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Please share your 3.0 impressions

jonnyb

jonnyb

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 21, 2005
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Inverness, Scotland
So, after last year when probably too many of us plunged into installing WatchOS 2.0, I expect everyone's being a lot more cautious about installing the 3.0 beta on their Watches.

Nevertheless, I'm really curious to know how it performs at this early stage. Is it fast? Stable? Is anything majorly broken?

Are there any brave adventurers who have installed 3.0 who can share their experience?
 
I've installed it. Seems pretty stable to me. Notifications/calls are showing up and working as before. A few little graphical glitches here and there. Just going out to test Apple Pay now. The new watch faces are nice but nothing special. Can't get Find my Friends to work as it says to "check network connection." Home app is not showing my Hue lights. The Breathe app is working well. Will update with battery info later today. It does seem strange you cannot call up contacts anymore using the button. Apple Pay is still double tap to activate. One press of Digital Crown shows App Layout as before. Siri is much faster to activate and get results. Very fast in fact. Dock is working well and you can use the crown to scroll through the apps there- I feared it was only with fingers, but no.
Edit: Apple Pay works fine. 13.21 - battery 75% 100% at 10.00. Been using quite a bit though.
 
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jonnyb said:
Cool. Thanks. I'd love to hear your battery experience later.
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I agree with everything said. Very impressed with it so far. A few minor glitches here and there (graphical ones as pointed out) but I have had this since yesterday and battery seems OK. Nothing like when Beta 2 came out. That was a horror show.
All in all I am happy with the speed and functionality now. Never used the friends option. Dock seems more appropriate I think
 
Loving the Breathe app. That plus the new clock features on iPhone are filling out the Health app a bit more. ( Sleep Analysis and Mindfulness).
 
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Can any of you make a quick Youtube/Vimeo video showing off some of the main features working like the speed opening apps, not just one app but jumping in between them and if the first time you open the app on reboot it's already fast or slow (if it required first open to put it in memory or does it in background even before you start it first time) ?

And whatever else you might find interesting :)

ORRR you can just add my iPhone/Watch to your dev account and I will do it :)
 
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silvetti said:
Can any of you make a quick Youtube/Vimeo video showing off some of the main features working like the speed opening apps, not just one app but jumping in between them and if the first time you open the app on reboot it's already fast or slow (if it required first open to put it in memory or does it in background even before you start it first time) ?

And whatever else you might find interesting :)

ORRR you can just add my iPhone/Watch to your dev account and I will do it :)
Click to expand...

There is a WatchOS 3 Beta profile circulating around if you look at the right place. WatchOS Betas do not require UDID registration, but you have no option of downgrading unless you go to the Apple Store and get shamed by a Genius.
 
So far so good. Nothing like last years first beta. Little glitchy with the local weather at first like last year but seems to have worked itself out. 71% with 4 hours of usage and a 30 min work out. Default apps are faster 3rd party are slightly better but obviously apps will need to be updated so theres hope we'll see something similar to the demo.
 
It's surprisingly stable. Some third party apps don't seem to load at all while some take really long time to load the first time. Some restarting might solve that, but haven't bothered to try. But that's about all the issues I have encountered so far.

Battery life is also good. Being the first day of the beta I have been using the watch much more than I usually do tinkering with all the new things it has. I think it's going to last the rest of the day with just and just enough charge to stay on. Normally I have 40-60% charge left at the end of the day.

The apps do launch quickly. Although sometimes the apps takes a second or two before they become "live" but they do usually show up-to-date information. For example your calendar will come up instantly and it will show your next appointments, but it might take a second or two before you can scroll the view. And that same applies to pretty much every app you have in your dock. They may sometimes show outdated information, for example when you are looking at them in the Dock, but they usually update pretty quickly - even in the Dock view.
 
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I'm most impressed by the stability and battery life not taking a hit. I wear my watch to bed as my silent alarm and sleep tracker app pillow and I woke to 91% after 8 hours.

Seems like Apple really listened to missing features like a reminders app and second hand and faster loading with the dock. Hated the friends button and now I have fast access to all apps. Dock replaces glance and stays inmemory. Love it.
 
