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Does anyone use glances?
- Thread starter sflomenb
- Start date
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Yes I use them. Haven't seen any complications that are able to replicate the abilities of glances since they are full screen.
The most common items I use are the complications on my watch face. They are quick to load and the items I normally use, but I do use glances for activity rings, battery, weather and my checking balance a lot. Occasional heart rate.
I still use them... and probably always will for some things... especially sports scores, since there are still no apps that offer sports scores complications.
The only glances I use with some degree of frequency are the settings and "Now Playing" Occasionally I will scroll through some other glances, but mostly I rely on complications. My most frequently used faces have complications for Fantastical calendar and Carrot weather that I can tap for more details. Those are two of the apps I access most frequently for information.
I'm actually trying to remember to give glances another shot. They used to be too slow to update (some still are) and did not strike the right balance in how much information to display. Glances have gotten faster, especially the ones for third party apps that run native. So I'm going to discard the ones that are either slow, redundant or just not information I care about seeing that often.
I'm actually trying to remember to give glances another shot. They used to be too slow to update (some still are) and did not strike the right balance in how much information to display. Glances have gotten faster, especially the ones for third party apps that run native. So I'm going to discard the ones that are either slow, redundant or just not information I care about seeing that often.
A complication isn't necessarily a good substitute for a glance and vice versa. Complications, glances and apps each provide different levels of details. There's a good reason why Apple designed them the way they are.
Let's take stock Weather for example:
Complication - shows only the current temperature
Glance - shows the current temperature, condition (cloudy, etc.), high and low
App - shows the day's details in a circle
You might just want to know what the condition is in addition to the temperature so you use glance for that. Clicking on the complication takes you to the app, which may provide too much information at once.
Take stock Calendar as another example:
Complication - shows just the time for your next event (unless you have Utility and Mickey Mouse)
Glance - shows the details for your next event as well as prominently displays the date at the top
App - shows the events for the next several days
It's helpful to have Calendar glance smack dap in the middle of glances, so you can quickly swipe down and back up to see what your next event is, rather than the time consuming process of clicking on the complication to go to the app to view the next several days' worth of events then exiting the app.
Additionally, you can skip date as one of the complications as you can simply swipe down to the calendar glance to view the date as necessary.
Let's take stock Weather for example:
Complication - shows only the current temperature
Glance - shows the current temperature, condition (cloudy, etc.), high and low
App - shows the day's details in a circle
You might just want to know what the condition is in addition to the temperature so you use glance for that. Clicking on the complication takes you to the app, which may provide too much information at once.
Take stock Calendar as another example:
Complication - shows just the time for your next event (unless you have Utility and Mickey Mouse)
Glance - shows the details for your next event as well as prominently displays the date at the top
App - shows the events for the next several days
It's helpful to have Calendar glance smack dap in the middle of glances, so you can quickly swipe down and back up to see what your next event is, rather than the time consuming process of clicking on the complication to go to the app to view the next several days' worth of events then exiting the app.
Additionally, you can skip date as one of the complications as you can simply swipe down to the calendar glance to view the date as necessary.
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Great thing about glances is if you have an AW app opened like to be able to easily switch back and fore between watch face and opened app with 2 push of crown, but still want to check/control other stuff like battery life, music, weather, scores, stock..., glances is best way without lost capability of go back and fore between watch face and opened app.
I use motion-x for hiking/backpacking/skiing as main app opened, which is great for announcing distant, elevation, and time duration, specially in BT headset. But I like to be able to check other detail in motion-x AW app occasionally, not lost watch face complications, and also control music, check score, and other stuff in glances if needed, all with my iPhone safely stuck in backpack, sometime in waterproof bag/box during backpacking. This is just in case if my backpack is wet or submerge in water for any reason, iPhone will survived.
If I don't use glances, it will likely means I have to re-opened motion-x app during hike, instead I could always switch back and fore between watch face and motion-x with simple 2 push of crown.
I use motion-x for hiking/backpacking/skiing as main app opened, which is great for announcing distant, elevation, and time duration, specially in BT headset. But I like to be able to check other detail in motion-x AW app occasionally, not lost watch face complications, and also control music, check score, and other stuff in glances if needed, all with my iPhone safely stuck in backpack, sometime in waterproof bag/box during backpacking. This is just in case if my backpack is wet or submerge in water for any reason, iPhone will survived.
If I don't use glances, it will likely means I have to re-opened motion-x app during hike, instead I could always switch back and fore between watch face and motion-x with simple 2 push of crown.
The real issue, IMO, is with the "stock" apps. I use BeWeather2 for weather and Fantastical 2 for my calendar app. Both offer customization with the complications so that you can get more much more information than the stock apps offer within their complications.
The use of more robust apps with the customizable complications make the uses of the glances unnecessary, in many cases.
That said, however, there are still some gaps in complications that make glances useful in those situations (sports scores, for example).
