Pet peeves of the Apple Watch.

[iGeek2014]

As pointed out above both stock and 3rd party apps take too long to load sometimes.

Previous to Watch OS 2.2 the Activity app was fine but under the current version there's a good three second delay before it shows the options (Walking, Stair Stepper) etc.

Another thing I'd like to see is syncing with Messages from iPhone-if I delete a message from my iPhone I wish it'd delete from my Watch too.

 

[broadbean]

But the real problem I'm having right now is that since it's winter, and I wear my heavy overcoat when I go out, the watch gets buried under several layers of sleeves. Digging out the watch from under all my sleeves takes longer than getting my phone out of my pocket! Quite annoying, and makes the watch useless other than for activity tracking.

What about receiving notifications? Wouldn't you at least get taps for important messages coming in that may otherwise be missed via your iPhone?

 

[Night Spring]

What about receiving notifications? Wouldn't you at least get taps for important messages coming in that may otherwise be missed via your iPhone?

Yes, I get taps, but without digging my watch out from under my sleeves, I can't tell if it's just my buddy wanting to chat, or an urgent message from the office.

 

[broadbean]

Yes, I get taps, but without digging my watch out from under my sleeves, I can't tell if it's just my buddy wanting to chat, or an urgent message from the office.

Sure, but at least you'd know someone wanted you at all. I suppose the alternative is custom taps, or something like Google Glass.

 

[BarracksSi]

Boston is a bit of an outlier because the vast majority of people who run Boston have met the (extremely rigorous) qualification standards. In any given major marathon there are typically hundreds of runners who finish around 6 hours or more.

Speaking of marathons,

Yesterday, I learned that the AW would probably not run long enough to track an entire marathon, at least not at my pace.

Maybe it would, as I'm not sure what its starting battery level was, but after four and a half hours of using Workout -> Other to track shoveling snow, the watch tapped me to tell me it was at 10% battery.

This doesn't matter to me too much because I don't enjoy running enough to train for a marathon, let alone run one. But, it shows what can be expected of the AW's battery in full-on workout mode using optical HR and without using Airplane Mode.

 

[profmjh]

I've made my peace with the fact that the watch is mostly useless. (To me.)

We all seem to agree that apps are a waste of time. Too often I've held my arm up waiting and then just given in and dug out my iPhone.

But I think the thing is really beautiful and it functions excellent as a, er, watch, so I'm not unhappy.

Other than telling the time, I quite enjoy it telling me that I've done my 30 minutes of exercise each day. I occasionally use the timer. And I do use it to read notifications.

OK, it's not completely useless.

But even if it were, it's pretty and tells the time. Which makes it just as valuable as a Rolex to me. (Yeah, yeah, depreciation, blah, blah.)

 

[iamasmith]

Snappier. Get back to proper Apple ethics, like when they disabled certain features on Photo Booth running on PowerPC because they couldn't deliver the overall experience.

Be honest. Don't try to drag folks into buying a later model because it doesn't have the performance do run the current operating system and be useable.. no, palatable.
Streamline the features. If you have to add on lots of glitz then make sure that folks that don't need gen x to use it don't have to use it.

It would serve you well to look back at the experience, even today, of owning the very first iPod and what todays experience gives to the user that invested in that tech. They don't expect.. and certainly don't get a slow and under performing platform. In fact they get a platform that is as good as was conceived at the time even though Apple have moved on.

Now, for the educated, we actually understand why a discontinued product on legacy development streams is practical whilst a new technology on mid stream new technology has a more tenuous future.. it's about economics of course but the experience is still about product strategy. It's not like somebody developing software independent of hardware and saying the hardware just needs replacing.. it's about somebody always who limits features (appropriately) to the hardware previously released and leaving end of line hardware with the optimum cut off point for performance.

The logic in this is not just for the consumer in gaining an experience that is logical. Why expect that this year a device is slower if it's doing exactly the same things as before.. the reason for this is arrogance and the belief that Moore's excuses consumer appliances from delivering on their original fit for purpose because they take feature enhancements beyond their original design.

This isn't about infinitely stretching a hardware or unrealistically optimising software to meet stupid performance expectations well beyond the delivery goal but to say a) You will get a good experience from this hardware from these features (and it won't degrade). b) New hardware might give you these features, however this new investment is subject to the rules in clause a).

