Everything New in watchOS 4.3: iPhone Music Controls, Portrait Orientation Nightstand Mode and More

[Someirishguy]

The only way I've found of stopping this is by turning off Siri altogether I'm afraid.

You could wear the watch with the crown facing in the other direction and flip the display (there’s an option in settings).

 

[NOV]

My original apple watch is almost at EOL - it's really only useful for telling the time and tracking workouts. Everything else is impossibly slow and unusable.

Or super irritating, like starting a timer during an activity, which disappears and you have to go to menu to get the timer back again.
[doublepost=1517036125][/doublepost]Ah...but the no. 1 feature which for me is a life saver is maybe a bit ridiculous, but it is the possibility to send a signal to the iPhone whenever I forgot where I kept it

 

[justiny]

Why don’t they put a Bluetooth based proximity alarm so you don’t leave your phone somewhere accidentally...?

You know my wife?!?

 

[Westside guy]

Everybody wants to see new features...

Me, I just want to see the Breathe reminders work correctly again. I don't get any all day, but I always get on around 11pm.
[doublepost=1517037677][/doublepost]

"We have new requirements for Breathe Reminders in watchOS 4: - user must be sedentary for a period of time - user must not have an event scheduled in their Calendar - if a user does a workout or another Breathe session, the next Breathe reminder will be rescheduled."

Oh... this seems like something that would sound good... unless you thought about it for at least a good five seconds. It would appeal to a manager, in other words.

- Frankly, for me the breathe reminders are more important if I'm having a hectic day than one where I'm sitting at my desk for an extended period of time. These are reminders to center oneself, not to stand up.
- I have multiple calendars on my phone and watch, including my wife's and a couple for our department. Just because one has an event on a calendar doesn't mean one is going to a meeting. Heck, I have calendar entries for things like refilling my prescriptions every 30 days! I also have all-day entries on my work calendar for days when I telecommute - they're there to prevent someone trying to schedule a meeting when I'm not on campus. For that matter, I block out time I want to spend working on projects for the same reason.

Really, they should have given us the option to enable or disable these not-as-smart-as-they-think default "requirements".

 

[szw-mapple fan]

My boyfriend recently bought one of these. Really the only feature he wanted was a pedometer that stayed on the screen at all times. How is this not an out-of-the-box feature? How about they add THAT feature in one of these new versions of the software?

That feature already exists. You just have to add a complication that displays the step count on the watch face with apps like Pedometer++.

 

[MacGiver]

I’d like nightstand to work even when the watch is not charging (in landscape mode) and an option to have the screen always on!!!

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Space could be one concern. If you don’t listen to those podcasts, they could accumulate over time and take up a lot of space. This is unlike your music library where the content largely remains unchanged.

I suspect there are a lot more considerations going on behind the scenes than simply adding a podcast app and calling it a day.

That’s my guess at least.

On the iPhone you can limit podcast downloads to only the most recent episode. If you don't listen to it before next episode it is automatically deleted. If you turn this on I doubt there would be much wasted space.
[doublepost=1517039678][/doublepost]

It could be an OLED burn-in issue?

Doubt it. Samsung (and some other Android phones with OLED) phones have had always on clocks for some time now.

 

[TheTruth101]

2
:38

Really? Not...
2:
38

You know since JOBs died is all about doing it wrong and they call it "innovation".

 

[Ad13]

11.3 and 4.3 both seem like big steps in the right direction... hopefully they iron some of the bugs out on the way, especially with iOS.

Yep, all the bugs ironed out and iOS working smoothly only for iOS 12 to be launched and the bugs be reintroduced. I’m getting tired of this annual loop. We need a Snow Leopard for iOS. Just refine and polish it!
[doublepost=1517043664][/doublepost]

So happy to see iPhone music controls back on the Apple Watch. They never should have been removed to begin with.

Now if only there was a way to also adjust the Siri volume in the Apple Watch. One of the biggest oversights ever, and nobody ever talks about it. I don’t know about anyone else, but using Siri on the Apple Watch 3 away from the iPhone and when connected to Airpods is completely unusable in a city / noisy environment.

 

[theoapo]

I was hoping Watch OS 4.3 supported iMessage in iCloud the way 11.3 does on the phone. The phone syncs to iCloud but the watch does not yet sync. Or is the plan to never sync with the watch?
When I say sync, I'm primarily talking about deleting messages on one carries over to the other. I currently still have to delete them in both places.
If not, it would be nice to get a "delete all messages" option. Deleting them off the watch one by one is tedious.

This is the only thing I want since I bought this watch...
I have submitted both feedback and a suggestion in bug reporter but still waiting for an answer!

 

[enduro0125]

Auto pause while cycling

Maybe someday....

 

[farleysmaster]

I understand it would be useful/sensible for watch message deletion to sync with iPhone, but why are people so keen to delete their messages from the watch anyway? I barely use the app except to see messages that have been received that day. They can't take up that much space, can they?

 

[PR1985]

My original apple watch is almost at EOL - it's really only useful for telling the time and tracking workouts. Everything else is impossibly slow and unusable.

Ok and answering messages or just to receive them. Series 0 and still happy. Mainly I use Apple Apps.

