If you were to stop wearing an Apple Watch, what is the number one feature you'd miss?

[The Cockney Rebel]

For me, it has to be calendar reminders.

Just seeing them on my watch face, every time I glance at it, has been extremely useful.

How about you?

 

[jz0309]

AW for me is a tool with many features that I’d miss, I see no reason to stop wearing it:
Apple Pay, activity tracking, ecg, afib detection notifications and the list goes on

In a week or 2, can you summarize and make a comparison with the thread below and see if anything has changed?

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

I’ve just started wearing my Apple Watch again, after a few weeks. Can’t say I really missed any of its features.

forums.macrumors.com

 

[JonnyMacx86]

Now Playing. I remember the first time I used AirPods and Apple Watch together was one of the more transformative experiences of my life. Really, I mostly see the watch as an extension of my iPhone anyway. Although it is nice to have more accurate sleep tracking, too. There's lots that I'd miss, honestly.

 

[surferfb]

For me, I miss the health and fitness features most. Oura ring gets me some of the way there, but definitely not all the way.

 

[ATmahe]

Leaving my phone at home and still be reachable for my VIPs.
And maybe the notifications on my wrist.

Everything else is just a gimmick for me.

 

[PatrickNSF]

Setting reminders with Siri.

 

[Night Spring]

Activity Rings and sleep tracking.

Edit: oh and timer. Very convenient to be able to start timers from my wrist.

 

[alecgold]

Just a few things and I’m wondering if it is worth it:
notifications, my iPad, MBP and iPhone are silent and don’t give any ping or buzzz
payment Apple Pay is brilliant and so easy on a watch.
reminders of agenda items.
But that‘s it. And that is rather a lot of money for limited features.

 

[thecautioners]

A tie between notifications and having the weekly weather forecast available at a glance.

 

[EdwardC]

I can live with or without my AW. I mostly used it for the activity features but my Fitbit pretty much does that and lasts for days on a charge.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

For me, it has to be calendar reminders.

Just seeing them on my watch face, every time I glance at it, has been extremely useful.

How about you?

I use the Timer constantly. Multiple other things too, but the Timer clearly ranks #1.

 

[Spindel]

Being able to go phone less (I have a LTE watch) but still being reachable when out for a run or going to the beach swimming with the kids or just being out in the garden during summer.

Checking and answering texts without having to bring up my phone.

Checking and having the ability to reject a call without bringing up my phone.

The notifications that I do allow without bringing up my phone.

Quick read of e-mails to determine if it can wait or if I need to bring up my phone.

Fitness and sleep tracking. I do exercise regurarly (mostly running) and use fittness tracking fairly much.

Apple pay without having to bring up my phone (and in extension using it for public transport the times i use public transport.

Using HomeKit devices without having to be by/bring up my phone.

Shopping list when grocery shopping, sounds stupid but is really handy.

The weather, and foremost the current outside temperature at a glance (I use WeatherMate that pulls data from the closest PWS connected to services like WU so it’s fairly accurate at giving the current outside temperature).

Controling what music/skipping songs etc without bringing up my phone (yeah skipping single songs can be done with my AirPods Pro, but wider control and selection the watch is good).

Alarm clock waking me up in a really plesant way by vibrating on my wrist.

Setting timers in example when cooking.

Finding my phone when it slipped between the couch cushions or when I forgot where I put it.




And probably some stuff I forgot about.

In general AW has reduced my mobile device screen time by a lot because I check my phone less and is less inclinde to ”check” other stuff while having my phone out anyways.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Setting a timer from my wrist, it’s something I do multiple times a day. ApplePay too as 99% of my purchases are done by tapping my watch. I wouldn’t want to go back to carrying physical cards or a wallet to be honest.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Setting a timer from my wrist, it’s something I do multiple times a day. ApplePay too as 99% of my purchases are done by tapping my watch. I wouldn’t want to go back to carrying physical cards or a wallet to be honest.

I also like Apple Pay on the watch, but it's only a maximum of £100, so I carry my two bank cards in my MagSafe wallet, if I'm going shopping.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I also like Apple Pay on the watch, but it's only a maximum of £100, so I carry my two bank cards in my MagSafe wallet, if I'm going shopping.

I never really buy things for over £100 in shops, it’s nearly always online for me.

 

[LeeW]

Health and fitness, specifically heart monitoring. I had heart issues some years ago, so I like to be aware of it constantly, especially when working out or doing cardio. But also Apple Pay. I like paying without revealing my card/wallet in crowded places.

