Hands-On With watchOS 3: Instant App Launching, Favorites Dock, New Watch Faces and More

[BrodieApple]

I've been wondering this though - I'm glad glances are gone, good riddance. But is the friends wheel still here somewhere that I'm missing? It was kind of handy for giving a quick call to my parents if I needed to verify something on a shopping list...

Well to replace this, you could have the phone or messages app as your first app in your dock which would make things almost as quick.
[doublepost=1466502942][/doublepost]

One of the most used features of my Watch is the Now Playing glance. It allows these quick actions: raise to wake, flick up for glances, tap once to pause or skip; or raise, flick, and scroll the Digital Crown to quickly adjust volume. It works for Music, Overcast, TV Shows, Movies, YouTube ... It works while using or AirPlay or Bluetooth or HDMI as well.

It seems the new watchOS 3 interaction would be: raise to wake, press side button, tap app to go full screen, then tap/scroll for desired action. An extra step to me means slower interactions with my Watch, not what I was hoping.

Actually, when playing a song a now playing glance is the first thing on the dock!! Glad Apple did that
[doublepost=1466503014][/doublepost]

This is really attracting me towards getting a watch myself. Trying to tell myself I should just hold out for newer hardware.

Same here.. Temptation is real but it's just a few more months
[doublepost=1466503327][/doublepost]

Also, when the feds kick my door down, can they take my watch off the bedside table, strap it onto their own wrist, and bypass my macs password?

When the watch comes off your wrist and on again, it requires a passcode unless you have that setting off.

 

[Shpyda]

Two questions for anyone who may be able to answer: 1.) Is the Control Center always available to be swiped up from the bottom like say while in an app or any screen other than the watch face? 2.) Is Siri more responsive? Siri has worked fine from day one, but is very slow to carry out a command. i.e. "Siri, turn on living room lights" seems like it can take as long as 10 seconds to trigger the lights. While that's not the worst thing in the world it would be nice to hear that they've made improvements. Thank you in advance!

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

As an apple watch owner I really don't think we should have to wait for the fall for this. Especially given the garbage the current version is.

Don't hold back MacRumors. I knew you had it in you. You're right, push it out now, forget users and all the complaints they send about how it breaks all of their third party apps. You could be CEO of Apple with that mind. Hope you don't mind having to focus on fighting the US government on Ebooks, Irish taxes, the FBI and abuses of power in the guise of counterterrorism, the Korean Goverment and Samsung's ways, the Chinese government, Germany's legal peculiarities, the Indian government, working with 125,000 employees and 500 stores worldwide and gigantic supply chain all while working on the next three iPhones and updates to every hardware and software product Apple has. If only Apple knew it was simply a case of pushing out an update prematurely. You're a visionary.

 

[Kr15]

I was really hoping beta would be okay, what are the issues?

To start with - it's a watch and it's not doing it's basic job well, you want to lift it and check what time is and you end up swinging your wrist up and down to get the time. Yeah...
It is very snappy though, when it's not frozen!
Dock feature is great concept, I love the idea hence double click on the crown brought up just 1x aka previous app and app view circles aren't very easy to tap on if you are on the move, but I would keep full screen appearance like glances. I have 42mm version but those dock previews even though they are live data are sometimes useless because of the tiny font (my eyes are healthy).
Live app feature is good concept but you need your apps to support this I guess, for example I use Strava on daily basis and because of the live app feature my hart rate sensor was on pretty much 90% of the time and that have caused my watch to drain the battery pretty quickly. Charging the watch at 7pm even though it was fully charged in the morning.
I've ended up charging my watch over the night and while at work during the lunch break to get it going through the day (I use Strava for my commute only 1,5h in total, rest of the day is office job).

Yeah, did I said it's buggy as hell?! Apps (I use ONLY stock apps + Strava) are crashing, freezing, not connecting to the phone (that could be iOS problem actually hence it's nearly to impossible to use bluetooth headphones with my iPhone), restarting with no reason... Not a pleasant experience...

Also I don't get why there is no app quit on the watch (or maybe I can't find it), I need to restart whole watch if app misbehaves.

Oh nearly forgot - Siri. If as you do you leave your phone on the 1st floor and are on the ground floor where bluetooth doesn't reach it should go over the WiFi isn't it? Nope it doesn't in 70% of the cases.
Also for example timer is independent app on the watch so why the heck Siri is trying to reach the phone if you want to set up only timer?! Shouldn't Siri requests be able to go through the WiFi from the watch directly?! Or just be able to answer those basic commands without going online what so ever.

Ok, I'll downgrade at least my phone back to iOS 9 and if watch doesn't work - well, like it matters anyways...
It's probably time for a Fitbit... Unfortunately...

But on the bright side I do like those new activity faces! Finally SECONDS!!! I would be happier if I could use analogue watch face and add digital watch with seconds complication, but well you can't wish for all... That's sarcasm...

