One year later, I've come to the conclusion that apps are useless

[JackieInCo]

Question: If I bought an Apple watch today, what iOS version would I have to be running on my phone?

I have three iPhones, 6+ is on 6.0.2 and is jailbroken, 6S is on 9.2.1 and waiting for a jailbreak and the 6S+ is on 9.2 and waiting for a jailbreak on it as well.

Would any of these be able to pair with the watch if I bought it today?

 

[PaladinGuy]

Siri is almost as bad as the apps

This is the very thing that's started to cause me to want to use my Apple Watch less. It's extremely aggravating for me to try to respond to a message, set a timer/alarm, send a message, etc, and have the watch think and think and think, only to do nothing. It seldom tells me Siri is unavailable. It just doesn't do anything and stays loading.

In fact, I think that this is one of the biggest weaknesses of having the watch depend so much on the phone for Internet connection. It seems to do wonderfully at notifications. It seems to really struggle when trying to perform a task or use Siri. Even with the phone right on me, it's almost as though it loses the connection or something. Having an onboard SIM card or digital SIM would make Siri much better (I think). I know the downsides to this, in terms of battery life.

 

[oftheheavens]

This is the very thing that's started to cause me to want to use my Apple Watch less. It's extremely aggravating for me to try to respond to a message, set a timer/alarm, send a message, etc, and have the watch think and think and think, only to do nothing. It seldom tells me Siri is unavailable. It just doesn't do anything and stays loading.

In fact, I think that this is one of the biggest weaknesses of having the watch depend so much on the phone for Internet connection. It seems to do wonderfully at notifications. It seems to really struggle when trying to perform a task or use Siri. Even with the phone right on me, it's almost as though it loses the connection or something. Having an onboard SIM card or digital SIM would make Siri much better (I think). I know the downsides to this, in terms of battery life.

the update fixed it a little but it still is not ready for the price tag we paid. Oh well I like it for a timepiece and to quickly know the temp (use this 3-4 times a day just for temp)

 

[PaladinGuy]

the update fixed it a little but it still is not ready for the price tag we paid. Oh well I like it for a timepiece and to quickly know the temp (use this 3-4 times a day just for temp)

Might be the last time I buy a 1st generation product.

 

[sean000]

This is the very thing that's started to cause me to want to use my Apple Watch less. It's extremely aggravating for me to try to respond to a message, set a timer/alarm, send a message, etc, and have the watch think and think and think, only to do nothing. It seldom tells me Siri is unavailable. It just doesn't do anything and stays loading.

In fact, I think that this is one of the biggest weaknesses of having the watch depend so much on the phone for Internet connection. It seems to do wonderfully at notifications. It seems to really struggle when trying to perform a task or use Siri. Even with the phone right on me, it's almost as though it loses the connection or something. Having an onboard SIM card or digital SIM would make Siri much better (I think). I know the downsides to this, in terms of battery life.

I'm quite happy with the performance of the apps I use, but Siri can be hit or miss. Mostly hit for me, but a significant number of misses as well. Could be a coincidence, but I seem to have fewer issues with Siri if I restart my watch once a week. I didn't actually expect to use Siri much when I bought thr watch, but Siri turned out to be far more useful than I expected. Also more frustrating when Siri doesn't work. I hope Apple can make Siri more responsive and more reliable.

Sean

 

[ladytonya]

Siri has been a pleasant surprise for me as well. I had actually never had much luck using Siri on my phone, she never u fees told what I was saying and would come back with some ridiculous responses. Since I started using the watch, I use Siri a lot more and for the most part it seems to work pretty well on both my watch and my phone. It's definitely not flawless but it does work.

 

[zmunkz]

if the information is not on the watch face then it's useless to me as it takes WAY too long to get to it, and 99% of the time I can gather that information from the iPhone in my pocket

Also, the Apple Watch is just so slow that apps that don't load instantly are also just a waste of time, completely defeats purpose of instant info that watches should provide

I love my Apple Watch but besides notifications and whatever info is on the face, that is where the usefulness ends

I agree 100% with every bit of that.

 

[oftheheavens]

Might be the last time I buy a 1st generation product.

I am going into my MBA as I have mentioned in some of these threads and simply can't afford to buy a 1st gen product like the apple watch anymore. If i knew what I knew now I may not have bought it yet, not to say I don't love it for what it is. I most definitely love the idea of some sort of easy view of your important things, the watch might not even be the idea I would go with (I am thinking future possibilities of notifications, not sure what), but the apple watch just isn't ready for the price tag.

I don't regret buying the first gen iPhone for 1 second. That was so much fun!

