Hands-On With the Third-Generation iPhone-Compatible Moto 360 Android Watch

[BvizioN]

Yeah, it's odd that the Apple Watch wasn't round from the beggining given that its honeycomb interface seems like it was designed to optimize space on a round display.

Quite likely never will, but I could be wrong. The only thing that round watch seems to make sense is for round watch faces. For anything else, it would be close to useless. I believe Apple has experimented with round designs before deciding that square makes more sense. And AW doing so well and hardly having any competition means that Apple would not be in a rush to fix something that isn't broken.

 

[fairuz]

I don't care for smart watches, but this round face does look much nicer. Probably Apple decided square was more useful and didn't want to make two versions.
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Only downside I can see in offering choice here is that a round display would add complexity to an operating system that would now need to cater for two completely different UI. The potential for unintended behaviour (bugs) would be greatly increased. Two separate OS wouldn't be much better. Not very Apple.

Agreed, also would diminish how iconic the design is.

 

[markfc]

Would buy a round Apple Watch in a heartbeat

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yuk, no thanks

 

[Cloudane]

Not much different from the thick bezels on the AW.

It doesn't seem to stand out as much on the AW (especially the AW5), perhaps because of the shape, or that it's all black.

This watch and the Fossil have a silver bezel AND a big black bezel inside it as well which IMO really limit their potential to look like any 'normal' analogue watch.

 

[-Jodorowsky-]

Am I the only one disturbed by the strange "refresh" of the screen at 0.25-0.26 in the vidéo? It feels the dial of the watch is slightly offset once it has redrawn the watch's pointers. It feels like there is no smooth animation? Or maybe it's a byproduct of the movement of the camera filming and the slow rotation of the travelling?

 

[Marshall73]

I've always preferred round watch faces but I've come to understand that it's not the best shape for a smart watch interface. At least this new design looks like a watch and not some clunky monstrosity.
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My Apple Watch Series 4 from 2018 has 1GB of RAM, lol. The fact that it runs on Android means it needs at least double that to be comparable.

WRONG!! Android needs 8GB of ram to run anywhere near as smooth as an Apple device :😂

 

[Morgenland]

I have tried at least 3 non-Apple smartwatches before getting an Apple Watch. I can tell you that none of the non-Apple watches including a beautiful round well-built MyKronoz ZeTime can do anything close to what an Apple Watch can do. IMO - part of it is that Apple just thinks things out more, and part of it is Apple does not let 3rd parties have access to the really cool watchOS stuff via the API.

I knew I was missing some functionality, but until I got my Apple Watch, I did not know how much I was missing....it was huge

So, until the round watches catch up (or Apple makes one), I'll gladly take the functionality over the shape.

I agree with you on everything.
Why did some people here at MR not pay attention to basic mathematics as a child?
The canvas area of a circle is pi times the radius squared (A = π r²). To find the area of a rectangle, multiply the length by the width. The formula is: A = L * W.
Apples watch can display longer texts without line breaks if the font size is legible. That would be the most trivial requirement for any developer of such a watch. It's as simple as that.

 

[himanshumodi]

35 million sheep. Baaaaaaaa! 🐑

Seriously, I think Apple could sell even more if they moved to a round watch face with an always on "analog" watch face that could be customized to look like a higher-end watch.

As far as style is concerned, which looks better to you?

That's not a comparison. For one, the apple watch picture is just a bad picture. More importantly - you can style up the Apple watch a whole lot by buying that stainless steel band, which really does improve the looks a whole lot.

Besides, the styling of Apple watch will never be equivalent to an analog watch, simply because a Rolex exists only for it's style. It doesn't have to bother with ergonomics of using the display. Apple Watch really does look good for what it does. As far as design goes, ound vs. square is a matter of personal choice. But functionality of a smart watch is always going to be better in a square watch. Sure apple might want to tweak the design in the square form too. Maybe hard edges on the side, and rolling off edges on the band side?

 

[Someyoungguy]

The day we see a round Apple Watch is the day we see Steve Jobs reanimated so he can he put it through the crusher. I would never say never, but the chances of it happening any time soon are vanishingly slim.

