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If the Apple watch the new Life Alert?

T

Thatdownsofboy

macrumors member
Original poster
May 10, 2015
41
14
I was watching TV today and the Life Alert commercial came on. I remember in the 80's and 90's, that commercial was a huge joke. "I've fallen an I can't get up"LOL!!! It made me think that this will be another use case for the App,e watch. When you're in your home in an emergency situation, you may not be able to reach your phone. You can just call someone with your watch. They could also create an app or glance where you can hit a button or something to contact someone and it sends out an emergency response with your current location.

What you guys think?
 
edlex said:
Yeah it's more like "I've fallen and I don't have my watch!!!"
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Lol! That could happen, but it still would be nice. Regardless, it's better to have the feature than not have it. Remember, it can help in other situations besides in the house. You could be in a wreck and can't move but your phone is still near by, etc. also, if your're elderly, I would wear the watch all the time in the house.
 
You can't wear the watch all the time since you have to charge it. That alone makes it a poor replacement for such a product. Then, you need an iPhone that is nearby and turned on. You really don't want life saving response to depend on multiple devices, battery status, Bluetooth, etc. Simplicity and reliability is key.
 
Mr. Buzzcut said:
You can't wear the watch all the time since you have to charge it. That alone makes it a poor replacement for such a product. Then, you need an iPhone that is nearby and turned on. You really don't want life saving response to depend on multiple devices, battery status, Bluetooth, etc. Simplicity and reliability is key.
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Yes exactly. Mom Mom has a Mac, and iPad and iPhone with a bluetooth earpiece she wears at all times during her waking hours. As it is, she regularly forgets to place her earpiece and iPhone on the chargers before she goes to bed. She might remember to place it on a charging station right next to her bed when she takes it off, but I wouldn't bet on it. Also, it's not going to help her when she gets up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, nor will it help her if she forgets to charge the iPhone. Although, she is more likely to wear an Watch than a dedicated Life Alert type device, so that's one benefit. However, considering she wears her earpiece to take calls all day already, there's not much more benefit to having a watch on her wrist in the event she falls. If she broke her arm, then the watch would likely be useless anyway. And, I almost forgot the biggest problem of all, something that even effects her ability to voice dial on the iPhone -- Siri has a horrible time understanding her voice, especially when she is not wearing her dentures -- which is often when no one's around.

At the end of the day, a simple device which doesn't require regular charging, and can be activated simply, is the way to go for most elderly.

That said, the Watch has many other useful features for the elderly, or infirm, and could be worn in addition to a Life Alert type of device. But as Apple even disclaims, the Watch should not be relied upon for use in life or death situations.
 
What has been posted here are, as I see it, a very narrow view. Yes in the situations listed the :apple: watch will not function as a First Alert. However:

The watch can be charged at night while the person is sleeping, when the person is in bed they mostly would not need to call anyone. As a matter of fact if they had a double charger to charge the watch and iPhone simultaneously (such as the Griffen charger) then they could be called at bed time to ensure that they have the devices in the chargers. Without them using the health features or other heavy battery usage features the phone, according to other threads on this site, the watch should maintain its charge quite well.

At other times, even when they are in the bath, since the watch is water resistant, it would work quite well as a First Alert. I think you will find it used for an alert unit more than you think.
 
Tom G. said:
What has been posted here are, as I see it, a very narrow view. Yes in the situations listed the :apple: watch will not function as a First Alert. However:

The watch can be charged at night while the person is sleeping, when the person is in bed they mostly would not need to call anyone. As a matter of fact if they had a double charger to charge the watch and iPhone simultaneously (such as the Griffen charger) then they could be called at bed time to ensure that they have the devices in the chargers. Without them using the health features or other heavy battery usage features the phone, according to other threads on this site, the watch should maintain its charge quite well.

