My first steps with an Apple Watch (series 3)

[ChrisChaval]

Hello everybody,

I got an Apple Watch series 3 just a couple of days ago, updated it to the latest watchOS (5.1.1) and am now in the process of learning what I can do with it (it is my first Apple Watch).

Build quality, design, look & feel, interaction with the iPhone ... all very nice, just as expected.

What I did notice immediately though are two things:

The watch does not seem to support native sleep tracking (I know there are apps for that, but I expected an Apple Watch to do the tracking natively, just as my cheap previous smartwatch did). This is kind of a disappointment

Also, the watch does not seem to automatically detect when I am cycling. It requires me to set a workout .. rather complicated.

So why do these two basic things not just work automatically? Why can't the Apple Watch do what a 30 bucks watch did? Do I miss anything here?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Chris

 

[brentc133]

Hello everybody,

I got an Apple Watch series 3 just a couple of days ago, updated it to the latest watchOS (5.1.1) and am now in the process of learning what I can do with it (it is my first Apple Watch).

Build quality, design, look & feel, interaction with the iPhone ... all very nice, just as expected.

What I did notice immediately though are two things:

The watch does not seem to support native sleep tracking (I know there are apps for that, but I expected an Apple Watch to do the tracking natively, just as my cheap previous smartwatch did). This is kind of a disappointment

Also, the watch does not seem to automatically detect when I am cycling. It requires me to set a workout .. rather complicated.

So why do these two basic things not just work automatically? Why can't the Apple Watch do what a 30 bucks watch did? Do I miss anything here?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Chris

Sleep tracking has never been native to the Apple Watch. It’s advertised with the battery lasting 18 hrs so Apples thinking you will charge it overnight like your phone. That being said many people do get 2-3 days on a single battery charge so you can wear it when sleeping and use a 3rd party sleep tracking app. I like Autosleep and Sleepwatch both which are quite accurate and automatically detect sleep so you don’t have to manually start them. You don’t even need to install the app on the watch as the app on the phone uses the movement data from the watch to generate sleep info. Watch app just allows you to see the data on your watch if you wish.

Apple workout doesn’t automatically start a workout but will detect a workout and remind you to start it. You can set this feature up in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

 

[ChrisChaval]

Sleep tracking has never been native to the Apple Watch. It’s advertised with the battery lasting 18 hrs so Apples thinking you will charge it overnight like your phone. That being said many people do get 2-3 days on a single battery charge so you can wear it when sleeping and use a 3rd party sleep tracking app. I like Autosleep and Sleepwatch both which are quite accurate and automatically detect sleep so you don’t have to manually start them. You don’t even need to install the app on the watch as the app on the phone uses the movement data from the watch to generate sleep info. Watch app just allows you to see the data on your watch if you wish.

Apple workout doesn’t automatically start a workout but will detect a workout and remind you to start it. You can set this feature up in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

thank you very much, I will try both suggestions

 

[tridot]

It will also track your activity without setting a workout. Starting a workout will give you a more accurate reading. But if you ever forget you should still get "points" for it (just not as many). Definitely turn on the automatic workout tracking, it's fairly accurate at least on series 4.

 

[ChrisChaval]

thank you, will try that

 

[CaptMarvel]

If setting a cycling workout is “rather complicated”, you can simply raise your wrist and say “let’s go cycling” or “hey Siri let’s go cycling”.

 

[ChrisChaval]

thank you for the Siri suggestion

to me it seems rather complicated because my previous cheap smartwatch did detect that kind of activity on its own, but maybe my expectations were too high here

I commute (part of the way) to work by bicycle plus I do some cycling during the weekends too, so I'd rather not need to tell my watch whenever I am about to begin such a repetitive (and to me normal) activity

to me cycling is a fun and healthy way of transportation rather than a workout (with the benefits of a workout though)