Uh, right. He hated round. Didn't obsess on radii or ever prefer a round watch himself.

 

[tubular]

I'll buy an Apple Watch the instant they offer a round one.

Until then, no thanks.

 

[CrapShack]

Round is great for telling time. Round is terrible at displaying text.

 

[DominikHoffmann]

Would you mind explaining this? I have no idea what that means.

What I meant was that our brain’s visual processing for movement is much faster and more intuitive than reading a number. Think of the tachometer in your car. If it read out the rpms digitally, you would actually have far less information than seeing it quickly go up and then drop down, when the transmission has shifted into the next gear. I maintain that it’s the same way with time on an analog clock face. Many times we are more concerned with monitoring how much time has elapsed between glances at our watch. If the minute hand has moved around one quarter farther than it had been the last time I looked at the watch, I immediately know that about a quarter hour has passed. No mental math necessary. Mental math is slower than mere visual processing.
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The round design still looks nicer to me, but it's the past. A digital watch is best with a square screen because that's the best way to show information. Image a round computer screen, phone screen, or television screen. It might look cool, but it's not suited for its purpose.

I could live with a square watch, if the transition to the wristband were completely smooth, and if it were basically no thicker than the wristband itself. Kind of like this:

Not that I like the overall design of this watch. It’s just how square would work from a clean-design point of view.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

I would love if the next Apple Watch would have an option of a round display. I would buy it on the first day.

However, I do love how some Macrumors members get all riled up on just the thought of an optional round watch, it's blasphemous to them.

Blasphemous and moronic are NOT the same thing.

Send me a picture of your round television screen please.
Or, if you’re not near it.... maybe the round GPS nav in your car?
A round ATM screen? How about a pic of your round tablet?

Oh.... none of those exist?
All screens, whether mounted in a vehicle, carried around, affixed to a wall, or worn on a wrist have the same common element of NOT being round?

Hmmmmm.... I guess it makes sense then that people “get all riled up” at the cringingly stupid notion that a wearable computer should adhere to some cutesy, but really dumb skeuomorphic vision- so one can pretend it’s a watch, not a computer.
And honestly- if someone wants something as ridiculous as a car with the windshield spray painted black (or a circular screen on a computer), there’s nothing upsetting about that idiocy... it only becomes irritating when they deign to scoff and act like they’re geniuses for their clever idea- if only ignorant old Apple would come around to their “proper” way of thinking.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Uh, right. He hated round. Didn't obsess on radii or ever prefer a round watch himself.

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That wasn’t really my point. It was the reanimation part that seems unlikely, not that Jobs might have liked round watches. However, I’m reasonably certain that when that photo was taken, he didn’t have much of an opinion on how lines of text should be displayed on a wrist-worn personal computer. I’m also quite sure, but admittedly cannot be certain, that had he thought about it, he would have sacked anyone who suggested using a round screen for this purpose.

 

[TJ82]

Would buy a round Apple Watch in a heartbeat

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Same here. We really don't need all that 'screen real estate'. Time, notifications and whatever. Round design can handle it all fine while looking less like a children's toy.

Child's watch

Apple Watch

Stylish watch

 

[davidwes]

Yeah, it's odd that the Apple Watch wasn't round from the beggining given that its honeycomb interface seems like it was designed to optimize space on a round display.

I don't think a round Apple Watch is going to happen any time soon as the OS is designed for the square face.

WatchOS 1 was CLEARLY designed for a ROUND display. Look at the honeycomb!!

Something must have changed last minute to make the screen square.

 

[hushwilliams]

Here's something I don't understand- I've owned several WearOS watches over the years, paired with my iPhone, and yes it sucks that you can't respond to txts or take phone calls (though Samsung (Tizen, not WearOS) did recently figure out a way- with their Galaxy Active 2 watch- to allow you to not only answer iPhone calls from the watch but to actually take the call and have the conversation from the watch using the watch's speaker and microphone; previously you could only "answer" the call from non-Apple watches but then you had to pull out the phone to actually talk).

