen. The time and date placement cannot be changed.
But yes I have played with it on 2.0 GM.
The only thing you need a 6s or 6s+ for is to create Live Photos, which can be used in the Photo and Album watch faces.
That's a good point, but, yeah, they can only control the watch faces, and we all know Apple loves control. I'm surprised to see you give so much importance to the bands, considering that's the whole point of the Hermes edition.
Unfortunately it's just the digital display, but I truly hope apple adds the option for using analog hands and hash marks in a future OS update. I'm not a fan of the digital display and prefer analog hands on my watches, but I like that I can use my own picture/image as a background.
That's unfortunate. So I guess the only alternative is something like this, but with a fake watch face that constantly reads 4:20, or 5:00 ;-)
The bands are the only thing that set the Watches apart from each other. As far as a fashion item, that's still extremely limited, since the thing almost any observer first notices about a watch is its face -- and Apple's are all the same: a black rectangle. As jewelry it's not very attractive. The bands help with that, and certainly that's where Hermes comes into the picture -- you're not so much wearing a cool smart watch as you are a very expensive leather wrist band. On the other hand, I think the whole point of the Hermes edition is that the watch says Hermes all over it. I mean the leather is nice, but one can get nice leather for much less than $1,000. Will people eventually change the face? Probably, but that doesn't seem like it would be a marketing angle of the watch at all -- the point is: it looks like a Hermes cape cod watch, with the display on, which watch OS 2 is going to provide the option to stay on longer, thus giving more people the opportunity to see you paid a ridiculous amount of money for your Watch. I would expect in the Hermes boutiques that the demo watch will be wired up and turned on to that Hermes watch face until the demo is activated.
But nevertheless, Apple has not only relinquished control to the one thing that is infinitely customizable on the watch, which unlike the face, is always "on" for people to see, but they have promoted it. So what if you have the most offensive watch face ever devised, what difference does it make if nobody but the user ever sees it? And that's why I'm surprised to see Apple take such a hard line on this. In the end, Apple controls the marketing to a large degree and potential customers will likely only ever see the watch primarily with the faces Apple photoshops onto them.
No. What you see in the picture below is all you get. The only option you have is to change the background picture.
No. What you see in the picture below is all you get. The only option you have is to change the background picture.
This one step closer to Apple allowing more user customization, but it still annoys me that I'm stuck with such a limited set of watch faces and bad ones at that. Apple put so much effort in making the apple watch look great on the outside, but fell very short on the software side when making a beautiful watch display to match the body. The Hermès edition watch face is a step in the right direction, but unless you buy that version, you can't have access to the digital face.
Just think how annoying it would be if apple took the same control over their Mac lineup, where you couldn't customize your own background or arrangement of icons or the doc location in OS X. I'm making this comparison, because some of the apple watch configurations cost the same as many of their computers, yet they have limited the user so much.
I'm not a fan of Android Wear, but I like that all of their watches allow for watch Face customization. I work in a professional environment where my phone needs to be on silent and in my pocket most of the day. Unfortunately I receive on location priority emails and messages throughout the day, which is the only reason I purchased an apple watch, so I can see my notifications and quickly read and reply to messages and emails. I like to wear watches and I like Apple, but I carry an iPhone and an Android phone with me for work and I'm considering getting one of the new Android Wear products so I'm not completely sacrificing my enjoyment of a real watch experience.
I agree with above. I don't know whats Apples deal with watchfaces. Let people customize it. Current watcfaces suck. They are plain and boring. Im tired of the ones that are available. I bet a lot of developers have apple watch ready watchfaces, but they cant release them.