Apple.. in case you hadn't noticed. Seem to build their consumer electronics around these tenets. It will be interesting if people feel that they have kept them to heart and have acquired the value anticipated from Apple products.

 

[mush10]

It still bugs me there is no GPS. Hopefully in watch 2. I would like it to truly be the only watch, fitness, notification device I need.

My second peeve is I would like more control over notifications. I would like to be able to set some to show up on both phone and watch. For example, if my phone is on my desk at work - I would still like to have the watch alert me and the phone screen to turn on. In those instances it is silly to rotate my wrist over to see what just came in when my phone is right in front of me.

I find myself wearing it less and less and have been testing on the Microsoft Band 2 and more Garmin devices. Hopefully Watch 2 can suck me back in.

 

[Uofmtiger]

"Hey Siri - turn on the lights."

60 seconds pass before it has the task finished.

On the phone, the lights are on before it has comprehended what I said. Solution - allow the watch to connect directly to the Apple TV for HomeKit compatibility.

Generally Siri on the watch is unusable slow.

Strange, I haven't had that issue at all. It typically takes 5 seconds or less to turn on lights ( I use iDevices and they are snappy with the watch). I have a 6s plus phone.

I want compilations available on the photo/photo album faces. I would love a waterproof model. I would like to listen to podcasts using the AW speaker.

 

[Bryonator1]

Strange, I haven't had that issue at all. It typically takes 5 seconds or less to turn on lights ( I use iDevices and they are snappy with the watch). I have a 6s plus phone.

I want compilations available on the photo/photo album faces. I would love a waterproof model. I would like to listen to podcasts using the AW speaker.

I've seen the same issue as alexmack. Half the time Siri says she can't turn them on (variations of "sorry I can't do that"). Sometimes saying "Set <scene>" works when "turn on the lights" does not. Other times it works but it is so slow I almost think it didn't work and I am about to try it again when the lights turn on. It's great when it works but there is a lot of room for improvement.

 

[Mak47]

I have two big ones so far:

No Siri voice. Siri should be the main way to operate the watch, instead it's barely functional. If this isn't improved this will be the last Apple Watch I purchase.

Text messaging. There's no way to correct a dictation error, you can only cancel and start over. When messaging with Siri, there's no feedback to tell if your message was sent. These are two really dumb things that just need to be fixed.

 

[AFEPPL]

The asthmatic performance, the lack of apps that actually are worth using, the battery life, the control winder, OS is still at best a beta product, you cant connect to multiple devices and its not really a great looking design.

 

[Uofmtiger]

I've seen the same issue as alexmack. Half the time Siri says she can't turn them on (variations of "sorry I can't do that"). Sometimes saying "Set <scene>" works when "turn on the lights" does not. Other times it works but it is so slow I almost think it didn't work and I am about to try it again when the lights turn on. It's great when it works but there is a lot of room for improvement.

I am not claiming that you and others aren't having an issue. My point was that it is probably related to another device and/or the third party app. I use the iDevices app with a couple of their connected switches and they work within 5 seconds ( usually takes less than two seconds) of giving Siri the demand every single time.

The issue is that the process involves many elements, including your home network, but I don't think the Apple Watch is the problem, otherwise, I would have the same issue.

 

[iBighouse]

The Workout app bugs me a lot. I use it to ride an exercise bike, and the app should AUTOMATICALLY stop timing the workout and hit the "DONE" button itself! I usually forget to force touch and finish the workout with the "DONE" button until an hour or so later when I realize it's still running.

 

[Night Spring]

The Workout app bugs me a lot. I use it to ride an exercise bike, and the app should AUTOMATICALLY stop timing the workout and hit the "DONE" button itself! I usually forget to force touch and finish the workout with the "DONE" button until an hour or so later when I realize it's still running.

I do often forget to hit the stop button after a workout, but I'm not sure having the watch sense when you stop exercising and automatically stop the workout is the answer. I can imagine scenarios where the watch mistakenly thinks you've stopped exercising when you are still working out, especially if you are doing something like yoga or weight lifting.

 

[BlueMoon63]

I do often forget to hit the stop button after a workout, but I'm not sure having the watch sense when you stop exercising and automatically stop the workout is the answer. I can imagine scenarios where the watch mistakenly thinks you've stopped exercising when you are still working out, especially if you are doing something like yoga or weight lifting.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Many people who lift weights take 1-3 minutes of rest between sets depending on how heavy/reps they are doing. That may make the watch stop, thinking you are done.

