Hands-On With watchOS 6: Dedicated App Store, New Watch Faces, Noise Monitoring, Calculator App and More

[Mikey44]

Perhaps they were left off for reasons other than hardware. Perhaps Apple didn’t like the look of that face with the large bezels? They want to keep the premium feel and keep that border invisible

Shouldn’t that be left up to the user to decide? I kinda comprehend why Apple did it. (To sell more newer watches!) I just think it’s silly/boneheaded and should probably be added for the older watches.

Noise app, sure the argument can be made that it doesn’t work because of the s3 chip in the Apple Watch. The California watch face? No actual reason it’s not included, just... wanted people to upgrade?

 

[drumcat]

Why is Apple so allergic to having digital seconds? They have no problem with a seconds hand on about every analog-style face, but because those take up so much face space (Death to skeuomorphism!) they are very inefficient.

As someone who constantly needs to look at a seconds value, that means only one watch face will work. ONE! Not even Modular! What's wrong with you guys?
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I'm not sure where MacRumors is getting that information, I'm not seeing it anywhere listed as an exclusive on Apple's site, if that's the case, that's pretty disappointing.

It's pretty simple. Sometimes background apps take up too much power, and you'd get people complaining about how their watch doesn't last all day. Pick your poison.

 

[Abazigal]

I don’t see the point of the new watch faces. The reason to wear an Apple Watch is utility/info at a glance on your wrist. Faces that just display the time in huge numerals or show a solid color with few complications may look cool for a few minutes, but does anyone use them regularly? For me, only the Siri and Infograph faces provide enough info to be useful. These new faces with big quirky numbers seem to defeat the purpose of wearing a smart watch by just displaying the time and little else.

Personal preference.

I have friends who bought the Apple Watch specifically for the Mickey Mouse Watch Face, and that’s all they ever use. That it’s not the most efficient when it comes to displaying data is besides the point.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

Like the other updates to other products this year, I think it’s a great update and really addresses some shortcomings. So many times I have wanted the standard calculator app on my watch. And having the app store will be nice too. I think the new watchfaces look great also.

But the best part is the under-the-hood opening up of the streaming API. Once developers implement it, it will be truly fantastic!

 

[chfilm]

Is there also a new “now playing” complication??

 

[Soddamarre]

Me too. I want infograph modular with the time large in the center and complications above/below that. So simple yet so far away....

That is exactly what I'm waiting for! Why not make the infograph modular really modular? Time could be a complication you could place anywhere. What I want is a digital watch face in full width that isn't split into tow rows, preferably with some additional complications.

 

[otternonsense]

Interesting that we're getting a calculator app on the watch and not on the iPad

 

[chucker23n1]

Apple has been doing that for years with all their products, not just the Apple Watch. Some of it is based on how advanced the processor is to boast certain features to support certain capabilities the other Apple Watch models cannot. Also, Of course Apple has to drive home some type of selling point for the Series 5 that the Series 4 won’t offer. That’s called marketing to sell the newest product and giving incentive why someone would want to purchase the latest Apple Watch model.

Well. Them making Noise S4-only has different motivators than the faces.

For Noise, people should be aware the Watch has been making huge strides in performance, somewhat similar to the 4s, 5s, 6s era of iPhones. It’s honestly a bit surprising Apple even still allows watchOS 6 to run on the Series 1. At this point, the Series 4 runs circles around it and then some. On top of that, Series 4 contains specialized hardware such as an improved mic for this to work. Apple has made the determination that running Noise on a Series 3 or older would ruin the experience, probably especially in battery life. That’s the other aspect to consider: watchOS is still so relatively starved in features and APIs in part because allowing more stuff would cripple battery life, which people would hate, which would ruin the reputation.

The faces are a different matter. Apple would’ve had to design them such that they fit on the smaller displays. Maybe they tried and hated it (I’m guessing a few employees did). Maybe they already have an edict that they won’t bother investing too much effort here any more. The cutoff here is clear: it’s not to punish old customers, nor is it arbitrary; it’s that the same design will fit poorly. (For watchOS 4, several reviews pointed out that some old faces fit poorly on the Series 4. We can’t have it both ways.)

The whole discussion of whether Apple wants to drive sales of newer models is… kind of tertiary to that. Of course they do. But is the Watch experience really marred because you can’t use a new face that you didn’t even know existed last week?

 

[newtestleper]

With the app store available from the watch, can you at least still browse and install watch apps from your phone?

I'd really rather browse and install apps from my phone than from the watch's tiny screen.

 

[44267547]

It’s not going to happen. And certainly not while there is a Hermès edition.

But if it ever does it’s going to be like the early App Store days

So which one is it? Because you yourself said ‘it’s not going to happen’ but yet you contradict yourself by posting ‘if it ever does. It’s one or the other, either way, you can’t rule out what Apple will do, not when how unpredictable they are as a company, unless you have a source of showing that they won’t include an app store one day, I’d be interested in reading that.

 

[kerr]

This fascination with analog clock faces boggles my mind. Is this one of the rare analog technologies that people will cling to with their cold dead hands? I could not care less if I never see another analog clock again.

 

[Beards]

Anyone know if the Calculator App will have %?
I use it all the time, currently with PCalc.

 

[bullett007]

I'm not sure where MacRumors is getting that information, I'm not seeing it anywhere listed as an exclusive on Apple's site, if that's the case, that's pretty disappointing.

To be fair, this has got to be because of the hardware. I just got my S4 this week and I'm blown away by how good/sensitive the microphone is compared to my S3.