 

[peterh988]

Same here.. Temptation is real but it's just a few more months

Probably going to get a watch too, since they've just started getting strict on the 'no personal items' policy at work.
So does the current watch allow me to get notifications when out of range of my phone? (Both will have been on the same wifi network)

I just wan to get the football scores from the Livescore app.

 

[BrodieApple]

Probably going to get a watch too, since they've just started getting strict on the 'no personal items' policy at work.
So does the current watch allow me to get notifications when out of range of my phone? (Both will have been on the same wifi network)

I just wan to get the football scores from the Livescore app.

No, I believe all notifications are mirrored by the phone not doing it connected to wifi on your watch apps

 

[bjoggi]

Where did you get that coffee mug (seen in the video)?

 

[JohnApples]

Judging by what everyone is saying on here, I'm loving the changes of watchOS 3. The only gripes I think I will have with it are:

1. No more Music glance. Although I can still access the music app in the dock, that little extra step can potentially be annoying. I was hoping for a Music watch face that would show the date and time up top, current song playing at the bottom, with the music controls in the middle. The background could be a faded image of the album art. This face would (optionally) only appear when music is being played. Think of how music controls display on the iPhones lock screen when music is being played right now.

2. The circle of friends. Though I rarely used it, I can see how others find it useful given thatwe've had over a year to get used to it. I think they should have moved it to a Contacts app. Then you could add it to the dock, thus giving the side button essentially the same functionality as it has now.

3. Lack of new watch faces. I like the new ones they did include, but I still think it's not enough. Really want a watch face store, though I'm going to assume now it will be a feature for AW2.

I'm still super excited for os3, and I can't wait to try it out on my own watch.

 

[576316]

Why do we still not have 3rd party faces? I was really hoping they'd say, "...and now we're opening Watch Faces to developers...starting today!" Then introduce a Face AppStore.

 

[spazzcat]

NO CUSTOM watch faces STILL?! At least give us complications in the Photos watch face! Along with an analog photo watchface!

They seem to be building the foundation for custom faces now.
[doublepost=1466509766][/doublepost]

One of the main benefits of this redesign is that you can set up multiple watch faces with different complications and swipe through them which can act like an app launcher. So instead of swiping up, you can swipe left or right to get another watch face and tap on the music complication to launch the music app.

This is surprising one of the best features of the new os. I have several set ups already for different things I maybe be doing.
[doublepost=1466510547][/doublepost]

Judging by what everyone is saying on here, I'm loving the changes of watchOS 3. The only gripes I think I will have with it are:

1. No more Music glance. Although I can still access the music app in the dock, that little extra step can potentially be annoying. I was hoping for a Music watch face that would show the date and time up top, current song playing at the bottom, with the music controls in the middle. The background could be a faded image of the album art. This face would (optionally) only appear when music is being played. Think of how music controls display on the iPhones lock screen when music is being played right now.


2. The circle of friends. Though I rarely used it, I can see how others find it useful given thatwe've had over a year to get used to it. I think they should have moved it to a Contacts app. Then you could add it to the dock, thus giving the side button essentially the same functionality as it has now.


3. Lack of new watch faces. I like the new ones they did include, but I still think it's not enough. Really want a watch face store, though I'm going to assume now it will be a feature for AW2.

I'm still super excited for os3, and I can't wait to try it out on my own watch.

1) The dock is so much better the glances could ever be. Also, you can put what song is playing on your face. I'll attached a screen shot.

2) I am guessing far more people will find the new use better. Yes, will be people that used circle, and you can now just open the message app or phone app. If you message or call a lot this should be in your dock.

3) Give it time, Apple looks to be building the it now. I guessing it will be watchOS 4 feature, they can only work on so many changes at one time.

By the way I think the new ring faces are the best. Here is one filled out.

 

[dewski]

I think it is a little too easy to initiate the SOS feature.

 

[DavidLeblond]

But what if I'm already using my complications for other things that I find useful? Now I have to get rid of something else that's giving me functional data just so I can have a shortcut to the music app on my watch face?

Just stick all your shortcut complications on a different face, right next to the face you use most. That way you can swipe over and press. One extra swipe, but as someone who only uses one face it would at least be a use of that new "swipe to get to a different face" feature.

 

[TurboPGT!]

Thats what I thought. Thats dumb and defeats the whole purpose of Glances. So now we've ruined glances and forced the user to go back into the app to make sure they are always on the page they want to glance at.

FAIL

Nope.

 

[galrito]

Yeah, did I said it's buggy as hell?! Apps (I use ONLY stock apps + Strava) are crashing, freezing, not connecting to the phone (that could be iOS problem actually hence it's nearly to impossible to use bluetooth headphones with my iPhone), restarting with no reason... Not a pleasant experience...

It's a beta. Being buggy should be expected.

While you're at it, be a good citizen and report those bugs and crashes to Apple. I imagine that's one of the reasons why you installed a beta on your device, correct?

 

[spazzcat]

It's a beta. Being buggy should be expected.