 

[Samh92]

Completely agree


I can't remember the last time I used an third party app. All mine is used for is obviously the time/date, weather, fitness tracking, Apple Pay and using Siri for a timer when cooking has been really helpful to me.

 

[xDKP]

I'm quite happy with the performance of the apps I use, but Siri can be hit or miss. Mostly hit for me, but a significant number of misses as well. Could be a coincidence, but I seem to have fewer issues with Siri if I restart my watch once a week. I didn't actually expect to use Siri much when I bought thr watch, but Siri turned out to be far more useful than I expected. Also more frustrating when Siri doesn't work. I hope Apple can make Siri more responsive and more reliable.

Sean

I have the same experience as you with apps - some of the WatchOS 1 apps are just so poor that they should remove them all together if they are not going to update them (And there are unfortunately more 1.0 apps than 2.0 still). Terrible user experience, slow slow slow... But the new updated ones are quite okay speed wise and they have great new APIs that makes them quite okay

I use Siri mostly for timers, replying to messages in the car etc. and it's almost always works good. Once in a while it can't connect, even though I'm on the same wifi as the watch, but not often.

All in all I love it - great timepiece with additional information - all in all have been very happy with my purchase and almost never use my mechanical watches anymore.

 

[pacmania1982]

I also agree. I have one third party app on mine which is for my bank which saves me having to get my phone out and put my security number into the app, but it does take a good few seconds to open.

I mostly just use the stock apps, such as Messages, Activity, Camera Remote and iTunes occasionally if my phone is plugged into my sound bar to change the song/artist I'm listening to.

But even the first party apps take a while to do things, like deleting messages. You do a swipe and press the trash can icon and there's this really annoying pause while the delete button thinks about popping up.

I wouldn't be without it though, its made me really conscious about my daily activity and the days I've forgotten it (twice so far) I forget to check my phone for messages as I'm so used to the buzz on my wrist. I also love having Apple Pay on my wrist.

 

[haruhiko]

As a result, most third party app development on the Apple Watch seem to have mostly stopped too. I rarely see new Watch apps and update to Watch apps now except for a few biggest ones.

 

[Uofmtiger]

I use apps on the watch all the time, so I am glad they are there. I don't always carry my phone around the house, so it is nice to be able to control Hue lights, Wemo switches, and IDevices without pulling my phone off the dock. Also, apps like Apple Music not only give me the ability to control what is playing on the phone but it lets me choose where I want to AirPlay the audio even if I am in the bedroom and my phone is in the kitchen or vice versa. Obviously, Carot weather and Fantastical are great on the phone. However, I love having access to my Wunderlist lists when I realize that we are running low on something like milk and can add it from my wrist while my phone is in the other room. I have a 6s plus, so I would rather not have to carry it around the house when I am "chillin".

Then of course, there is the ability to run remote apps for my entertainment system like SimpleControl and the Remote app. It is nice to access things like pause and play right on the wrist ( by using the Resume last activity settings).

I can understand that some people have their phone in their hands all day and those people probably don't have much use for apps. However, I personally would not even want the watch if all it did was notifications. I like the gadgety aspects of it. Yes, there are some apps that load too slowly, but I can choose to delete them from the watch and just keep the good stuff.

 

[sean000]

As a result, most third party app development on the Apple Watch seem to have mostly stopped too. I rarely see new Watch apps and update to Watch apps now except for a few biggest ones.

I don't think the Apple Watch will ever be a platform for tons of apps. The apps that do work well on the watch don't need to be that complex either, but they do need to be well designed for the watch interface. The most successful apps have been updated many times since the launch of the watch to provide performance improvements, complications, allow for some customization of complications or glances, etc. I imagine that the developers for apps like Carrot Weather and Fantastical value this platform greatly because those are functions a lot of people want on the watch and the watch market has brought them many new customers (I had not used either app before I bought my Apple Watch, and now I wish I had discovered them sooner).

Other developers clearly don't value the watch platform as much and that's okay, although it may cause them to lose a few customers... but only if those customers are looking for a watch app. Some developers probably created a watch app just to say they offered one, but then decided it wasn't bringing in enough new customers to matter as much as the iOS and Android versions. I have a few apps that offer watch apps, but I just really don't need them on the watch.


Sean

 

[BarracksSi]

Other developers clearly don't value the watch platform as much and that's okay, although it may cause them to lose a few customers... but only if those customers are looking for a watch app. Some developers probably created a watch app just to say they offered one, but then decided it wasn't bringing in enough new customers to matter as much as the iOS and Android versions. I have a few apps that offer watch apps, but I just really don't need them on the watch.

I've met one of the iOS developers at the Washington Post, and he also owns (or owned, back in December) an AW. I asked him what he thought of it, and he said he didn't like it too much -- "a little slow, and doesn't do enough," he said.

