Custom watch faces?

[Mac 128]

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.

These are the 18 watch faces Apple released in October 2011 with iPod Nano OS 1.2.

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2011/10/05/all-17-new-ipod-nano-watch-faces-exposed/

Compare that to the 10 released with the Watch:

And the worst part of that is, there were originally 12 that we were shown in September 2014, but they only released 10 of them, and its taken over a year to add the other two. And that's it. We're not really getting two new face options, just the two we were originally offered a year ago.

 

[prezasti]

I don't know why it's so hard for Apple, with all of their design talent, to make stock square watch faces for their square shaped watch? They don't even have one, other than digital variations. Oh wait, they have a square shaped Hermès face that only comes on a few versions of the watch.

I'm glad Apple didn't come out with a round watch, because we would be stuck with square watch faces on a round watch body and be forced to buy expensive variation of their watch to get a round watch face that actually looks good on it.

 

[BarracksSi]

Let's say you make a full square(ish) watch face that reaches to the corners.

Where are you putting the complications?

 

[douglasf13]

It's probably important to remember that Ikepod, which is a major influence on the Apple Watch, uses circular watch faces on a rectangular watch.

 

[prezasti]

Let's say you make a full square(ish) watch face that reaches to the corners.

Where are you putting the complications?

Make spots inside the face as they have with some of the round faces currently. Also, not all of their faces allow complications as is, so square options would still be nice to have.

 

[Mac 128]

Let's say you make a full square(ish) watch face that reaches to the corners.

Where are you putting the complications?

You're kidding, right? It's not rocket-surgery:

 

[prezasti]

It's probably important to remember that Ikepod, which is a major influence on the Apple Watch, uses circular watch faces on a rectangular watch.

That isn't an excuse for Apple to not allow other variations, I'll again point out that they have a version of what I'm talking about with Hermès, so they aren't suck on the Ikepod influence, they are stuck on Dollar Signs to make the watch look correctly. Also, I'm not a big fan of the Ikepod style and I'm sure others feel the same. For a company that wants to sell a product to meet everyones taste and style so they can sell millions of their product, they should have more variations to choose from and not stuck with a style that only appeals to few people.

 

[douglasf13]

That isn't an excuse for Apple to not allow other variations, I'll again point out that they have a version of what I'm talking about with Hermès, so they aren't suck on the Ikepod influence, they are stuck on Dollar Signs to make the watch look correctly. Also, I'm not a big fan of the Ikepod style and I'm sure others feel the same. For a company that wants to sell a product to meet everyones taste and style so they can sell millions of their product, they should have more variations to choose from and not stuck with a style that only appeals to few people.

Many would also say they prefer a round Apple Watch that looks like a Swiss mechanical, but with an LCD screen, like the direction of some of the Android watches, but that's not happening.

That's not how Apple rolls. Apple doesn't ask what customers they want. Apple tells customers what they want. Apple is a curator of tech, and now they're bleeding into fashion. Marc Newson isn't going to let a bunch of watch faces flood his baby, and, let's be honest, if he were to walk into most of our homes, he'd probably laugh (to himself) at our clothes and interior design choices.

The paradox of choice can be draining. Sometimes I wish the current watch only had one face, so I wasn't constantly trying to decide which face I like most.

 

[prezasti]

Many would also say they prefer a round Apple Watch that looks like a Swiss mechanical, but with an LCD screen, like the direction of some of the Android watches, but that's not happening.

That's not how Apple rolls. Apple doesn't ask what customers they want. Apple tells customers what they want. Apple is a curator of tech, and now they're bleeding into fashion. Marc Newson isn't going to let a bunch of watch faces flood his baby, and, let's be honest, if he were to walk into most of our homes, he'd probably laugh (to himself) at our clothes and interior design choices.

The paradox of choice can be draining. Sometimes I wish the current watch only had one face, so I wasn't constantly trying to decide which face I like most.

This still doesn't change the fact that Apple should at least make "1" square style watch face readily available on all of their watches. Also, they made a computerized watch to pair up with the iPhone, which like it or not, is suppose to compete with other brands on the market such as Android. Apple makes products to sell to the Masses, not just the fashionable few. Apple share holders would have issues if apple only focused on selling a few hundred thousand to a million products, because Marc Newson wanted to tell customers what they wanted. They want Apple to sell tens of millions of a product, especially if it has anything to do with the iPhone. If Apple really wanted to force only their style on their devices, they wouldn't have 3rd party Apps. Without 3rd party apps, apple wouldn't have good products such as the iPhone.

Regardless, none of the current apple faces are fashionable. The only face that has style to it is the square shaped Hermès, which apple they just put out.

