How devs have to think differently when developing for Apple Watch

[iFanaddic]

When designing for Mac OS developers have got to think in terms of hours, their app has got to be powerful, and ready for time demanding tasks that could not be accomplished on a mobile device, at least not as efficiently.

When designing on iOs for iPhones developers have got to think in terms of minutes, their app has got to be powerful and yet ready. It must combine the best of the mobile world while remaining decently efficient when needed.

When designing on iOs for Apple Watch developers have got to think in terms of seconds, the app cannot be a blend copy of it's iPhone counter part. It has to be a "get to the point" experience with little-to-none time wasted. 4 keywords have to be remembered Inform. Control. Track. & Monitor.

So again ,

Mac OS = Hours
iOs for iPhone = Minutes
iOs for Apple Watch = Seconds

(iPad sits somewhere between minutes and hours but you get the picture)

With this in mind, hopefully the people (especially the devs out there) that keep saying the Apple Watch doesn't have a purpose will think it through. As a developer that's when I had my first breakthrough. Stop trying to miniaturize iPhone Apps, strip it down to its core and leave only what matters most.

 

[phantomsd]

I realized this as well this week while mocking up some AW apps. A great exercise on restraint, simplicity, and necessity.

 

[iFanaddic]

I reprimand Apple for not making it clear from the start, all people think about is how Facebook, 2048, and pin interest will translate to the Apple Watch. It may, probably will, but that should not be what drives you to it.

 

[Piggie]

What I find amazing, watching this talk develop is the way the Apple community is more and more making excuses for a product, and rationally trying to explain how things can be altered to fit a weak device as opposed to being critical.

You can be 100% Dam sure if this was a Samsung or Microsoft device and there was all the chat about the battery only lasting 2 hours, then not being allowed to created full apps.

Then the Samsung or Microsoft Devs trying to make up reasons why you should not be using their device for longer than a few seconds anyway and if you did then you were using it wrong.

If that was being done, then the Apple community would be ripping their Ass over it, saying how weak and poor the device was from Samsung or Microsoft and criticizing how sad it was that they were trying to defend it by trying to make out the users were wrong for wanting more.

However here, It's amazing, as I say that the opposite is true.
We have a device with a poor battery life, and rather than admitting that, and saying well, we hope it will be better in later versions, but right now, I'm afraid we are limited to just being about to "do this" with the device.

Which would be an honest and genuine thing to say.

We are trying to divert attention away from this and making out it would be wrong for devs to make any apps that might cause the users to want to actually use the device for more than a few seconds at a time.

It's quite amazing really.

 

[Night Spring]

I think even if the watch had infinite battery life, it is too small to use for more than seconds at a time.

But who knows, maybe some dev will come up with an amazing game that can be played on such a small screen.

And I don't think Samsung and Microsoft magically has miraculous battery technology today that makes it possible to run "full" apps all day on their wearable devices, either. So developers for those devices better be thinking about how to design their apps to conserve battery, or those platforms will be criticized for having bad battery life.

 

[iFanaddic]

We are trying to divert attention away from this and making out it would be wrong for devs to make any apps that might cause the users to want to actually use the device for more than a few seconds at a time.

It's quite amazing really.

People like you are looking at what the device cannot do. I'd rather look at WHAT IT CAN DO, and ultimately what it was designed for. It may not be much but it's something. And you know what? It will do more and more as the years go by. You seem to be looking for a device as polished as an iPhone 6, a Macbook Pro or a iPad Air 2. Get that out of your head, It takes of time to accomplish that. We all have an idea of what we want to the Apple Watch to be, and it will get there but it'll take a few years. It will require development on both the developers part and Apple to make sure this device's full potential comes to fruition.

(Btw I do not favor Apple Watch over any other smart watch out there but I do favor apples iPhone, hence my limited choice in smartwatches)

Truthfully, if you are planning to keep your watch a long time the first generation might not be the best choice for you.

 

[T-Will]

I thought Apple made this fairly clear in their Apple Watch Human Interface Guidelines.

"A WatchKit app complements your iOS app; it does not replace it. If you measure interactions with your iOS app in minutes, you can expect interactions with your WatchKit app to be measured in seconds. So interactions should be brief and interfaces should be simple."

https://developer.apple.com/library...nce/Conceptual/WatchHumanInterfaceGuidelines/

 

[Runt888]

What I find amazing, watching this talk develop is the way the Apple community is more and more making excuses for a product, and rationally trying to explain how things can be altered to fit a weak device as opposed to being critical.

You can be 100% Dam sure if this was a Samsung or Microsoft device and there was all the chat about the battery only lasting 2 hours, then not being allowed to created full apps.