 

[zkap]

It's very useful to me for different things. If I'm at home, I don't have to think about where the phone is and worry about missing calls, as I know the AW will vibrate. It's also nice to just glance at the watch and see what the text/e-mail is about without having to go to the phone. If I'm cooking, I use the timer on the watch so I don't have to walk over to the kitchen table every time I want to check the timer or start it. If I'm preparing to go outside, I can just flick my wrist to check the temperature so I know what to wear (this is useful as I live in an apartment so I can't just walk outside and check what it feels like). If I'm outside and wearing Airpods, I can answer a call and talk without having to pull out my phone. If I went for a longer walk, I can leave my phone at home and just use the AW to listen to music through my Airpods (this is very useful in the summer months when the phone is too heavy for lighter clothing so I feel better walking around care-free without the phone bouncing around in my pocket and dragging one side of my pants down).

Then there's something specific to the AW and not just smartwatches in general, and that is a very wide variety of watch bands and the ease of changing them, so I can switch them around depending on what I'm going to do, if I'm going to a meeting or going outside for some recreation etc.

 

[zhtfreak]

I traded in my AW5 while I could still get some value for it along with my iPhone 12 mini when I upgraded to my 15 pro. I wasn't doing much with it on its own since I always have my iPhone with me anyway.

I wanted to try to make it be like my old iPod nano as a stand alone music player, where I could just fill up the allotted space for media with music and not have to sync or download specific albums or playlists. I don't think the watch can do that though.

I also found little quirks using it with VoiceOver that made it just a little it annoying. The speech output from the AW doesn't come through air pods until you start playing media, which made trying to choose something to play really difficult in a lot of places like on the bus. Much easier to just pull out my phone.

Some things also seemed to get harder to do since watchos 10 came out. Maybe I had something set wrong, but I found the watch going to sleep when I was trying to do things like start or end a workout, so I kept having to turn the digital crown to wake it back up and try again.

I miss the activity rings. I still get a move ring, but it's really hard to close it without the watch, even with the ridiculously low move gola that I have. I also used the taptic time accessibility feature a lot, where the watch vibrates different patterns to indicate the time.

Apple pay on the aw was awesome. Made it feel like the ultimate first world problem when I couldn't get it to work and I'd have tu pull my phone out my pocket and use that! Oh whatever will I do! lol I could never get Apple Pay to work in watchos 10 though, double tapping the side button just pulled up the control center.

 

[Howard2k]

Too many features to list. AW does everything better. The only thing that is more useful with an old school watch is not charging all the time. But that’s simply a non-issue. All the same, I’d like longer battery life.

But even from most basic functions - telling the time - AW is clearly far superior.

 

[xmarcuswildx]

honestly just sleep tracking and workout tracking. I’d buy the **** out of an apple ring.

 

[pr1nce]

Using Apple Pay.

 

[Zest28]

Not being able to leave my iPhone at home.

 

[dotzero123]

Saying “Siri where’s my…?” (Phone, keys etc.). I might never get to work on time again without it.

 

[cubodado]

Of course fitness and sleep tracking. Being able to hear and maybe answer a call if the phone is far and silent.
Timers. Snoopy and changing faces if I want to. Weather and light info on my wrist. Reminders.

Only real minus charging often. Notifications have a double-sided effect, they can be very useful or slightly annoying depending on the situation.

 

[Saturn007]

For me, I miss the health and fitness features most. Oura ring gets me some of the way there, but definitely not all the way.

That’s cheating! 😉

“Health and fitness” covers dozens of features. In the spirit of the question, what the Number 1 feature, you'd miss? Which of the barometers (indicators) of health or fitness? 1️⃣

Being able to go phone less (I have a LTE watch) but still being reachable when out for a run or going to the beach swimming with the kids or just being out in the garden during summer.

Checking and answering texts without having to bring up my phone.

Checking and having the ability to reject a call without bringing up my phone.

… etc.

OMW! No fair! A massive laundry list isn't in the spirit of the question, either!

Pick one and report back! 😁

Now, having teasingly chided you both, I’d be hard pressed to pick a single favorite, too!

Of course, “favorite” isn't the same as “the top feature one would miss”, either.

The feature I get the greatest “kick” out of is the Timer function — incredibly convenient and an unexpectely useful and often used feature.

But, probably the feature I’d miss the most is the Move ring. It's a key to keeping fit.

Yet, the most *important* feature would have to be the ECG.

Yet, the most *valuable* would be the HR sensor.

So, I’ve fallen prey to the same desire to highlight more than the #1 feature I’d miss — or, rather, to parse it into different dimensions or aspects!

That's a testament to just how good the Apple Watch is!