Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How will Apple Watch behave while wearer is actively using other devices?

C

Cory Bauer

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 26, 2003
615
233
We know the Apple Watch is smart enough to no longer display notifications when you've taken it off, which is awesome. However, I'm slightly concerned how the Apple Watch will behave while using the user is actively interacting with other Apple devices. If I'm actively having a conversation in Messages on my Mac, iPhone or iPad with someone, will the watch be smart enough not to vibrate and display a notification every time they message me back? Because if its not, then you could burn through those "90 notifications" included in the estimated 18-hour battery life pretty quickly. Not to mention, it'd be really annoying.

Perhaps the Watch can rely on Continuity to determine you've already seen the message? But if that's the case, and I step away from my Mac or set down my iPad without locking it, how long would it take the Watch to figure out I'm no longer in front of those devices and start feeding me notifications again?

I realize the answer to all of these questions are, "nobody knows because nobody has one", but I thought it'd be worth a speculative conversation.
 
I guess ideally the watch shouldn't do anything while your phone is unlocked. What it does when you're on your iPad, well that's another question as the watch isn't actively linked to that.
 
Cory Bauer said:
We know the Apple Watch is smart enough to no longer display notifications when you've taken it off, which is awesome. However, I'm slightly concerned how the Apple Watch will behave while using the user is actively interacting with other Apple devices. If I'm actively having a conversation in Messages on my Mac, iPhone or iPad with someone, will the watch be smart enough not to vibrate and display a notification every time they message me back? Because if its not, then you could burn through those "90 notifications" included in the estimated 18-hour battery life pretty quickly. Not to mention, it'd be really annoying.

Perhaps the Watch can rely on Continuity to determine you've already seen the message? But if that's the case, and I step away from my Mac or set down my iPad without locking it, how long would it take the Watch to figure out I'm no longer in front of those devices and start feeding me notifications again?

I realize the answer to all of these questions are, "nobody knows because nobody has one", but I thought it'd be worth a speculative conversation.
Click to expand...

That's an excellent question, and it makes me hope that notifications will finally sync when I clear them on one device. Otherwise, I'll have to clear my notifications one by one on the Watch, iPhone, Mac, and iPad.
 
Considering my iPhone doesn't alert for a message when I have iMessages open on my iPad I would think Apple would be smart enough to do the same for the watch.
 
gmanist1000 said:
That's an excellent question, and it makes me hope that notifications will finally sync when I clear them on one device. Otherwise, I'll have to clear my notifications one by one on the Watch, iPhone, Mac, and iPad.
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, during the keynote it was mentioned that when you clear a notification from your watch it will clear on the phone--a statement that received an auditorium full of applause.
 
Pluribus said:
If I remember correctly, during the keynote it was mentioned that when you clear a notification from your watch it will clear on the phone--a statement that received an auditorium full of applause.
Click to expand...

Really?! That is great! I hate clearing notifications on each device.
 
Pluribus said:
If I remember correctly, during the keynote it was mentioned that when you clear a notification from your watch it will clear on the phone--a statement that received an auditorium full of applause.
Click to expand...

Let's hope so. I remember when they said that about iOS and OS X, and it never materialised.
 
Cory Bauer said:
We know the Apple Watch is smart enough to no longer display notifications when you've taken it off, which is awesome. However, I'm slightly concerned how the Apple Watch will behave while using the user is actively interacting with other Apple devices. If I'm actively having a conversation in Messages on my Mac, iPhone or iPad with someone, will the watch be smart enough not to vibrate and display a notification every time they message me back? Because if its not, then you could burn through those "90 notifications" included in the estimated 18-hour battery life pretty quickly. Not to mention, it'd be really annoying.

Perhaps the Watch can rely on Continuity to determine you've already seen the message? But if that's the case, and I step away from my Mac or set down my iPad without locking it, how long would it take the Watch to figure out I'm no longer in front of those devices and start feeding me notifications again?

I realize the answer to all of these questions are, "nobody knows because nobody has one", but I thought it'd be worth a speculative conversation.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna assume it will work the same way it works now with my phone.

If I have the messages up on my mac already, i don't get any notifications to my phone. If the app isn't up on the mac, or if it isn't the current selected window & I don't check it for a few seconds, then I will get the notification to my phone. It would make sense if it worked the same way on the watch since literally all apple products treats notifications the same way.

----------
Pinksteady said:
Let's hope so. I remember when they said that about iOS and OS X, and it never materialised.
Click to expand...

What do you mean? that's exactly how it works right now. If I check a text on my mac, it clears on my phone, & vice versa
 
If you are actively using the paired iphone, no notifications go to the watch. If you are using any other devices they'll likely work as they do now.
 
I asked this here a few weeks ago.

I asked because I thought it is quite annoying when I'm texting with my phone and I get a reply and I still get the same notification in ALL devices, such as phone, ipad, computer, even though the iphone is the only active device.

Or you are playing with your phone, get a call, and again all your devices begin ringing..

I wonder if they've accounted for this with the watch...
 
Wow, there are a lot of people saying they get multiple notifications on all of their devices, but I never once had that issue.
 
Cory Bauer said:
We know the Apple Watch is smart enough to no longer display notifications when you've taken it off, which is awesome. However, I'm slightly concerned how the Apple Watch will behave while using the user is actively interacting with other Apple devices.
Click to expand...

I shouldn't worry. I've seen a Twitter notification on my iPhone lock screen actually vanish when I check Twitter on the web.

When I'm using iMessages on my Mac, my phone won't buzz. Unless of course I get a message, moments pass and I don't open the app and read the message.
 
hemolyzer said:
Considering my iPhone doesn't alert for a message when I have iMessages open on my iPad I would think Apple would be smart enough to do the same for the watch.
Click to expand...

This feature still needs tweaking. When I wake my iMac from a few days sleep, I get notification after notification swiping in from the top left of all the messages I've received over the past day or two. If all the devices are awake, though, there is a lag, which is great. If I don't check my phone for about thirty seconds or so it will notify my iPad/iMac.
 
The watch most definitely is aware of the locked/unlocked state of your phone via the bluetooth connection. I'm sure the functionality extends to, say, an iPad or Mac that's actively reading notifications or messages, but it'll use iCloud for this, likely relying on your phone to update it on what's been read and not read.
 
sterl320 said:
I'm gonna assume it will work the same way it works now with my phone.

If I have the messages up on my mac already, i don't get any notifications to my phone. If the app isn't up on the mac, or if it isn't the current selected window & I don't check it for a few seconds, then I will get the notification to my phone. It would make sense if it worked the same way on the watch since literally all apple products treats notifications the same way.

----------



What do you mean? that's exactly how it works right now. If I check a text on my mac, it clears on my phone, & vice versa
Click to expand...

This depends entirely on the app. Besides sending notifications out, services can remotely delete notifications too. Though services can do this, almost none of them do.

Fortunately, iMessage is one service that does.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back