impressions after 3 days

[NotSafeForWork]

Swipe left to delete notification.

 

[KPOM]

I agree the blue email text is annoying and I've left Apple feedback on that. On the whole, however, I've found the Apple Watch to be fairly intuitive. I'm sure I've only scratched the surface, but what I've used so far has been pretty easy to figure out.

 

[gowanis]

I agree with much of the OP's observations. The two that I also noticed today are 1) two-handed use and 2) screen response.

I carry a metal briefcase while I'm commuting and quickly realized that you need both hands (arms) free to interact.

I also find that the screen is not responsive enough. When I'm using the music glance, I sometimes have to click the buttons many times before it responds.

Still, I do like the watch quite a bit.

 

[yalag]

got package Friday evening, fiddled around with it on weekend, and had first full work day today, a few quick thoughts, I have the 42mm white sport:

-not as convenient for quick interactions as i thought: whereas you can truly use your phone one handed (I use a 6) -from taking out of pocket, glancing at the screen, replying if need be, its not so with the watch. With the watch, if you want to interact with it, you're using two hands, one to hold up the watch and one to use it. I live in NYC and do a lot of walking, and this becomes less convenient than a phone in your pocket if you're carrying something with one hand, like a bag. Ive worn it under a light jacket over the weekend and with a business suit today; having to roll up sleeves to look at it was a bit of a hassle.

-haptic - I find it pretty weak. If sitting there, you can feel it but I find just barely, and this is on the stronger setting without "prominent" haptic setting turned on. If Im moving around, I find I typically miss it. Its better with prominent but I feel like this should be the default setting with the ability to set even stronger if desired. I really liked the idea of no audio notification and just getting that tap, I wish we had more control over the intensity

-screen response - i don't find the screen that responsive, especially relative to iPhone/ipad, many times, especially when walking where the tap might not be so precise, i find i need to tap multiple times to register. Same goes for force touch

-battery - so far pretty good. right now at 14 hours and 28% left. thats with 2 half hour outdoor walk exercises, tons of email notifications (50+ throughout the day because of work); this mirrors my experience on Sat and Sun, maybe slightly less but I don't tend to get a lot of emails on weekends.

-digital crown - i naturally try to press it with my opposite finger only, and find its harder to do because you're also pushing the whole watch, which is to say, you have to put your thumb on the other side to be able to counteract the force of your pushing finger. not a major deal but something i noticed as having to hold the watch with your thumb and forefinger didn't seem natural and was downright inconvenient when the watch is peaking out from under a jacket sleeve or shirt cuff.

-speaking of emails - i was a little overwhelmed with all the email notifications throughout the work day; it was overwhelming to be honest; I can see how this would be helpful when I am on the road, but today I was in the office. Will have to figure out whats right for me, maybe just VIPs, but then have to set up a reasonably extensive VIP list which is a pain

-more emails - the default reply color of emails tends to be blue, and when you get a reply email, the dark blue text is almost unreadable against the dark background, especially in daylight; this is something thats pretty annoying

-even more emails - if you open and read an email, you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to get to the mark as unread, trash, flag options. problem is, if you get an email that has a long chain, which I do a lot, thats a lot of scrolling!!! there doesn't seem to be a force touch option

siri - find siri slow much of the time, although if you wait long enough it tends to work; the problem is, if you're in a noisy area, it tends to keep listening for quite a while after you've finished talking. although it does a pretty good job of not picking up background conversations, what would be better is the mic button on the iOS keyboard where you hold it for as long as you're talking and then release when you're done, so theres no ambiguity

siri for replying to txts, etc - i understand why this is necessary as opposed to a keyboard, but i feel really dumb doing it in public; maybe when more people have em it won't feel as strange - i feel especially dumb when I'm holding up my watch waiting for siri to work as described above

-UI - maybe I'm just an idiot but I don't find the OS that intuitive, whereas Ive had no problems with iOS. quick example, it took me awhile to realize that to get back to the watch face, which i think of as the "home screen", you need up to 3 interactions! first to get out of an app, second to center the watch app on the real home screen, then click on the app. Also, you can swipe up/down for notifications and glances unless you're in the watch face, another reason i intuitively thought of it as the true "home screen"

- charger - i got the impression from the keynote that that the charger would snap on and hold on tight like a magsafe, i find my connection very weak. it could be an issue for all these stand prototypes I've seen, many of which, given the angle, seem to anticipate relying on the "magnetic" connection to keep the watch in place.

