If you were to stop wearing an Apple Watch, what feature/s would you miss most?

[the future]

Well. Im certainly not the first one. Macrumors, Apple and Reddit threads all filled with comment stating that the audio quality is bad.

96kbps for downloaded is mentioned as maximum limitation by both Spotify and Tidal.

Tidal now also offers offline listening on the Apple Watch

The latest music streaming service to offer support.

www.theverge.com

Spotify brings offline playback to Apple Watch

It took a while, but the long-awaited feature has arrived.

www.cnet.com

Now, AM is not mentioned, I'm certain it's the same for that as well. (I was using both AM and Spotify, both sounded bad).

I spend way too much time on macrumors, especially in the Watch forum, and have never read about this. Were those threads in other forum segments here?

Edit: found a few, but they were old and short. Maybe I never noticed any of this because I never stream music directly from Apple Music when out and about but only listen to music synced from my phone to the Watch ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[msackey]

It's hard for me to say what features I'll miss because I think so much of it really depends on how I am currently.

Up until my recent unexpected surgery, I was keeping track of my activities and running regularly with the goal of training and improvement. With the unexpected surgery resulting in sudden low energy weeks after the surgery (unexpected!) I'm just starting to get back into things and am slowly re-committing to get back with being active again. In a sense, during this post-surgery period, I haven't really missed anything about the Watch, hardly ever paying attention to what it's tracking even though I still wear it and I still tracked the few runs I did.

I think once I'm fully back to myself and gung-ho about activity tracking, I'll will re-appreciate the activity tracker and my watch ability to track my runs, etc.

 

[CharlesShaw]

I spend way too much time on macrumors, especially in the Watch forum, and have never read about this. Were those threads in other forum segments here?

Edit: found a few, but they were old and short. Maybe I never noticed any of this because I never stream music directly from Apple Music when out and about but only listen to music synced from my phone to the Watch ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think we’re the only ones who load purchased music onto our watches, lol. I don’t doubt the reports that Spotify sounds bad on the watch. I don’t question that there’s a lower bitrate for stored music too, but I can’t hear it.

Yesterday I even A/B tested the same songs playing from iPhone and Watch, wearing the same headphones and I couldn’t tell them apart, so I’m good. Sorry for Spotify users who want to leave their phones at home.

And like I said before, maybe the members at my gym carrying iPhones while wearing Apple Watches capable of playing music are just using Spotify. A few even use wired headphones on their iPhones and are wearing Apple Watches, but I don’t ask why, as I assume they got tired of dealing with batteries or BT, or maybe it’s about bitrates, and nobody talks at the gym regardless, lol.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I stopped wearing my Apple Watch, and the only feature I miss is quick access to outdoor temperature. I still look at my wrist to check the temperature from time to time.

Otherwise, back to regular old quartz and mechanical watches for me. Honestly, good riddance overall.

 

[the future]

I think we’re the only ones who load purchased music onto our watches, lol.

Old school but, as it again turns out in this thread, seems to have its advantages. 😊

I don’t question that there’s a lower bitrate for stored music too.

For me personally this has been debunked by my test earlier. Playlist from my Mac/iPhone takes up the same space on the Watch, ergo full 256 kbps AAC on the Watch.

like I said before, maybe the members at my gym carrying iPhones while wearing Apple Watches capable of playing music are just using Spotify. A few even use wired headphones on their iPhones and are wearing Apple Watches, but I don’t ask why

When I see folks at the gym still carrying their phone, I just smile to myself. Now that seems old school to me, LOL.

 

[CharlesShaw]

For me personally this has been debunked by my test earlier. Playlist from my Mac/iPhone takes up the same space on the Watch, ergo full 256 kbps AAC on the Watch.

Dunno, but I was thinking that maybe that’s why it takes HOURS to load music onto the Watch.

 

[the future]

Dunno, but I was thinking that maybe that’s why it takes HOURS to load music onto the Watch.

Yeah, it used to be bad, but it‘s gotten much faster.

 

[L92]

I'm no expert, but the fact that it takes up that much space is not really proving that that's actual quality of the playback. If they were artificially limiting Spotify and Tidal, meanwhile only AM is capable for full quality playback, that would have been a scandal.

 

[the future]

I'm no expert, but the fact that it takes up that much space is not really proving that that's actual quality of the playback.

True, but the space taken up and the fact that I can‘t hear a difference between iPhone and Watch is prove enough for me.

If they were artificially limiting Spotify and Tidal, meanwhile only AM is capable for full quality playback, that would have been a scandal.

Maybe the difference is between syncing stuff you own from the phone vs. „downloading“ stuff to the Watch via your streaming subscription. The first would need to be re-encoded on the fly, the second could just already be prepared in lower-res for the Watch.

 

[Choco Taco]

I would miss literally everything. I feel naked without my watch. I go running every day and I refuse to have a giant phone in my pocket. I can track my run, listen to music, answer phone calls, respond to texts ... it's incredibly convenient.