I can Shazam music in a pretty busy/loud office (with roadworks going on outside) on my S4, the S3 could never do this, I know it's not exactly scientific but in the small amount of time that I've had the upgrade the difference is huge.

 

[mollyc]

as a man I am relieved to finally be able to keep track of my menstrual cycle from my wrist.

Yes, of course, something that doesn't benefit you personally but could benefit half the population (and others by extension) should definitely be left off the features of new development.

I don’t see the point of the new watch faces. The reason to wear an Apple Watch is utility/info at a glance on your wrist. Faces that just display the time in huge numerals or show a solid color with few complications may look cool for a few minutes, but does anyone use them regularly? For me, only the Siri and Infograph faces provide enough info to be useful. These new faces with big quirky numbers seem to defeat the purpose of wearing a smart watch by just displaying the time and little else.

Some people change their watch faces based on their activity or what they are doing. If I am going out to dinner I don't need to know 11 billion data points but might want a cleaner face with less distractions. Having different faces allows a lot of choice.

 

[satchmo]

The inability to customize your own watch face is disappointing given we’re at version 6.
But this is Apple. Look how long it’s taken for the iPad home screen to change.

 

[Mansu944]

So which one is it? Because you yourself said ‘it’s not going to happen’ but yet you contradict yourself by posting ‘if it ever does. It’s one or the other, either way, you can’t rule out what Apple will do, not when how unpredictable they are as a company, unless you have a source of showing that they won’t include an app store one day, I’d be interested in reading that.

Hey the world is grey, not black & white. I am 99% sure it won’t happen. But if it does I see it not being what people want.

 

[EdT]

Siri providing full web search results....

I’ve been using Siri for texting, mapping and songs played through my car stereo in my car for the last few months. I have to remember to turn off my car’s voice control because it screws things up-it’s Entune and it has always made Siri look good- but I now have a very high success rate with Siri. I don’t ask involved questions but the speech to text for texting works well and the phone reads it back so I know at least phonetically it wrote what I said so it’s to the point I can use it without having frequent failures.

My music is downloaded onto my phone, and not Apple or Amazon or Spotify streaming but I don’t have a lot of problems using Siri for this either, but I do have more failures. I have a lot of very old music and if a newer song is even close to the same name it will play that instead, so I usually just play one of my lists and skip if I come across a song I don’t want to listen to right now.
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Personal preference.

I have friends who bought the Apple Watch specifically for the Mickey Mouse Watch Face, and that’s all they ever use. That it’s not the most efficient when it comes to displaying data is besides the point.

If you want to know the time down to the second you can just tap Mickey or Minnie and they will say the time in that characters voice. An underused ability as far as I am concerned, it would be fun to have Arnold (Terminator) Schwarzenegger say the time, or some other cartoon character.

 

[MisterSavage]

My music is downloaded onto my phone, and not Apple or Amazon or Spotify streaming but I don’t have a lot of problems using Siri for this either, but I do have more failures. I have a lot of very old music and if a newer song is even close to the same name it will play that instead, so I usually just play one of my lists and skip if I come across a song I don’t want to listen to right now.

I can relate to this so much. I have two albums called "Discovery" by Daft Punk and ELO. Siri always wants to play the Daft Punk one (I assume because it comes first alphabetically). Specify the artist doesn't always work.

 

[chucker23n1]

Some people change their watch faces based on their activity or what they are doing. If I am going out to dinner I don't need to know 11 billion data points but might want a cleaner face with less distractions. Having different faces allows a lot of choice.

Exactly.

I have one face while slacking at home, another while working, another while working out. Similarly, I have different bands based on classiness and comfort.

Just like with clothes.

It's like that iPod shuffle ad, but kind of taken further.

 

[zorinlynx]

This fascination with analog clock faces boggles my mind. Is this one of the rare analog technologies that people will cling to with their cold dead hands? I could not care less if I never see another analog clock again.

Analog watch faces just look cool. Also, there's a certain aspect to seeing, physically, how much time is left before the next hour, or hours left before a certain time. Think of those circular progress "bars" that have become popular; the digital equivalent would be a percentage number that updates. The progress circle is more intuitive and looks cooler.

It's the same reason people still like analog speedometers in cars, even if they're simulated on a screen.

I'm a fan of both ways and have had both analog and digital watches. If I do get an Apple Watch I'll likely switch often between the two.

 

[scottct1]

Cant wait for the next beta, hopefully it fixes the battery live on my series 4. Was getting 2 days life before I applied the beta, now I am only getting around 12 hours. I have the noise meter off and my watch face has no complications on it. (Just pictures of my dogs)

 

[jsalda]

It may take a few years but I hope Apple eventually releases a custom watch face store/builder.

This 1000x. I understand they want to try and keep the Hermes look exclusive, but give devs a chance to create custom faces. I would gladly pay $.99 for a face. If it goes through the WatchOS App Store, then it would have to meet requirements and be approved. I would almost be willing to pay to get a dev account and start designing faces.

 

[MisterSavage]

This 1000x. I understand they want to try and keep the Hermes look exclusive, but give devs a chance to create custom faces. I would gladly pay $.99 for a face. If it goes through the WatchOS App Store, then it would have to meet requirements and be approved. I would almost be willing to pay to get a dev account and start designing faces.

Let me have a stormtrooper watch face Apple!!

 

[aloshka]

I'm excited about the decibels app. Can finally test exhaust noise levels before a race so I don't get flagged. (dirt biking)

 

[EdT]

TIP button might be useful in the US but not in the majority of countries (ie. those that pay employees a decent wage).

Oh come on now, explain the entire situation. Not only do they pay them a living wage but they provide health insurance either free or a lot cheaper than most US companies.