I still like the watch overall and will likely keep, but I don't "love" it. Im lucky enough that the cost is not a big expenditure for me, if it was, I would likely consider returning it much harder. Its a gen 1 product, I get that. I had the first iPhone and iPad, but those were products that much easier to "love" right away even with their obvious shortcomings. As Apple refines it over time and dev really learn to take advantage of it, Im sure it will all work out, just like iPhone and iPad did.

I agree with your points on mail and I'll say this again, I am convinced that all Apple Execs don't use their watch for email. It's just not a complete product at this point.

 

[SilentLoner]

Steve Jobs was the taste of Apple. It was his will alone that drove Apple's focus on attention to detail. Without him we are seeing Apple fall into the same patterns companies such as Samsung and Google do.

Erm unless you have a octopus hand it would be impossible to use the watch one handed as the one is on your wrist?

 

[maliu]

It's a watch, the whole point is touching it with your other hand. If anyone here can touch their watch with two hands I call it impossible. Carrying something? Use one finger. How hard can that be?

 

[h00ligan]

impressions after 3 days

Double click the digital crown to switch between two apps fast

My main concern is that when I saw apps loading it was incredible slow. Like get out. unlock your phone. Use app. Put away. Watch still loading.

It seems like the basics like notifications it's even having issues with?

I am considering changing from pebble to apple watch but lag for watch face on. Slow app launching. Clunky ui

Not sure dictating a text is worth it. Especially for the price

Thoughts?

 

[Sparkeze]

If I'm really trying to be discreet, or I have no extra finger to touch the screen, I just glance to see what it is. Then if I put my arm back down, the notification is still there but there's no red dot. I just glance whenever there's a tap and later I'll go in and clear all. Another way to dismiss a notification more quickly, is just pull down on the notification.

I put together a VIP list on my MacBook by clicking on the star next to each sender's name. You can also do it on the iPhone by touching an email address in an email. Not very convenient if you want 100 VIPs, but 30 was pretty simple. Email is generally something I would rather do on my phone, but I have a couple people who use email like texting and it would be nice to send quick replies.

There are a lot of bugs, but I think the point is to have only quick interaction with it. If you were only using it for notifications so you can get your phone out as needed, you could get by an entire day without touching your watch.

 

[Sparkeze]

Double click the digital crown to switch between two apps fast

My main concern is that when I saw apps loading it was incredible slow. Like get out. unlock your phone. Use app. Put away. Watch still loading.

It seems like the basics like notifications it's even having issues with?

I am considering changing from pebble to apple watch but lag for watch face on. Slow app launching. Clunky ui

Not sure dictating a text is worth it. Especially for the price

Thoughts?

Some apps are so slow and a few are how they should be. The longer I have my watch, the less I use the apps. Especially apps like Twitter and Instagram.

I entered a few canned responses that have been very handy. "Because I said so" "I'm running late" "where are you?" Etc. I've dictated a bunch and aside from the fact that I'm walking and talking into my phone, it's pretty convenient. Replying to texts, checking time and weather, and my calendar and to-do lists have been my favorite things so far.

 

[h00ligan]

Some apps are so slow and a few are how they should be. The longer I have my watch, the less I use the apps. Especially apps like Twitter and Instagram.

I entered a few canned responses that have been very handy. "Because I said so" "I'm running late" "where are you?" Etc. I've dictated a bunch and aside from the fact that I'm walking and talking into my phone, it's pretty convenient. Replying to texts, checking time and weather, and my calendar and to-do lists have been my favorite things so far.

