is the apple watch a waste of money?

[eyeseeyou]

Strictly as a timepiece, the Apple Watch is a waste of money. But it brings so much more to the table. I don't find the style particularly compelling, but the functionality it offers more than makes up for it. And you can easily accessorize with bands! Never underestimate the appeal of customization/personalization.

What are some of the features do you feel add value to the apple watch/iphone experience?

 

[rambo47]

What are some of the features do you feel add value to the apple watch/iphone experience?

Remote notification of email and iMessages, Siri integration, fitness band functions, Apple Pay integration, and more.

 

[ftlum]

This is the wrong place to ask such a loaded question. Almost all the people who did think it was a waste probably have returned it and are no longer reading this forum (at least not until Watch 2 is closer to be released). The people who are here are skewed towards those who either find it useful or don't want to admit they're made a mistake by buying it. I'm frankly surprised there was even one negative-leaning post.

 

[Zirel]

Have people buying the apple watch wasted their money how do you feel about this? All I use my watch for now a days is to check the time most of the time i find it easier to use my iPhone.

Of you bought a product that you don't use, money is a waste on you.

Seriously, why didn't you gave $349-$17k to charity or invest in your family?

 

[striders]

I had Moto360, Pebble and finally Apple Watch. One thing I now cannot live without: not missing notifications when my iPhone is in my pocket or somewhere out of reach. This is especially true when I put my iPhone on vibrate at work... I keep missing notification.

The bonus of using the Apple Watch is..well.. it's integrated with the iOS ecosystem so eveything works great. I.e. with Pebble, I either get all notifications or none at all. I can "stop" some notifications, but it requires mucking around the iOS Settings.

The ONE thing I DO NOT like about the watch: it's so damn slow to update information. Even until today, I wish the Weather app (Apple's own app!) in the watch will update in the background more actively. When I took out my watch off the charger and not open the weather app, it will still show last night weather. Then of course the 2-4 seconds update. Kinda beats the meaning of "Glance", no?

 

[sean000]

Well it failed even more then.. the "extension" is not something worth the asking price.
I can hear or feel the phone beep in my pocket without something on my wrist.

Which means that you either have to always carry your iPhone in your pocket to feel the silent alerts (something many of us simply do not enjoy), or you are one of those folks who shares your audible alerts with everyone around you.

Personally I find that getting tapped on the wrist, and keeping my iPhone completely silent and in my bag or on my desk, is worth the cost even if the watch offered no other value (which it does). If it's not for you that doesn't make it a worthless product. It's just not worth it to you.

 

[sean000]

The ONE thing I DO NOT like about the watch: it's so damn slow to update information. Even until today, I wish the Weather app (Apple's own app!) in the watch will update in the background more actively. When I took out my watch off the charger and not open the weather app, it will still show last night weather. Then of course the 2-4 seconds update. Kinda beats the meaning of "Glance", no?

Carrot Weather works much better in my experience. Most of the time Carrot weather and Fantastical calendar update in a quarter of a second if they aren't already up to date. The complications update frequently. Every now and then I will have to wait a second for them to update, but that's not very often. Still, I think we see huge improvements in the reliability and speed of all functions as time goes on.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Are there any apps that load quickly? Honestly it's a pretty bad experience launching apps.

 

[striders]

Carrot Weather works much better in my experience. Most of the time Carrot weather and Fantastical calendar update in a quarter of a second if they aren't already up to date. The complications update frequently. Every now and then I will have to wait a second for them to update, but that's not very often. Still, I think we see huge improvements in the reliability and speed of all functions as time goes on.

I haven't tried that app, but I was hoping the slow update was due to 3rd party developer still learning the ins and outs of WatchOS 2. Alas... even Apple's own app had the same issue. Btw, I put the weather app in the Home Screen, so I was hoping it'll do fast update.

Here's hoping for Apple Watch 2 to fix this problem.

 

[L.C.W.]

I'll tell you what's a waste... This thread.

 

[rambo47]

Are there any apps that load quickly? Honestly it's a pretty bad experience launching apps.

Whaaaaaaat??? All apps on my watch load fast - almost instantly.