While you're at it, be a good citizen and report those bugs and crashes to Apple. I imagine that's one of the reasons why you installed a beta on your device, correct?

A beta 1 at that, hopefully we get new betas today.

 

[gladoscc]

Glad to hear watchOS will now remind me to breathe.

 

[gsmornot]

Two questions for anyone who may be able to answer: 1.) Is the Control Center always available to be swiped up from the bottom like say while in an app or any screen other than the watch face? 2.) Is Siri more responsive? Siri has worked fine from day one, but is very slow to carry out a command. i.e. "Siri, turn on living room lights" seems like it can take as long as 10 seconds to trigger the lights. While that's not the worst thing in the world it would be nice to hear that they've made improvements. Thank you in advance!

I didn't see a reply to your message. Control center is only available from the watch screen in my testing. Siri is the same speed for me.

 

[ObsidianKt]

Is anyone else concerned about accidentally activating the emergency feature all the time? Long ago, back in the day of regular cell phones, it was possible to accidentally pocket dial 911 while the rest of the keys were locked, and it would occasionally happen to me every few months. Eventually, emergency services said they'd have to make a criminal charge for misuse of the number, which of course caused me to instantly buy a new phone.

I'm very nervous of the same issue with the watch. Sometimes (quite often really) when I'm leaning on my wrist, I'll notice the positioning caused the side button to be held down and the "power-down" screen is showing. In watch OS3, seems like these might all be accidental calls to emergency services, no?

Hopefully Apple provided a way to disable this, or I imagine several people might find themselves unable to wear it. Any one else concerned about this?

 

[gsmornot]

Is anyone else concerned about accidentally activating the emergency feature all the time? Long ago, back in the day of regular cell phones, it was possible to accidentally pocket dial 911 while the rest of the keys were locked, and it would occasionally happen to me every few months. Eventually, emergency services said they'd have to make a criminal charge for misuse of the number, which of course caused me to instantly buy a new phone.

I'm very nervous of the same issue with the watch. Sometimes (quite often really) when I'm leaning on my wrist, I'll notice the positioning caused the side button to be held down and the "power-down" screen is showing. In watch OS3, seems like these might all be accidental calls to emergency services, no?

Hopefully Apple provided a way to disable this, or I imagine several people might find themselves unable to wear it. Any one else concerned about this?

I'm not worried about dialing it by mistake but do find I can no longer force an app to close. It used to be hold the "Friends" button until you see power off then let off and hold again until you see the home screen. Now when I do this I can get the power screen but the second hold only dims the screen.

I wear my watch above the wrist bone so no issues with pressing against my hand when it bends back.

 

[mdelvecchio]

As an apple watch owner I really don't think we should have to wait for the fall for this. Especially given the garbage the current version is.

so...youre suggesting time travel? am i reading that right?

also, the current version isnt garbage.

 

[igorsky]

[doublepost=1466473552][/doublepost]Lipstick on a pig?

Good one, thanks for that.

 

[D.T.]

Then introduce a Face AppStore.

I heard a rumor they were going to bundle multiple faces into something called 'books', but the resulting product name ran into problems ...

 

[chinesedemo]

I was really hoping for more interesting watch faces. Or maybe the ability to change color of the numbers and tick marks on the "Utility" watch face. Or the ability to change the color of the hands on the "Chronograph" watch face.

Who needs all that when you have so many beautiful watch bands to choose from???

 

[BlueMoon63]

I was really hoping beta would be okay, what are the issues?

By far the best beta 1 version I have ever used. Haven't had a single lockup but if we are talking about third party apps that are not written for watchOS3, ummm duh - those could lockup or fail.

Dramatic improvement over 2.2 but I do a lot of testing with beta products and have spent a lot of time testing this version and it is very solid - battery has remained about the same as 2.2 though I can't say some third party apps should be placed in the new dock without knowing they could cause problems since they are written for 2.2.
[doublepost=1466526719][/doublepost]

One of the most used features of my Watch is the Now Playing glance. It allows these quick actions: raise to wake, flick up for glances, tap once to pause or skip; or raise, flick, and scroll the Digital Crown to quickly adjust volume. It works for Music, Overcast, TV Shows, Movies, YouTube ... It works while using or AirPlay or Bluetooth or HDMI as well.

It seems the new watchOS 3 interaction would be: raise to wake, press side button, tap app to go full screen, then tap/scroll for desired action. An extra step to me means slower interactions with my Watch, not what I was hoping.

There is a complication now. Much easier...
[doublepost=1466526822][/doublepost]

I think it is a little too easy to initiate the SOS feature.

Nope - not at all.... even if you accidentally hold down the side button long enough, it comes up with three choices - power off, medical id, SOS - each of those require you to pick one and slide your finger.

 

[vikingjunior]

I think it is a little too easy to initiate the SOS feature.

I agree 100%. I could see many kids playing with mommy and daddy's watch and activating 911.