Thanks for your input

 

[MH01]

got package Friday evening, fiddled around with it on weekend, and had first full work day today, a few quick thoughts, I have the 42mm white sport:

-not as convenient for quick interactions as i thought: whereas you can truly use your phone one handed (I use a 6) -from taking out of pocket, glancing at the screen, replying if need be, its not so with the watch. With the watch, if you want to interact with it, you're using two hands, one to hold up the watch and one to use it. I live in NYC and do a lot of walking, and this becomes less convenient than a phone in your pocket if you're carrying something with one hand, like a bag. Ive worn it under a light jacket over the weekend and with a business suit today; having to roll up sleeves to look at it was a bit of a hassle.

-haptic - I find it pretty weak. If sitting there, you can feel it but I find just barely, and this is on the stronger setting without "prominent" haptic setting turned on. If Im moving around, I find I typically miss it. Its better with prominent but I feel like this should be the default setting with the ability to set even stronger if desired. I really liked the idea of no audio notification and just getting that tap, I wish we had more control over the intensity

-screen response - i don't find the screen that responsive, especially relative to iPhone/ipad, many times, especially when walking where the tap might not be so precise, i find i need to tap multiple times to register. Same goes for force touch

-battery - so far pretty good. right now at 14 hours and 28% left. thats with 2 half hour outdoor walk exercises, tons of email notifications (50+ throughout the day because of work); this mirrors my experience on Sat and Sun, maybe slightly less but I don't tend to get a lot of emails on weekends.

-digital crown - i naturally try to press it with my opposite finger only, and find its harder to do because you're also pushing the whole watch, which is to say, you have to put your thumb on the other side to be able to counteract the force of your pushing finger. not a major deal but something i noticed as having to hold the watch with your thumb and forefinger didn't seem natural and was downright inconvenient when the watch is peaking out from under a jacket sleeve or shirt cuff.

-speaking of emails - i was a little overwhelmed with all the email notifications throughout the work day; it was overwhelming to be honest; I can see how this would be helpful when I am on the road, but today I was in the office. Will have to figure out whats right for me, maybe just VIPs, but then have to set up a reasonably extensive VIP list which is a pain

-more emails - the default reply color of emails tends to be blue, and when you get a reply email, the dark blue text is almost unreadable against the dark background, especially in daylight; this is something thats pretty annoying

-even more emails - if you open and read an email, you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to get to the mark as unread, trash, flag options. problem is, if you get an email that has a long chain, which I do a lot, thats a lot of scrolling!!! there doesn't seem to be a force touch option

siri - find siri slow much of the time, although if you wait long enough it tends to work; the problem is, if you're in a noisy area, it tends to keep listening for quite a while after you've finished talking. although it does a pretty good job of not picking up background conversations, what would be better is the mic button on the iOS keyboard where you hold it for as long as you're talking and then release when you're done, so theres no ambiguity

siri for replying to txts, etc - i understand why this is necessary as opposed to a keyboard, but i feel really dumb doing it in public; maybe when more people have em it won't feel as strange - i feel especially dumb when I'm holding up my watch waiting for siri to work as described above

-UI - maybe I'm just an idiot but I don't find the OS that intuitive, whereas Ive had no problems with iOS. quick example, it took me awhile to realize that to get back to the watch face, which i think of as the "home screen", you need up to 3 interactions! first to get out of an app, second to center the watch app on the real home screen, then click on the app. Also, you can swipe up/down for notifications and glances unless you're in the watch face, another reason i intuitively thought of it as the true "home screen"

- charger - i got the impression from the keynote that that the charger would snap on and hold on tight like a magsafe, i find my connection very weak. it could be an issue for all these stand prototypes I've seen, many of which, given the angle, seem to anticipate relying on the "magnetic" connection to keep the watch in place.

I still like the watch overall and will likely keep, but I don't "love" it. Im lucky enough that the cost is not a big expenditure for me, if it was, I would likely consider returning it much harder. Its a gen 1 product, I get that. I had the first iPhone and iPad, but those were products that much easier to "love" right away even with their obvious shortcomings. As Apple refines it over time and dev really learn to take advantage of it, Im sure it will all work out, just like iPhone and iPad did.