But anyway, here's my question- I have a Model 3, and a few months ago they released the software update that brought txt messages to the interface. When I first read about it, I assumed it would only work for Android users. But then I got the update, and amazingly, it would not only popup received iMessages onto the screen, but it would actually let you respond to them and send them... this isn't using Siri, and this is the first time I've ever seen a non-Apple device able to send an iMessage, or even just a regular txt message on an iPhone. I don't understand how Tesla has made this happen, since Apple has always locked off sending txt msg/iMessage from anything other than an Apple device.
I've looked around thinking maybe there was a change to the most recent iOS, but I haven't found anything to support it.
So if Tesla can now do this, and Samsung has already figured out how to allow phone calls over their watch, couldn't we see a non-Apple watch soon have all the abilities that the Apple watch has when used with an iPhone?

 

[wolfboy]

That’s hideous.

yuk, no thanks

Get ready to join all those people that made fun of large phones a couple years ago.

A good portion of people want a round Apple Watch, just Apple doesn't offer it (yet). You can resist all you want, but it's coming sooner or later. I have no doubt. The watch faces are very clearly made to be adaptable to a round version in the future.

 

[tooloud10]

Same here. We really don't need all that 'screen real estate'. Time, notifications and whatever. Round design can handle it all fine while looking less like a children's toy.

Child's watch


Apple Watch


Stylish watch

The Apple Watch doesn't look like a child's toy--the child's toy watch in the first pic is clearly designed to resemble the Apple Watch. You can get virtually any kind of band you like, so if you want a shiny metal band to look more like a traditional watch, you can. If you want a bright yellow band to look more casual, you can.

I personally use a dark brown stitched leather band and would not say that my AW looks like a toy.

 

[groove-agent]

I would love a round Apple Watch. Even more, I'd love access to third party watch faces and not be stuck with the mediocre faces Apple has to offer.

 

[840quadra]

Apple pivoted from the fashion angle since Series 1&2. It’s all about health now. If you want fashion, get a Gucci or a Rolex.

I don’t really care what apple says. My comment was in regards to the round watch, and how some people prefer that design as a fashion accessory.

I like both designs, and like that people have a choice in what they buy.

 

[WRChris]

Get ready to join all those people that made fun of large phones a couple years ago.

A good portion of people want a round Apple Watch, just Apple doesn't offer it (yet). You can resist all you want, but it's coming sooner or later. I have no doubt. The watch faces are very clearly made to be adaptable to a round version in the future.

Lol. Maybe. That mockup is fugly though.

 

[bobob]

I would prefer a round Apple Watch (which is long overdue from Apple, IMHO)

And c'mon Apple - - make a proper telephone shaped smartphone!

 

[manu chao]

How to scroll down iMessage text on a Moto? Any idea?

You would have to reflow text every time you scrolled up (or down) by a line or more (unless the text would confined to a square area in the centre of the display). And trying to read such 'reflown' text would be a pain.
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Would you mind explaining this? I have no idea what that means.

The most extreme example might be the comparison between a piece of text saying 'right' or 'left' versus an arrow right of the centre of a display pointing to the right (maybe top-right) or left (maybe top-left). Or even more visual, a person standing in front of you pointing to the right (or left) vs them holding a sign saying right (or left).

Recognising the spacial position of something is mentally easier (and thus quicker) than reading characters/words/numbers. With a speedometer, it's similar, seeing it pointing in certain direction gives a very quick indication what speed you are at roughly (with a speedometer, it physically moving is also easier to track than a digital display of numbers going up).

With a classical two-arm watch (or clock) the same principles apply (though there are two arms which make things a bit more difficult). Though in a lot of situations, one of the two clock arms will be the most important one to you. I remember the clock on the wall when I had to catch a bus for school. I knew exactly where the minute arm had to be when it was time to go, or how much time there was still left by seeing the physical space between the current position of the minute arm and the memorised position that marked that go-moment.

But all these are naturally general statements. For example, when you want to exactly stick to a speed limit, a digital display might work better. And how people process information can vary from person to person. So for some the above might apply much less than others.

 

[AustinIllini]

And c'mon Apple - - make a proper telephone shaped smartphone!

Because all products are the same...