 

[kas23]

I don't think it's worth $399 at this point. I got mine for free and have been using it for about 2-3 weeks now. Sure, it's cool and very convenient, but it doesn't do what it's supposed to do well. 3rd part apps are pretty much useless since they load way too slowly and aren't really designed well. That said, the stock apps work very smoothly. Nevertheless, even if everything worked well, I don't think this generation is worth the money. It needs WiFi, needs a dedicated GPS, and needs a big time speed bump. As for battery, I love it. Every night I take it off for charging and it's still at 60%.

 

[sean000]

I don't think it's worth $399 at this point. I got mine for free and have been using it for about 2-3 weeks now. Sure, it's cool and very convenient, but it doesn't do what it's supposed to do well. 3rd part apps are pretty much useless since they load way too slowly and aren't really designed well. That said, the stock apps work very smoothly. Nevertheless, even if everything worked well, I don't think this generation is worth the money. It needs WiFi, needs a dedicated GPS, and needs a big time speed bump. As for battery, I love it. Every night I take it off for charging and it's still at 60%.

There are some excellent third party apps that load quickly, refresh quickly and are designed really well for the watch interface. Unfortunately many of them are just rushed jobs so the developer could say they have a watch app. As for WiFi and GPS... it does have a WiFi antenna. It will connect to most WiFi networks your iPhone is connected to, but not all. For example my office WiFi requires a certificate that is on the iPhone but the watch can't seem to connect. I understand why GPS would be useful to some, but I really don't care since I always have my iPhone with me.

 

[WarHeadz]

For something that's useless, it sure spends a lot of time attached to my wrist. At this point I feel naked without it. It's the first thing I put on in the morning, and I wait until the last minutes before I fall asleep at night to take it off and put it on the stand to charge. It's one of my favorite worldly possessions.

 

[eyeseeyou]

For something that's useless, it sure spends a lot of time attached to my wrist. At this point I feel naked without it. It's the first thing I put on in the morning, and I wait until the last minutes before I fall asleep at night to take it off and put it on the stand to charge. It's one of my favorite worldly possessions.

No offense but I feel the same way about my "dumb watch".

Anything specific besides being physically aware that it's not attached to you that you notice isn't available?

 

[cardfan]

Missed notifications cost me. It's more than paid for itself.

 

[AFEPPL]

Which means that you either have to always carry your iPhone in your pocket to feel the silent alerts (something many of us simply do not enjoy), or you are one of those folks who shares your audible alerts with everyone around you.

Personally I find that getting tapped on the wrist, and keeping my iPhone completely silent and in my bag or on my desk, is worth the cost even if the watch offered no other value (which it does). If it's not for you that doesn't make it a worthless product. It's just not worth it to you.

You make too many assumptions - firstly I'm in public, second the ringer is loud..
But remind me, how do you reply to those notification on the watch? Oh yes, you try and look at the pointless in built replies or you get siri to attempt to do voice to text - oh you're one of those that shares their over loud conversation with everyone if you want my assumption! So we concluded nothing other than the device is flawed unless you want to get a tap on the wrist and not have the ability to really read a msg or reply to it in a sensible fashion? I'd re-conclude (IMO) its pretty pointless and just for the fanboys. Hence why i returned it..

 

[WarHeadz]

No offense but I feel the same way about my "dumb watch".

Anything specific besides being physically aware that it's not attached to you that you notice isn't available?

Yes, I miss notifications. I have a 6 Plus, I don't keep it in my pocket ever. The watch allows me to much more quickly and easily filter out which notifications to deal with on the spot and which ones can wait until later at a glance without picking up my phone that probably isn't on my person at the moment. Especially at work, my phone is almost always on my desk. On top of all that, I have the stainless watch with Knockoff Apple link band and it's absolutely stunning to look at. All day eye candy.

Also, Apple Pay on the watch is incredible and absolutely useless on a phone. Since getting the watch I use apple pay anywhere I can. Forum notifications through tapatalk are also super convenient. Lastly, I can look at my bank accounts and recent transactions at a glance, my banking apps are all native to the watch now and it's great. No more passwords or Touch ID to view my balances and transactions.

Edit: one last thing, current temperature and next calendar events on your watch face is just the bees knees. And I haven't even gotten started on the fitness stuff.

It's just so far from useless for me that the word "useless" to describe the watch makes me laugh. I've spent $900 on the watch, AppleCare, and extra bands and I don't regret a single penny.

 

[BarracksSi]

But remind me, how do you reply to those notification on the watch? Oh yes, you try and look at the pointless in built replies or you get siri to attempt to do voice to text - .