Attachments
There are only 4 available spot in modular, exclude spot for date/calendar. I use 10+ glances all the time, controls, music, manual heart rate, battery status, reminder nano, ETA, ESPN, Drip for Nest Cam, Health, map, and stocks. All of them are necessary for me. My modulars are dates, dark sky, alarm or calendar, MacID, timer.
For me, glances is necessary, because even Apple create module with 10 spot, they will be so small it will become useless watch face, or I have to wear magnified glasses all the time.
And no, I don't want to use app, and I don't want to look like carry people talking to my watch (Siri) all the time.
Or the large complication in modular (which i use), which also shows location...
When I close glances they stay on the same view i left them on (ie if i'm all the way to the left on settings, the next time i open glances it'll be there) - how does having calendar in the middle help as you suggest? am i doing something wrong? do yours always open on the middle - i'd like this as my primary use for glances is now playing and times im using it are times i don't want to fuss about finding the glance.
Good question. I use the glances to the left and right of the Calandar glance far less frequently so I often find myself on the Calandar glance. At least that's the best we can do unless Apple makes it possible to always return to a default glance, much like how we have the ability to set to always return to the last used app or watch face upon waking the screen.
i'd quite like to be able to go further and set both default glances and default apps - not just last used, but whenever i raise it it shows me that one even if last time i navigated away. not sure if that would make third party watch face (apps) too easy though.
I use Glances Daily, Complications and glances are the way I access Apps. I don't often use the app screen to access apps.
I do think if Apple offer 2 levels of glances it would be handy to have often used apps on the first level (what we have now) and less used apps on a second level. If you have many Glances it can sometimes be annoying scrolling from the first one to your last one. What I mean by 2 levels goes something like this...........Go to glances as you normally would, and for the 2nd level you swipe your finger up one more time to access less used glances, just a thought
I do think if Apple offer 2 levels of glances it would be handy to have often used apps on the first level (what we have now) and less used apps on a second level. If you have many Glances it can sometimes be annoying scrolling from the first one to your last one. What I mean by 2 levels goes something like this...........Go to glances as you normally would, and for the 2nd level you swipe your finger up one more time to access less used glances, just a thought
I use the music controls and heart rate glances fairly frequently, but mainly use other glances as shortcuts to open the full app.
I removed most of the glances but yesterday while running with the watch I realized that if I got out of the running app, it could be more fiddly than I wanted to get back to it, so I added the Strava app as a glance so it will always be easy to get back to it on the go.
I find that the 3rd party glances don't update as quick as I'd like them and that they always take time to refresh.
I use Glances Daily, Complications and glances are the way I access Apps. I don't often use the app screen to access apps.
I do think if Apple offer 2 levels of glances it would be handy to have often used apps on the first level (what we have now) and less used apps on a second level. If you have many Glances it can sometimes be annoying scrolling from the first one to your last one. What I mean by 2 levels goes something like this...........Go to glances as you normally would, and for the 2nd level you swipe your finger up one more time to access less used glances, just a thought
The problem is current AW design is already too complicate for lots of people who are attract to Apple' simplicity. Just search in utube.
What I like to see is capable of having 2-3 watch face with complications all active at same times. And simply swipe left/right to get to these 2-3 watch face without have to press, and with all complication stay actives in background in these 2-3 faces.
This could be selected, up to 3 active faces,
by swipe down in watch face selection menu. Like multi screen in iPhone.
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I use the Battery glance as it allows me to use that complications space for something else.
The Settings glance is very useful for airplane mode and ping iPhone.
Testing the Maps glance now as a less fiddly way to access that app, same goes for Instagram. Though it's very true what Sirious says above, that 3d party glances load way too slow. That goes for AW apps in general though.
In general I think glances could be way, way more useful. But again, that goes for most AW apps, and complications too.
The Settings glance is very useful for airplane mode and ping iPhone.
Testing the Maps glance now as a less fiddly way to access that app, same goes for Instagram. Though it's very true what Sirious says above, that 3d party glances load way too slow. That goes for AW apps in general though.
In general I think glances could be way, way more useful. But again, that goes for most AW apps, and complications too.
That's a clever idea. Another idea is to be able to automatically set a particular watch face depending on the time/day. For example, Modular for the extra info during work hours, Simple while you decompress at nights, and a face with no complications on the weekends.
I tried a bunch of Glances, then eventually pared them down to just a few: Settings, Music, Weather, Activity, and Battery, left-to-right in that order. Maybe I'll try other Glances later as the OS and apps keep being updated.
That sounds like a great idea. The watch face and complications are he easiest to access, followed by glances, then by the apps on the app screen.
I regularly use only 1-2 glances; swiping rough more than 2 glances regularity gets old really quickly. I would much prefer being able to swipe between multiple watch faces quickly for the right complication.
This is not a universal truth. You need to try them and see which work well and which don't. I have about a dozen that I use at different times depending on what I'm doing. For example, CityMapper works very well. I was in London a couple of weeks ago and used it daily for getting around. I'd start the trip on the iPhone app then put it in my pocket when I got to the Underground. The watch glance updated to keep me aware of my progress and I could easily tap it and get back into the app.