What's funny is, the AW companion app for the Post's news reader is a little slow, and it doesn't do much. Other news read apps' developers have spent the effort to make decent AW apps -- notably News360, IMO -- and their effort paid off.

I'd suggest that badly-executed apps are not the AW's fault. It's the developers' choice to flesh out a good app.

 

[mavis]

... Apple Watch is just so slow that apps that don't load instantly are also just a waste of time, completely defeats purpose of instant info that watches should provide

I love my Apple Watch but besides notifications and whatever info is on the face, that is where the usefulness ends

I completely agree with this assessment. I got my Apple Watch SS on launch day but once the initial excitement wore off, I find I pretty much never use it for anything besides the notifications and main face. And sometime remote controlling my iPhone's music app (on a crowded commuter train, etc).

Actually, although I was initially excited about it, I found the Siri function to be utterly useless as it's much faster to pull my iPhone out of my pocket and do whatever I need to do than 1) snap wrist into view with enough force that the screen will wake up, 2) say "hey Siri" and wait for the Siri prompt to appear, 3) state command - for example, 'text my wife and tell her I'm on my way home' 4) wait for for the command to be understood (very hit-or-miss here, because if I'm using the Apple Watch, it usually means that the iPhone is in my pocket, where it gets horrible reception – meaning, Siri won't work half of the time) and 5) either press "Send" with my other hand, or repeat the entire thing from step one because it didn't work. They made it seem like you'd be able to eat you at least use some functions of the Apple Watch without having to use both hands, but I've never been able to do this.

tldr; it looks cool, but after using the Apple Watch for a year, I've found it to be pretty much useless for anything besides notifications and activity tracking.

 

[IphoneIssues]

I've met one of the iOS developers at the Washington Post, and he also owns (or owned, back in December) an AW. I asked him what he thought of it, and he said he didn't like it too much -- "a little slow, and doesn't do enough," he said.

What's funny is, the AW companion app for the Post's news reader is a little slow, and it doesn't do much. Other news read apps' developers have spent the effort to make decent AW apps -- notably News360, IMO -- and their effort paid off.

I'd suggest that badly-executed apps are not the AW's fault. It's the developers' choice to flesh out a good app.

I completely agree with this assessment. I got my Apple Watch SS on launch day but once the initial excitement wore off, I find I pretty much never use it for anything besides the notifications and main face. And sometime remote controlling my iPhone's music app (on a crowded commuter train, etc).

Actually, although I was initially excited about it, I found the Siri function to be utterly useless as it's much faster to pull my iPhone out of my pocket and do whatever I need to do than 1) snap wrist into view with enough force that the screen will wake up, 2) say "hey Siri" and wait for the Siri prompt to appear, 3) state command - for example, 'text my wife and tell her I'm on my way home' 4) wait for for the command to be understood (very hit-or-miss here, because if I'm using the Apple Watch, it usually means that the iPhone is in my pocket, where it gets horrible reception – meaning, Siri won't work half of the time) and 5) either press "Send" with my other hand, or repeat the entire thing from step one because it didn't work. They made it seem like you'd be able to eat you at least use some functions of the Apple Watch without having to use both hands, but I've never been able to do this.

tldr; it looks cool, but after using the Apple Watch for a year, I've found it to be pretty much useless for anything besides notifications and activity tracking.

I'm puzzled. What the heck are people looking for this thing to do???

 

[dr34mc4st3r]

Apps have been running pretty quick on the latest watchOS version. I use apps that allows me to get information about public buses arrival timings. handy.

 

[mavis]

I'm puzzled. What the heck are people looking for this thing to do???

Honestly, I'd be thrilled if it wasn't so damn slow to respond to input - especially voice commands - and I'd love to be able to accomplish things without having to touch it at all (I bike a lot, so having to use my right hand to touch the screen to either wake the damn thing up or press send after dictating a message kind of defeats the purpose for me) ...

 

[BarracksSi]

I'm puzzled. What the heck are people looking for this thing to do???

I don't know.

They want EKG-quality heart rate monitoring, iPad Pro speed, and a holographic projection keyboard. They want to land on the moons of Jupiter or something equally unrealistic.

I still dig mine. I won't expect to upgrade until version 3 or 4, at least.

 

[IphoneIssues]

Honestly, I'd be thrilled if it wasn't so damn slow to respond to input - especially voice commands - and I'd love to be able to accomplish things without having to touch it at all (I bike a lot, so having to use my right hand to touch the screen to either wake the damn thing up or press send after dictating a message kind of defeats the purpose for me) ...

This is actually a specific answer, so I can respect that.
[doublepost=1460917368][/doublepost]

I don't know.