 

[Tdude96]

I would miss literally everything. I feel naked without my watch. I go running every day and I refuse to have a giant phone in my pocket. I can track my run, listen to music, answer phone calls, respond to texts ... it's incredibly convenient.

Slightly off-topic, but I'm almost certainly getting a cellular model for this reason. Gaining this additional freedom from the phone sounds great. I've been trying to integrate more running into my workouts, but can't tolerate carrying the phone while running and so mostly walk instead. My job doesn't allow me to be disconnected for long.
I'm thinking a cellular-enabled watch will eliminate that problem.

 

[the future]

I'm thinking a cellular-enabled watch will eliminate that problem.

It totally will!

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I would miss literally everything. I feel naked without my watch. I go running every day and I refuse to have a giant phone in my pocket. I can track my run, listen to music, answer phone calls, respond to texts ... it's incredibly convenient.

The last thing I want when I’m on one of my runs is someone ringing me. I’m too focused on my pace and listening to music. I’ve never opted for a cellular AW as I can’t think of a scenario when I would need it and while running should be the perfect example but in my case it’s the opposite.

 

[Choco Taco]

The last thing I want when I’m on one of my runs is someone ringing me. I’m too focused on my pace and listening to music. I’ve never opted for a cellular AW as I can’t think of a scenario when I would need it and while running should be the perfect example but in my case it’s the opposite.

You can always enable Do Not Disturb.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

You can always enable Do Not Disturb.

I do that already as I have my phone in an armband for music streaming. It would be a bit pointless me getting a cellular watch but then it’s an additional £10 a month for a data plan on a watch so that puts that option to bed anyway as I’m struggling for a use to begin with.

 

[Howard2k]

I do that already as I have my phone in an armband for music streaming. It would be a bit pointless me getting a cellular watch but then it’s an additional £10 a month for a data plan on a watch so that puts that option to bed anyway as I’m struggling for a use to begin with.

I like the idea of the cellular for emergencies but keeping it inactivated. That's what I'd likely do for my next Watch. Of course, if it's the Ultra I won't have the choice as there is no non-cellular version available.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I like the idea of the cellular for emergencies but keeping it inactivated. That's what I'd likely do for my next Watch. Of course, if it's the Ultra I won't have the choice as there is no non-cellular version available.

I’ll never be in the market for an Ultra unless they bring the price down to 400 quid, make a smaller model and improve its aesthetics. So in reality, never. I may consider a different brand of Watch too and wear my mechanical watches more often. I find the Apple Watch frustratingly unreliable at times for things like reminders and setting timers which are things it really should be good at all the time.

 

[JTK Awesome]

Funny how most of the functions people say they'd "miss" are duplicates from their iPhones 🤔

I stopped wearing my Apple Watch, and the only feature I miss is quick access to outdoor temperature. I still look at my wrist to check the temperature from time to time.

Otherwise, back to regular old quartz and mechanical watches for me. Honestly, good riddance overall.

Now just did rid of those silly quartz watches, too. Mechanical all the way

 

[oneMadRssn]

Funny how most of the functions people say they'd "miss" are duplicates from their iPhones 🤔



Now just did rid of those silly quartz watches, too. Mechanical all the way

Eh, I'm fine with quartz. A tiny 30mAh battery and it runs accurately for half decade. Mechanical watches and the Apple Watch have the same shortcoming, which is far too short run-life. I want to be able to stick a watch in a drawer, and pick it up a year later and have it still working perfectly fine.

 

[JTK Awesome]

Eh, I'm fine with quartz. A tiny 30mAh battery and it runs accurately for half decade. Mechanical watches and the Apple Watch have the same shortcoming, which is far too short run-life. I want to be able to stick a watch in a drawer, and pick it up a year later and have it still working perfectly fine.

Boooring

 

[Killbynumbers]

Timer. I can just use my voice to set a time when I have something in the oven. I can always use my phone to do the same thing but it's not always with me like the watch is.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Funny how most of the functions people say they'd "miss" are duplicates from their iPhones 🤔

Certainly true of my list. TBH I’d love to stop using the phone altogether. There are basically 3 things I use it for:

• Audio source: My MFi hearing aids connect to iPhone or iPad, but Apple Watch isn’t supported. So podcasts, audiobooks, music, phone calls, etc. go through the iPhone.
• CarPlay. I see no reason why a watch couldn’t run wireless CarPlay, other than of course battery life.
• Camera. This of course would be the trickiest to do with just a watch, and it’s what puts me into iPhone Pro rather than mini or SE.

Other than those 3 things, I really don’t touch my iPhone. I use Watch, or iPad.

 

[Vundu]

Fitness tracking for that added motivation to keep active.

 

[nburwell]

In no particular order, I would miss: Reading texts, FB messenger, screen/answer phone calls

 

[the future]

Funny how most of the functions people say they'd "miss" are duplicates from their iPhones

It‘s not just about the „what“, it‘s also about the how. Many things are just quicker or more convenient with the Watch. Also, there are essential functions only the Watch has. Nothing „funny“ about all this.