Then the Samsung or Microsoft Devs trying to make up reasons why you should not be using their device for longer than a few seconds anyway and if you did then you were using it wrong.

If that was being done, then the Apple community would be ripping their Ass over it, saying how weak and poor the device was from Samsung or Microsoft and criticizing how sad it was that they were trying to defend it by trying to make out the users were wrong for wanting more.

However here, It's amazing, as I say that the opposite is true.
We have a device with a poor battery life, and rather than admitting that, and saying well, we hope it will be better in later versions, but right now, I'm afraid we are limited to just being about to "do this" with the device.

Which would be an honest and genuine thing to say.

We are trying to divert attention away from this and making out it would be wrong for devs to make any apps that might cause the users to want to actually use the device for more than a few seconds at a time.

It's quite amazing really.

I find it amazing that you spend so much time in a forum for a product that you are so negative about.

 

[DC Wallaby]

What I find amazing, watching this talk develop is the way the Apple community is more and more making excuses for a product, and rationally trying to explain how things can be altered to fit a weak device as opposed to being critical.

You can be 100% Dam sure if this was a Samsung or Microsoft device and there was all the chat about the battery only lasting 2 hours, then not being allowed to created full apps.

Then the Samsung or Microsoft Devs trying to make up reasons why you should not be using their device for longer than a few seconds anyway and if you did then you were using it wrong.

If that was being done, then the Apple community would be ripping their Ass over it, saying how weak and poor the device was from Samsung or Microsoft and criticizing how sad it was that they were trying to defend it by trying to make out the users were wrong for wanting more.

However here, It's amazing, as I say that the opposite is true.
We have a device with a poor battery life, and rather than admitting that, and saying well, we hope it will be better in later versions, but right now, I'm afraid we are limited to just being about to "do this" with the device.

Which would be an honest and genuine thing to say.

We are trying to divert attention away from this and making out it would be wrong for devs to make any apps that might cause the users to want to actually use the device for more than a few seconds at a time.

It's quite amazing really.

"Gosh, I really do wish this hammer had a screwdriver built into it. Instead of talking about all the screws you can't screw with a hammer, all you people are talking about is hammering nails. Why would anyone buy something like that? Stop trying to rationalize this useless hammer, and instead focus on how it can't screw screws."

 

[Rogifan]

Rene Ritchie's most recent Iterate podcast was about developing for Watch. Interesting to listen too though I am a little annoyed by how negative some people are about a device that hasn't shipped yet and they haven't used.

Part of the discussion was around force touch and if that would be difficult for users. I suppose it's possible if users don't know whether an app supports force touch or not. But I kind of liken it to the long press in iOS. If someone had never used an iOS device before would they know that long press brings up copy/paste controls, or that you use long press to insert a photo or video into an email? There's things we do on our iPhone and iPad that we don't even think about because we've been doing them for years. My guess is it won't take long for people to figure out watch controls and controlling that device will be as second nature as using an iPhone is.

 

[Piggie]

I find it amazing that you spend so much time in a forum for a product that you are so negative about.

Replace the word negative with realistic and honest and I'll agree.

Sorry if I don't buy into Hype, and Magic.

 

[T-Will]

Replace the word negative with realistic and honest and I'll agree.

Sorry if I don't buy into Hype, and Magic.

Yet, you'll still end up buying one anyway.

 

[Tycho24]

"Gosh, I really do wish this hammer had a screwdriver built into it. Instead of talking about all the screws you can't screw with a hammer, all you people are talking about is hammering nails. Why would anyone buy something like that? Stop trying to rationalize this useless hammer, and instead focus on how it can't screw screws."

Omg, coffee everywhere!!!
Don't be sooo funny before I swallow my gulp of coffee.
Ye gods, that cracked me up.

I agree that Piggie is trying to find issues that don't exist.
I think when one thinks about all the goofing around they do on their phones, from casual web surfing and fb, to texting & tweeting, to taking photos and videos, gaming, and the myraid inbetween... it is COMPLETELY disingenuous to pretend like all of those would easily translate to a 1.6" screen. Duh. Obviously, there is an enormous demand for large phones because people want to do those things on a large screen. There is no clamoring to read books for example on a watch sized screen... However, if you try to tell someone like Piggie "hey, this thing is meant for quick light interactions, to keep you from having to pull out your phone for things that are equally appropriate on a small screen"... as logical as that sounds, you're going to get some ridiculousness like "nope! if I can't read Moby Dick cover to cover on my watch without the battery dropping a percent... Apple has failed!"
So be it. There are people apparently that completely lack the vision of the possibility of a new product being used in a new way & can literally ONLY wrap their head around the idea of people staring at their wrist the exact amount of time they'd be staring at their phones... as a complete replacement. To me that seems insane. To me, just as there are some things appropriate to do on my Mac and some on my phone... & I'd never try to replace one with the other...The same is true Watch vs Phone.