 

[douglasf13]

This still doesn't change the fact that Apple should at least make "1" square style watch face readily available on all of their watches. Also, they made a computerized watch to pair up with the iPhone, which like it or not, is suppose to compete with other brands on the market such as Android. Apple makes products to sell to the Masses, not just the fashionable few. Apple share holders would have issues if apple only focused on selling a few hundred thousand to a million products, because Marc Newson wanted to tell customers what they wanted. They want Apple to sell tens of millions of a product, especially if it has anything to do with the iPhone. If Apple really wanted to force only their style on their devices, they wouldn't have 3rd party Apps. Without 3rd party apps, apple wouldn't have good products such as the iPhone.

Regardless, none of the current apple faces are fashionable. The only face that has style to it is the square shaped Hermès, which apple they just put out.

Whether it's Jobs, Ive or Newson, Apple has long told us what we wanted, and PCs/Androids have always had much more flexibility. Plus, the Watch is Apple's first wearable, which is a different ballgame.

Either way, I disagree about none of the current faces being fashionable. The last thing I want is a digital watch face to closely resemble an analog watch face. I like the current, modern faces of the watch.

 

[3rdiguy]

will you be able to add complications to the photo faces?

 

[BarracksSi]

Make spots inside the face as they have with some of the round faces currently. Also, not all of their faces allow complications as is, so square options would still be nice to have.

You're kidding, right? It's not rocket-surgery:

Ah, of course. I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even think of such examples.

I see a drawback, though -- at times, the hands cover the subdials. On normal watches, we just put up with it because that's just how it's always been. On my AW, I've already set my faces with the date in a corner because it's not restricted to stay inside the dial where it sometimes gets blocked by the hands.

Also, most complications are "actionable" -- tap them to go to their parent apps. I suppose it'd be reasonable to tap subdials, but I think tapping the corners of the screen is more reliable.

 

[prezasti]

Whether it's Jobs, Ive or Newson, Apple has long told us what we wanted, and PCs/Androids have always had much more flexibility. Plus, the Watch is Apple's first wearable, which is a different ballgame.

Either way, I disagree about none of the current faces being fashionable. The last thing I want is a digital watch face to closely resemble an analog watch face. I like the current, modern faces of the watch.

I'm not saying I want a digital watch face to closely resemble an analog watch face, I'm saying I wan't a square watch face on my square apple watch. I like everything about the body design of the apple watch, I like the Hermès stile watch face, now apple just needs to put something like it on watchOS as an option for all. It doesn't have to say Hermès, it just has to have a non round layout.

 

[Lloydbm41]

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.

Well, if you want a high end Android Wear watch that has the looks, hardware and screen resolution to match tne Apple Watch, there is only one offering right now and that is the Huawei Watch.
I just bought one (all black with black metal link band) for nearly $500 and what does that get me? Cold rolled SS (same as the Apple Watch), sapphire crystal display (same as the Apple Watch), with a 1.4"fully round AMOLED display producing a ppi of nearly 290 (300x300 resolution) and a magnetic round metal charger. Best part: always on display and even the dim mode is extremely vibrant and bright, matching brightness in the dark of an Omega watch with tritium hands.
Love how long the battery has lasted me today with the watch always on. I was at 13 hours and still had 30% left. And that was with a more battery hungry custom watchface. I love this watch. Oh yeah, and it specifically states that it works with an iPhone running iOS 8 or higher.

Images from left to right. Normal viewing mode. Ambient mode in the light. Ambient mode in the dark. When you aren't looking at the watch, it is always in ambient mode (unless you turn that feature off.)

 

[prezasti]

Well, if you want a high end Android Wear watch that has the looks, hardware and screen resolution to match tne Apple Watch, there is only one offering right now and that is the Huawei Watch.
I just bought one (all black with black metal link band) for nearly $500 and what does that get me? Cold rolled SS (same as the Apple Watch), sapphire crystal display (same as the Apple Watch), with a 1.4"fully round AMOLED display producing a ppi of nearly 290 (300x300 resolution) and a magnetic round metal charger. Best part: always on display and even the dim mode is extremely vibrant and bright, matching brightness in the dark of an Omega watch with tritium hands.
Love how long the battery has lasted me today with the watch always on. I was at 13 hours and still had 30% left. And that was with a more battery hungry custom watchface. I love this watch. Oh yeah, and it specifically states that it works with an iPhone running iOS 8 or higher.

Images from left to right. Normal viewing mode. Ambient mode in the light. Ambient mode in the dark. When you aren't looking at the watch, it is always in ambient mode (unless you turn that feature off.)

View attachment 582973 View attachment 582974 View attachment 582975

That watch looks great. I've been keeping an eye on that watch, but have only seen limited videos of it online. Thanks for posting it up. I think I need to see one of these in person.

 

[Lloydbm41]

That watch looks great. I've been keeping an eye on that watch, but have only seen limited videos of it online. Thanks for posting it up. I think I need to see one of these in person.

Best Buy supposedly is carrying them (assuming they have any stock left.) These sold out on Amazon, Best Buy and on Huawei's website. Lot of people complaining about lack of inventory. Not sure Huawei realized Android users were going to be spending $350 to $800 on their watch en masse. It is the only Android Watch to compare to Apple's hardware, so maybe there was pent up demand?