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BlueMoon63 said:
I'm most impressed by the stability and battery life not taking a hit. I wear my watch to bed as my silent alarm and sleep tracker app pillow and I woke to 91% after 8 hours.

Seems like Apple really listened to missing features like a reminders app and second hand and faster loading with the dock. Hated the friends button and now I have fast access to all apps. Dock replaces glance and stays inmemory. Love it.
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So tempting to load the beta...worried though if I need something fixed down the road, they'll deny service because of the beta.
 
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batting1000 said:
So tempting to load the beta...worried though if I need something fixed down the road, they'll deny service because of the beta.
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No need to worry. It's Apple's beta - so if you have any issues with the Watch, that won't effect what they do in regards to fixing it. They may need to downgrade to the public release, to do diagnostics, but there is really no reason to worry. I've had iPhones replaced that were on beta software and other than the Apple store folks asking how I liked it, didn't cause any issues.
 
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jmgregory1 said:
No need to worry. It's Apple's beta - so if you have any issues with the Watch, that won't effect what they do in regards to fixing it. They may need to downgrade to the public release, to do diagnostics, but there is really no reason to worry. I've had iPhones replaced that were on beta software and other than the Apple store folks asking how I liked it, didn't cause any issues.
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Agreed... live on the edge. ;) If you are like me, I have multiple phones and now two watches so my risk is lower, but I really don't care. I do development work for a living - though nothing related to this... I like to try new features and by how well this works, I want the space black SS model that goes on sale.

Did I notice you are from Spooner Wisconsin? My whole family comes from Spooner - even have a street named after us. I go there many times per year but it is only 90 minutes away so I don't escape the cold.
 
jmgregory1 said:
No need to worry. It's Apple's beta - so if you have any issues with the Watch, that won't effect what they do in regards to fixing it. They may need to downgrade to the public release, to do diagnostics, but there is really no reason to worry. I've had iPhones replaced that were on beta software and other than the Apple store folks asking how I liked it, didn't cause any issues.
Click to expand...

I thought they can deny service if you're running a beta though? So lets say hypothetically my digital crown craps out in a month...they'll replace it under warranty even if I'm on the beta?
 
jmgregory1 said:
No need to worry. It's Apple's beta - so if you have any issues with the Watch, that won't effect what they do in regards to fixing it. They may need to downgrade to the public release, to do diagnostics, but there is really no reason to worry. I've had iPhones replaced that were on beta software and other than the Apple store folks asking how I liked it, didn't cause any issues.
Click to expand...

Your iPhones were on public beta though and were downgradable. The watchOS beta is a non-public beta and they do frown on non-developers trying it out, but they won't deny services to non-developers including swapping it out when you want to go back.
 
batting1000 said:
I thought they can deny service if you're running a beta though? So lets say hypothetically my digital crown craps out in a month...they'll replace it under warranty even if I'm on the beta?
Click to expand...

They would only deny service if you were jailbroken. I'm not sure how they would ever equate a broken digital crown to running a beta.
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BlueMoon63 said:
Agreed... live on the edge. ;) If you are like me, I have multiple phones and now two watches so my risk is lower, but I really don't care. I do development work for a living - though nothing related to this... I like to try new features and by how well this works, I want the space black SS model that goes on sale.

Did I notice you are from Spooner Wisconsin? My whole family comes from Spooner - even have a street named after us. I go there many times per year but it is only 90 minutes away so I don't escape the cold.
Click to expand...

Too funny! I'm actually not from Spooner, Stevens Point is my ancestral home, but I live and work mostly in Evanston, IL (Chicago). My company is based in Spooner, or the plant is, so I'm up there a bunch. It's a lovely place (in the summer and early fall) and I don't mind the snow and cold, given Chicago has gotten ripped off the past few years in having anything resembling a normal winter.

So you're 90 minutes away - up in Duluth/Superior or down in Eau Claire?
 
Glad to hear it's mostly stable. I don't agree with those that say this is some major rethink of the watch. Basically the biggest change is just repurposing the side button. I'm not sure why the Verge and others think this is some major redesign. All the changes are good but they seem more like minor tweaks than anything else.
 
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