Regarding the charger : these is a thin piece of plastic over the white part I did not notice at first, and wondered why the connection was so crap, once I removed this, the charger snaps on like the MagSafe . Have you removed it?

 

[Lucifer666]

I just use it for a few easy things, like weather, and time; that sort of thing.

But I like it because it's rather comfortable (Sport), surprisingly so even. I don't even know i'm wearing it.

 

[drew0020]

Double click the digital crown to switch between two apps fast

My main concern is that when I saw apps loading it was incredible slow. Like get out. unlock your phone. Use app. Put away. Watch still loading.

It seems like the basics like notifications it's even having issues with?

I am considering changing from pebble to apple watch but lag for watch face on. Slow app launching. Clunky ui

Not sure dictating a text is worth it. Especially for the price

Thoughts?

I complely agree with your assessment. Too many times the UI is just too slow. It becomes more convenient to use my phone.

I have never been a fan of Siri (I rarely use it on my phone) and I find it almost useless on the watch especially since I cannot edit text when Siri inevitably misunderstands me.

That said I think the watch looks cool (better than I imagined), but on the whole the OS feels subpar. Forget the 3rd party applications as they are typically very slow and not usable. Battery does last me through a day, but I think thats partially because I do not interact with the watch often at all.

 

[tivoboy]

This I 100% agree with. If there are links or something in the email it is a ton of scrolling to get to the bottom. I also found myself force touching the notification to try and avoid having to scroll all the way to the bottom.

you can just press and hold and those options will come up at the top of an email. Use the haptic.

----------

Maybe.

But this isn't a sink or swim moment for Cook. Steve was measured by his successes as they started to add up, but there were a LOT of turkeys.

But 'I' will judge Apple with this watch. If it's God awful I will blame it on Cook, and hope the board replaces him. He is the decider now.

nah, this won't be sink or swim for cook..while he may have pushed it, steve failed MANY times and it didn't hurt him. cook has done a very good job not messing things up, and just letting the story left by steve unfold.

Give it a couple more products.

 

[yalag]

you can just press and hold and those options will come up at the top of an email. Use the haptic.

----------

Wait, how do you scroll to the bottom of an email again?

 

[mistame]

-UI - maybe I'm just an idiot but I don't find the OS that intuitive, whereas Ive had no problems with iOS. quick example, it took me awhile to realize that to get back to the watch face, which i think of as the "home screen", you need up to 3 interactions! first to get out of an app, second to center the watch app on the real home screen, then click on the app. Also, you can swipe up/down for notifications and glances unless you're in the watch face, another reason i intuitively thought of it as the true "home screen".

Or, if you're in an app, double tap the crown and you're back to the watch face. That technically switches you between the two most recent apps you've used, so if you have opened several apps in one interaction you won't get back to the watch face, but I haven't found myself opening more than one app per interaction (aside from fiddling with the watch the first day). I also agree about not being able to swipe up/down in anything other than the watch face being annoying though.

 

[yalag]

Or, if you're in an app, double tap the crown and you're back to the watch face. That technically switches you between the two most recent apps you've used, so if you have opened several apps in one interaction you won't get back to the watch face, but I haven't found myself opening more than one app per interaction (aside from fiddling with the watch the first day). I also agree about not being able to swipe up/down in anything other than the watch face being annoying though.

Double tap doesn't always bring you back to the watch face though.

 

[mistame]

Double tap doesn't always bring you back to the watch face though.

Correct, which is exactly what I said

 

[tivoboy]

Double tap doesn't always bring you back to the watch face though.

It does at some point..

the issue I find is that if looking at apps and then selecting an app, after THAT the double tap only brings you back to the apps page, then another DT to the center (which is where the CLOCK app is LOCKED) and then another double tap - or watchface center tap brings you back to the clock..

probably just better to wait it out.