 

[douglasf13]

Well, if you want a high end Android Wear watch that has the looks, hardware and screen resolution to match tne Apple Watch, there is only one offering right now and that is the Huawei Watch.
I just bought one (all black with black metal link band) for nearly $500 and what does that get me? Cold rolled SS (same as the Apple Watch), sapphire crystal display (same as the Apple Watch), with a 1.4"fully round AMOLED display producing a ppi of nearly 290 (300x300 resolution) and a magnetic round metal charger. Best part: always on display and even the dim mode is extremely vibrant and bright, matching brightness in the dark of an Omega watch with tritium hands.
Love how long the battery has lasted me today with the watch always on. I was at 13 hours and still had 30% left. And that was with a more battery hungry custom watchface. I love this watch. Oh yeah, and it specifically states that it works with an iPhone running iOS 8 or higher.

Images from left to right. Normal viewing mode. Ambient mode in the light. Ambient mode in the dark. When you aren't looking at the watch, it is always in ambient mode (unless you turn that feature off.)

View attachment 582973 View attachment 582974 View attachment 582975

Unfortunately, the case also looks like it's from a mall kiosk watch store. Simply being round and steel doesn't make a great case design, so, for those wanting a more classic looking round watch, hopefully some of the Swiss makers will jump in to the market (Tag is apparently doing so.)

 

[Lloydbm41]

Unfortunately, the case also looks like it's from a mall kiosk watch store. Simply being round and steel doesn't make a great case design, so, for those wanting a more classic looking round watch, hopefully some of the Swiss makers will jump in to the market (Tag is apparently doing so.)

LOL. Apparently you don't know who designed the Huawei watch. Might want to look it up. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but when someone like you makes a snippy remark about the design and then talks about Swiss Watchmakers, it is clearly evident you simply hate because it is Android based.

Hint: The designer of the watch worked designing watches for Emporio Armani in Switzerland. But, I'm sure you know more about creating a watch and style. :eyeroll

 

[prezasti]

Unfortunately, the case also looks like it's from a mall kiosk watch store. Simply being round and steel doesn't make a great case design, so, for those wanting a more classic looking round watch, hopefully some of the Swiss makers will jump in to the market (Tag is apparently doing so.)

Looks like good quality if you ask me.

 

[Piggie]

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.

You do know, we have people on these very forums, who post a lot, who have said, a number of times that Apple should NOT allow others to develop custom faces, and the only faces that should ever be allowed are only the official ones created by Apple.

Yes, I know, incredible as it sounds, we do have people here that have posted such views.
They don't believe "you" should have a choice.

Do a search and you will find people who post such closed minded viewpoints.

 

[BarracksSi]

I'd like to see some sample custom faces for the AW.

 

[Enygmatic]

I'd be willing to bet Apple will allow much more customization (minding licensing issues - because you know people will try to skirt those)... as soon as they get the functionality and stability where they want it. Functionality trumps customization - as it should. (software, anyway). This is OS 2 - which is really 1 - we're talking about. On a rushed product. By the time they get to the .2 release, like the iPod Nano mentioned earlier, I'd bet you'll see dozens of new options, if not an entire section in the App Store. Bitching about that now is silly, considering the fact that they're scrambling just to get a polished version of the OS out to the public.

 

[Enygmatic]

Looks like good quality if you ask me.

Looks like good photography and post-processing to me... unless you've seen/held one.

You know what else looks like "good quality"? Every product in a marketing ad, ever.

 

[ElvisThePelvis]

I do get frustrated with the lack of watch faces coming from an Android platform. The sheer variety of watch faces available for AndroidWear was astounding. I rotated my watch face like I rotated my watch straps. Of course, it was not nearly enough to keep me from joining the Apple ecosystem. The apple watch is a better device in most other ways when compared to the three AndroidWear watches I owned, but viewed through this one lens I preferred the variety of AndroidWear.

I have hope that Apple will eventually allow more flexibility in watch faces. I am sure one of the large concerns is the lack of respect for copyright (see the example below) for watch vendors. AndroidWear watch faces were rife with non-official watch faces from Rolex, Bell & Ross, Seiko, etc.

That being said, there are some very good designs available for square faces. Below is an example of the most favorited at facerepo.com. In an ideal scenario, I'd like this variety for my Apple Watch.

 

[codelode84]

You do know, we have people on these very forums, who post a lot, who have said, a number of times that Apple should NOT allow others to develop custom faces, and the only faces that should ever be allowed are only the official ones created by Apple.

Yes, I know, incredible as it sounds, we do have people here that have posted such views.
They don't believe "you" should have a choice.

Do a search and you will find people who post such closed minded viewpoints.

I believe they will open it up over time but it needs to be more customizable. For sure