 

[bbeagle]

Replace the word negative with realistic and honest and I'll agree.

Sorry if I don't buy into Hype, and Magic.

I love the magic surrounding Apple products. It makes me happy. I have a similar happiness going to Disneyland. I walk in and enjoy immersing myself in a different place, with upbeat music, happy people, and I leave the world behind. I CHOOSE to let myself be happy at Disneyland, and ignore the outside world or naysayers. Same with Apple products.

There doesn't seem to be the same type of Happiness through Samsung products or Universal Studios. It's different. They can't grab me the same way.

There are DisneyFans and anti-Disney Fans - same as Apple fans and Apple Trolls. But go ahead, keep being that person who goes into Disneyland and says 'There's a person inside of Mickey Mouse. It's so fake. There's fake music and scents pumped through buildings. People there are paid to be happy. etc. etc.'

People can CHOOSE to be happy, or CHOOSE to be miserable.

 

[Piggie]

I love the magic surrounding Apple products. It makes me happy. I have a similar happiness going to Disneyland. I walk in and enjoy immersing myself in a different place, with upbeat music, happy people, and I leave the world behind. I CHOOSE to let myself be happy at Disneyland, and ignore the outside world or naysayers. Same with Apple products.

There doesn't seem to be the same type of Happiness through Samsung products or Universal Studios. It's different. They can't grab me the same way.

There are DisneyFans and anti-Disney Fans - same as Apple fans and Apple Trolls. But go ahead, keep being that person who goes into Disneyland and says 'There's a person inside of Mickey Mouse. It's so fake. There's fake music and scents pumped through buildings. People there are paid to be happy. etc. etc.'

People can CHOOSE to be happy, or CHOOSE to be miserable.

How old are you?

Sorry, whilst I'm honestly NOT miserable, I cannot totally turn my brain off and stop thinking.

One problem I have with Apple product is that it's engineering.

I work in high precision engineering and quality control, with Stainless Steels, Aluminium, Titanium etc at higher tolerances than Apple will be using for their products.

The Apple Watch is made from 316L Stainless Steel
We have bars and bars of this material, it costs NOTHING!

Well not nothing, but the cost of a piece of it, the size of the Apple watch would be something like less than a dollar.

So, you can understand, as I know that, and we use this exact same material all day long in the medical industry, I have trouble seeing it as all magical stainless and how expensive it should be over the Aluminium version.

It's nothing special when you use it all day every day.

 

[Night Spring]

So, you can understand, as I know that, and we use this exact same material all day long in the medical industry, I have trouble seeing it as all magical stainless and how expensive it should be over the Aluminium version.

It's nothing special when you use it all day every day.

Wow, that's way off topic. There are other threads talking about aluminum versus steel. This thread is about designing apps for the Watch.

And in any case, the magic of Apple products isn't in the material they are made from. Bars of aluminum or steel or even gold are just that, and you are right there's nothing special about them. It's when they are crafted into equipment, devices, jewelry, etc., that they become special. And in the case of Apple Watch, it's the apps that are written for it that will ultimately make it a success or not.

 

[rowspaxe]

What I find amazing, watching this talk develop is the way the Apple community is more and more making excuses for a product, and rationally trying to explain how things can be altered to fit a weak device as opposed to being critical.
...
It's quite amazing really.

Its a weak product in what appears to be a failed market segment--and yet some analysts are predicting sales in excess of 30 million units in its first year. Its all so delusional.

There is a lot of talk about devs coming up with new uses, etc. But the neither the pc or smartphone served new uses, they served existing needs--gaming, video, reading--better. Lets see where "glance"
media is in 5 years.

 

[rowspaxe]

Rene Ritchie's most recent Iterate podcast was about developing for Watch. Interesting to listen too though I am a little annoyed by how negative some people are about a device that hasn't shipped yet and they haven't used.

Its potential and limitations seem rather obvious from the product rollout. I didn't need any convincing or extended use to see the benefits of an iphone or ipad. Your just in denial.

 

[Rogifan]

Its potential and limitations seem rather obvious from the product rollout. I didn't need any convincing or extended use to see the benefits of an iphone or ipad. Your just in denial.

I'm not. I reserve judgement until I can use the product myself. Plus I don't care if if has limitations. I'm not expecting it to replace my iPhone or iPad.