They want EKG-quality heart rate monitoring, iPad Pro speed, and a holographic projection keyboard. They want to land on the moons of Jupiter or something equally unrealistic.

I still dig mine. I won't expect to upgrade until version 3 or 4, at least.

I'm seriously trying to understand what the heck people are really getting at when they say things like there aren't enough apps. I want to know what's missing. Otherwise, it's like kids crying and they're not exactly sure what they're crying about, lol.

 

[PaladinGuy]

I completely agree with this assessment. I got my Apple Watch SS on launch day but once the initial excitement wore off, I find I pretty much never use it for anything besides the notifications and main face. And sometime remote controlling my iPhone's music app (on a crowded commuter train, etc).

Actually, although I was initially excited about it, I found the Siri function to be utterly useless as it's much faster to pull my iPhone out of my pocket and do whatever I need to do than 1) snap wrist into view with enough force that the screen will wake up, 2) say "hey Siri" and wait for the Siri prompt to appear, 3) state command - for example, 'text my wife and tell her I'm on my way home' 4) wait for for the command to be understood (very hit-or-miss here, because if I'm using the Apple Watch, it usually means that the iPhone is in my pocket, where it gets horrible reception – meaning, Siri won't work half of the time) and 5) either press "Send" with my other hand, or repeat the entire thing from step one because it didn't work. They made it seem like you'd be able to eat you at least use some functions of the Apple Watch without having to use both hands, but I've never been able to do this.

tldr; it looks cool, but after using the Apple Watch for a year, I've found it to be pretty much useless for anything besides notifications and activity tracking.

This is identical to my experience. If they get a future version to work much more consistently and maybe slightly more battery life and water resistance, I'd be all over it. I need it to work close to 100% of the time, personally, to make it worth it. Anything less and it's more of an annoyance.

 

[PaladinGuy]

I'm puzzled. What the heck are people looking for this thing to do???

What it's advertised to do, speaking for myself. I expect if it has a function on it, it should work. If something isn't ready for prime time, it should be left off the watch, so as to not destroy the experience.

 

[BlueMoon63]

I completely agree with this assessment. I got my Apple Watch SS on launch day but once the initial excitement wore off, I find I pretty much never use it for anything besides the notifications and main face. And sometime remote controlling my iPhone's music app (on a crowded commuter train, etc).

Actually, although I was initially excited about it, I found the Siri function to be utterly useless as it's much faster to pull my iPhone out of my pocket and do whatever I need to do than 1) snap wrist into view with enough force that the screen will wake up, 2) say "hey Siri" and wait for the Siri prompt to appear, 3) state command - for example, 'text my wife and tell her I'm on my way home' 4) wait for for the command to be understood (very hit-or-miss here, because if I'm using the Apple Watch, it usually means that the iPhone is in my pocket, where it gets horrible reception – meaning, Siri won't work half of the time) and 5) either press "Send" with my other hand, or repeat the entire thing from step one because it didn't work. They made it seem like you'd be able to eat you at least use some functions of the Apple Watch without having to use both hands, but I've never been able to do this.

tldr; it looks cool, but after using the Apple Watch for a year, I've found it to be pretty much useless for anything besides notifications and activity tracking.

I don't get this post. "Snap wrist with enough force to wake the screen up" what force are you taking about? Raise your wrist as slow as a 99 yo man and it wakes up. Raise it as fast as you can and it comes on. I have 100% success with waking the screen unless I am laying down or have my hands behind my head resting. No way in h3ll do you need to snap your wrist with force. Lol

Try this for Siri.. hey Siri - text my wife and tell her I will be home in 15 minutes. Don't wait for Siri to come up, don't press send, don't hold your arm up. Just say the command and put your arm down. If you can't get a signal to your phone, they yea, you would have a problem. Having your phone in your pocket and Bluetooth and wi-fi doesn't work? Do you have sheets of metal in your pants?

In all honesty, I have trouble with Siri about 1 in 10 tries and usually when far away from my phone but I go into the kitchen and say "hey Siri, set a time for 10 minutes" and put my arm down and it works perfectly. It has failed once or twice in the last few months but it beats going back to get my phone to set a timer I will hope to hear when the watch always reminds me.

I will never understand the snap your wrist with enough force to wake the screen. The screen wakes at the slightest turn. Can't drive my car without it coming on. I just took 3 seconds to raise my arm as slow as my 100 yo grandma and it woke up.

 

[IphoneIssues]

What it's advertised to do, speaking for myself. I expect if it has a function on it, it should work. If something isn't ready for prime time, it should be left off the watch, so as to not destroy the experience.

Are you taking the position that it's not doing that though?