Is it just me, or is the watch better suited to being silent at all times?
At first, I only disabled sound alerts for messages. It seemed at odds with one of the primary benefits of the watch – to discreetly receive notifications with haptic feedback. With the default setting, I'd just get the same disruptive dings as I did with my iPhone and would have to remember to mute my watch before going into meetings or quiet places. It seemed weird that this was the default setting.
Next, I used directions on the watch, and I again found the sound counterproductive. With sound on, I had trouble distinguishing the difference between left and right haptics, and I'd need to look at the watch for confirmation. The accompanying sound effect (although different for each type of turn) made it difficult to perceive the tap pattern and caused momentary confusion while driving. Once I muted the watch, my brain was able to focus on the taps and it became very easy to distinguish between the left and right patterns.
This got me thinking - why have any sound effects enabled on the watch at all? Unless you're someone who is not sensitive enough to feel the taps, are there any scenarios you can think of where sound actually adds to the experience? Do you feel Apple made the right choices with the default settings?
At first, I only disabled sound alerts for messages. It seemed at odds with one of the primary benefits of the watch – to discreetly receive notifications with haptic feedback. With the default setting, I'd just get the same disruptive dings as I did with my iPhone and would have to remember to mute my watch before going into meetings or quiet places. It seemed weird that this was the default setting.
Next, I used directions on the watch, and I again found the sound counterproductive. With sound on, I had trouble distinguishing the difference between left and right haptics, and I'd need to look at the watch for confirmation. The accompanying sound effect (although different for each type of turn) made it difficult to perceive the tap pattern and caused momentary confusion while driving. Once I muted the watch, my brain was able to focus on the taps and it became very easy to distinguish between the left and right patterns.
This got me thinking - why have any sound effects enabled on the watch at all? Unless you're someone who is not sensitive enough to feel the taps, are there any scenarios you can think of where sound actually adds to the experience? Do you feel Apple made the right choices with the default settings?