 

[Bacillus]

Why don’t they put a Bluetooth based proximity alarm so you don’t leave your phone somewhere accidentally...?

That might be a combination of lack of own inspiration and not listening to user requests
Same for watchfaces. If I am still unable to create my own, my watch goes to Craigslist soon.

 

[Tanax]

I was hoping Watch OS 4.3 supported iMessage in iCloud the way 11.3 does on the phone. The phone syncs to iCloud but the watch does not yet sync. Or is the plan to never sync with the watch?
When I say sync, I'm primarily talking about deleting messages on one carries over to the other. I currently still have to delete them in both places.
If not, it would be nice to get a "delete all messages" option. Deleting them off the watch one by one is tedious.

You mean Messages in iCloud? It syncs all kinds of messages, not only iMessages

 

[KUKitch]

I was hoping Watch OS 4.3 supported iMessage in iCloud the way 11.3 does on the phone. The phone syncs to iCloud but the watch does not yet sync. Or is the plan to never sync with the watch?
When I say sync, I'm primarily talking about deleting messages on one carries over to the other. I currently still have to delete them in both places.
If not, it would be nice to get a "delete all messages" option. Deleting them off the watch one by one is tedious.

THIS... this would. be. huge. It is so annoying to 1)go through one by one and delete and 2)have to go through one by one to delete. I mean even if they just synced status with the paired phone that would be a massive step up.

I want Night Stand Mode to always be on when plugged in... otherwise whats the point of it?

Well the nice thing I think is that it's motion/tremor sensitive, so if you bump the table it's on or whatever it usually lights up - I like that... always on is good but I feel like the current method is a pretty decent alternative

 

[souzadias]

I wish there were a way to switch from BlueTooth to wireless when the phone is jut far enough away for BT to see the phone but not transfer any data.

And I wish the watch would alert with sound or haptic when disconnected from the phone.

 

[julesme]

I’m glad music control is back, but why did they remove it in the first place?

 

[QuarterSwede]

I want Night Stand Mode to always be on when plugged in... otherwise whats the point of it?

The option wouldn't be bad if they can do it while preventing burn in. However, I'd rather be able to change the color from green to red, blue, or white personally. I understand that green is chosen because it affects night vision the least but most people live in a secure environment and probably care little about that.

 

[matobi77]

No idea why they removed the "control your iPhone music feature". I loved it for traveling, as my phone could be in my carryon, while still having access to a MUCH LARGER music library. Glad to see its coming back.

Now they need to make the Podcast App available on the watch. All the workarounds for listening to podcasts, WITHOUT your phone, SUCK! Bring independent podcast app to the Watch!!

 

[satchmo]

Space could be one concern. If you don’t listen to those podcasts, they could accumulate over time and take up a lot of space. This is unlike your music library where the content largely remains unchanged.

I suspect there are a lot more considerations going on behind the scenes than simply adding a podcast app and calling it a day.

That’s my guess at least.

That's quite a reach.

We've been loading stuff onto 500mb iPod nano from way back in the day. I think we're smart enough to gauge how much room we have.

It's likely more plausible that Apple has some way to monetize a podcasting beyond an ad supported model.

 

[eyeseeyou]

My boyfriend recently bought one of these. Really the only feature he wanted was a pedometer that stayed on the screen at all times. How is this not an out-of-the-box feature? How about they add THAT feature in one of these new versions of the software?

I had to install the pedometer app and add it as a complication. Even then it's not always updated until you open up the app on the watch. Better than nothing but could be better.

I'm currently testing out a fitbit hr and it always has up to date steps taken and heart rate.

 

[MrUNIMOG]

I hope they some day bring back the horizontal dock from watchOS 3, which had the apps easily "glanceable" by not obstructing part of them. That really made my watch more useful, and I miss it a lot. Make it optional at least.

 

[Sill]

response from support.

"We have new requirements for Breathe Reminders in watchOS 4: - user must be sedentary for a period of time - user must not have an event scheduled in their Calendar - if a user does a workout or another Breathe session, the next Breathe reminder will be rescheduled."

What email address are you using to contact support? I have a few things to throw at them.

- what about deleting stuff you don't use? I'd like to free up space, get rid of Activity, Heartbeat tracker, Running, and the Breathe app. For that matter, I'd like to delete Activity and Health from my iPhone.

- I updated both my phone and my watch last night. I already had a problem with my phone taking over my car stereo and playing a random song when I get in my ride. Now that I've done these recent updates the Watch gets involved in the music mayhem. When I get in the car and the phone takes over the stereo, I switch my car stereo from playing music from my library to the radio, the Watch taps me on the wrist repeatedly to let me know the iPhone music controls are now available on my wrist.

- speaking of tapping on my wrist, the Watch has been doing that randomly ever since I bought it. Out of the blue, just sitting still or doing something, it doesn't matter, the Watch will tap on my wrist.

- The mic on my Watch quit after WatchOS3 was installed.

 

[punterab80]

YES! Absolutely looking forward to seeing music library on watch!!!

[doublepost=1517099450][/doublepost]Glad to see some control of music on the iPhone. It not as good as before as you can't see the songs on an album. you can't choose a song from a playlist or see a list of songs. Am I missing something her? or is there a way?