At other times, even when they are in the bath, since the watch is water resistant, it would work quite well as a First Alert. I think you will find it used for an alert unit more than you think.
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You simply cannot put conditions on a device performing this function. What if you wake up in severe pain? What if you have to go to the bathroom at night?

Life Alert is also a monitored service. They will always answer and quickly assess the situation.
 
Tom G. said:
The watch can be charged at night while the person is sleeping, when the person is in bed they mostly would not need to call anyone.
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Yes, because people don't have heart attacks during the night at all. ;)

Two things that apple watch isn't that life alert is:

1) Waterproof (yes, it's IPX7, but it isn't waterproof)
2) Shock resistant (slip in fall in the tub anyone?) How well will the Apple Watch work when your Sapphire screen has been shattered and it's getting full of water from the shower spray or the water in the tub?

It would need to be a much more resilient device. Five nines of reliability would be desirable as a support mechanism for life or death - this isn't it.
 
I'm probably nearing the emergency alert zone myself. I'm 59 and I've had a heart attack. There is no way that I'd wear a big alert pendant all the time, but my watch is very reassuring. I'm frequently away in another room from my phone during the day.

As far as night times go, when the watch is on its charger - no problem. when I'm in bed I have my iPhone and my landline phone right beside me. I wouldn't use my watch (or an alert button) if I had easy access to a phone.

There are already SOS type apps I think for one button alerts from the watch and phone if needed.

I think this technology will become the norm for summoning help in the future. Maybe not for some elders who are resistant to technology, but for future generations coming up who are used to this.
 
Tom G. said:
What has been posted here are, as I see it, a very narrow view. Yes in the situations listed the :apple: watch will not function as a First Alert. However:

The watch can be charged at night while the person is sleeping, when the person is in bed they mostly would not need to call anyone. As a matter of fact if they had a double charger to charge the watch and iPhone simultaneously (such as the Griffen charger) then they could be called at bed time to ensure that they have the devices in the chargers. Without them using the health features or other heavy battery usage features the phone, according to other threads on this site, the watch should maintain its charge quite well.

At other times, even when they are in the bath, since the watch is water resistant, it would work quite well as a First Alert. I think you will find it used for an alert unit more than you think.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. It's almost like most people are looking for a reason to bash the idea. If you're in bed, chances are your phone and watch is right next to you. Sure there will be situations for the elderly where you walk to the bathroom at night without your watch/phone and something can happen, but what about the rest of the day? Also, when I made this post, I wasn't necessarily just talking about old people. The First Alert gave me the thought, but I was really speaking about how the watch can be useful in emergency situations. Someone above mentions the fact that your phone may not be with you or near by. That's my point. If your at home or in a car wreck and can't move, it's likely that your phone may still be in Bluetooth range. As far as the phone being off, how often does that happen? Ringer off yes. The phone?
 
Thatdownsofboy said:
I totally agree. It's almost like most people are looking for a reason to bash the idea. If you're in bed, chances are your phone and watch is right next to you. Sure there will be situations for the elderly where you walk to the bathroom at night without your watch/phone and something can happen, but what about the rest of the day? Also, when I made this post, I wasn't necessarily just talking about old people. The First Alert gave me the thought, but I was really speaking about how the watch can be useful in emergency situations. Someone above mentions the fact that your phone may not be with you or near by. That's my point. If your at home or in a car wreck and can't move, it's likely that your phone may still be in Bluetooth range. As far as the phone being off, how often does that happen? Ringer off yes. The phone?
Click to expand...

If the person can't move, how are they going to activate their watch and call for help?

Both of my mothers accidents happened outside the range of her Bluetooth earpiece, when she was working in the garden, and the phone was inside. And she routinely forgets to put her phone on the charger at night. We try to get her to carry the phone with her, but when it's on the charger because she forgot to charge it the night before, what can you do?

The Watch is a great redundancy, and a good option for peace of mind in the absence of nothing. But in the end something like Life Alert is optimal for this scenario, and I don't see the Watch replacing it anytime soon.
 
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