I understand what people want, but it becomes a habit if you work out a lot - just like turning off the treadmill/elliptical - just like when you finish running, you look down at the watch to see your time or splits or whatever. Seems like the time to shut off.

Still, I totally understand - just like people don't like setting the watch to know when you go to sleep or turning it off in the morning. I have forgot to shut off the tracking of my sleep.

 

[meeebee]

Speaking of marathons,

Yesterday, I learned that the AW would probably not run long enough to track an entire marathon, at least not at my pace.

Maybe it would, as I'm not sure what its starting battery level was, but after four and a half hours of using Workout -> Other to track shoveling snow, the watch tapped me to tell me it was at 10% battery.

This doesn't matter to me too much because I don't enjoy running enough to train for a marathon, let alone run one. But, it shows what can be expected of the AW's battery in full-on workout mode using optical HR and without using Airplane Mode.

It seems that the 6 hours would be a stretch, since most marathons around here, you have to arrive early (an hour is not out of the question), and that would eat into the 6 hours. I suppose if you turn off the HR monitor and put it into low energy mode until your turn at the starting line comes up.

I wouldn't trust the watch for a marathon, but would bring my garmin as a second device.

 

[IphoneIssues]

I know I've had a workout running for 4 hours before, and at that point, it was at 22%. Wasn't comfortable with wearing it any longer, because I've heard that, if it cuts off during the workout, nothing is saved.

 

[BarracksSi]

The Workout app bugs me a lot. I use it to ride an exercise bike, and the app should AUTOMATICALLY stop timing the workout and hit the "DONE" button itself! I usually forget to force touch and finish the workout with the "DONE" button until an hour or so later when I realize it's still running.

How would the watch (or any device) know when you're done with a workout?

 

[IphoneIssues]

How would the watch (or any device) know when you're done with a workout?

I already know that kind of thing would be annoying to some. If you had to stop, for any reason, the workout would finish and you'd need to start a new one.

 

[BarracksSi]

I already know that kind of thing would be annoying to some. If you had to stop, for any reason, the workout would finish and you'd need to start a new one.

Yup. It would have to be able to tell the difference between stopping a workout and, say, a stoplight or a water break or blowing chunks off the side of the track.

 

[JohnApples]

I pretty much agree with most of the complaints here, most notably the speed and lack of good 3rd party app support. But one big pet peeve I have that I haven't seen listed here is this:

I use Siri dictation frequently. Or, I try to.Sometimes I get "Apple Watch failed to take dictation" and then if I try again right away, it zips along and captures what I said perfectly. But, every so often, I'll dictate a response and watch as it "types out" the words I just said. Everything looks good, so I hit Send. Then, suddenly, several of the words on screen start changing to different words, and then the text immediately sends. I don't know why it does this when it writes out the text perfectly, but only changes once I actually send it. Can't even count how many gibberish texts that I've sent to my confused friends.

 

[sflomenb]

Main thing for me is no complications on the photo or photo album watch faces. No reason it can't have 3 complications in the corners.

 

[Night Spring]

Main thing for me is no complications on the photo or photo album watch faces. No reason it can't have 3 complications in the corners.

I'd love to have a weather face -- sort of like a photo face, but the background "photo" is the current weather.

 

[maxsix]

Call me crazy (or indecisive) if you wish, but I have owned and returned/sold two Apple Watches. My two biggest pet peeves are the design and the price tag! I understand Jony Ive gave some weird reason for making the device rectangular, but I would so love to see it become round in the 2nd gen. I know it's likely not going to happen but you never know. I just know the sleek factor will increase so much when it becomes round. As for my other pet peeve- the price tag just seems too steep for what the device does, or specifically it's value in my tech lifestyle. I'd really like to see the 42mm Sport drop down to $299, but once again this probably isn't likely to happen anytime soon. I'll be interested to see if something about AW2 convinces me to try it yet again! Maybe 3rd time will be the charm??

Wow!

It's like you took the words right out of my mouth... I too have bought and returned two. I _really_ wanted to like AW. But for all the points you made above the watch just didn't work for me.

ROUND! Make it round Apple!