If I can hold off on writing a long text (I can't stand text message conversations anyway since they take so much longer than speaking), I'll use one of my custom responses. Sometimes the people around me don't even realize I've fired off a quick reply.

Here's some of the responses I've written up:

 

[lympero]

I have it since August and still using / wearing it all the time. Apart from the usual stuff (time, notifications, making calls while driving) I'm heavily using while running. (Checking my pace - listening to music). Definitely worth It for me

 

[The Game 161]

A lot of texts these days are very short and sweet anyway.

 

[WarHeadz]

You just haven't lived until you've controlled music on a Bluetooth speaker from a watch in the shower...

 

[sean000]

You make too many assumptions - firstly I'm in public, second the ringer is loud..

I think you are forgetting that the vast majority of Apple Watch owners did actually own an iPhone (or a different smartphone) before adding a wearable. I've been an iPhone user since the 3G (in fact iOS devices are the only Apple products I have ever owned besides the Watch). While I have been wearing the Apple Watch every day for roughly 5 months now, I do recall what it was like to have an iPhone and no Apple Watch. I don't care how disciplined you are, nobody remembers to silence their phone every single time they should. Maybe you are the kind of person who doesn't care when your phone goes off in a place where it disturbs others. Personally I find ringtones and beeps to be annoying on the bus and on the street as well. Not as bad as leaf blowers or car alarms, but still annoying when you can't go anywhere without hearing a dozen personal devices going off in a short time span. Oh sure people could just use vibrate-only and keep the device in their pocket, but few people do this because modern smartphones are too large to fit comfortably in most pockets. If you ask me the most noble purpose of wearable tech like a smartwatch is to rid the world of this scourge.

But remind me, how do you reply to those notification on the watch? Oh yes, you try and look at the pointless in built replies or you get siri to attempt to do voice to text - oh you're one of those that shares their over loud conversation with everyone if you want my assumption! So we concluded nothing other than the device is flawed unless you want to get a tap on the wrist and not have the ability to really read a msg or reply to it in a sensible fashion? I'd re-conclude (IMO) its pretty pointless and just for the fanboys. Hence why i returned it..

I never use "Hey Siri" or the microphone in public (or any place where it might annoy someone) and I don't find the built-in replies to be pointless at all. I use them all the time (you can add custom ones you know). Actually many of the texts I get do not warrant a response at all other than an "OK" to acknowledge that the message was received. If none of the built-in replies suffice, I still have an iPhone in my bag that I can pull out if I need to tap a lengthy response. The nice thing is that I get a silent tap on the wrist and can glance at the message and decide whether or not I even need to respond right away. No need to dig my iPhone out just to read an FYI, and nobody else around me has to know when I get a text message. It's not all about not disturbing others... it's just as much about the convenience. When I text my wife and then put my iPhone away because I don't know when she will respond, I don't have to stop my bicycle (my usual commute method), and get my iPhone out again just to read that she replied with an "OK."

And that only covers texting and notifications. While those may be the two most valuable features of the Apple Watch IMO, they certainly aren't the only features that add convenience to my day.

 

[AFEPPL]

lol what a load of..
It's pretty easy, flick the switching it stays off - kinda easier than remembering to take the AW off the charger and putting it on your wrist...! if you are going to use the inbuilt responses I'm guessing you're the kinda person that doesn't really get many emails or need to be notified in the first place. Phone fits fine in my suit pocket, never had an issue, but i admit I'm not 3'6" either. So maybe its all relative?

I think you are forgetting I've owned an AW.
It's a device without purpose or use (IMO) and siri voice to txt works less than 30% of the time leading to you getting another device out anyway. Poorly designed, poorly thought out and even worse software.

 

[sean000]

lol what a load of..
It's pretty easy, flick the switching it stays off - kinda easier than remembering to take the AW off the charger and putting it on your wrist...! if you are going to use the inbuilt responses I'm guessing you're the kinda person that doesn't really get many emails or need to be notified in the first place. Phone fits fine in my suit pocket, never had an issue, but i admit I'm not 3'6" either. So maybe its all relative?

I think you are forgetting I've owned an AW.
It's a device without purpose or use (IMO) and siri voice to txt works less than 30% of the time leading to you getting another device out anyway. Poorly designed, poorly thought out and even worse software.

...and yet it made such an impression on you that you take the time to participate in the Apple Watch forum long after giving up on it as a piece of useless tech. Interesting.