Podcasts on Series 0 (and other software-related woes)

[mj_]

My wife picked up an Apple Watch Series 0 in mint condition with the milanese loop she found for dirt cheap on a neighborhood buy & sell page in order to find out whether or not she actually wants/needs/could use one to replace her Fitbit once that breaks. We expect that to happen any day now since it is, after all, just past the 1-year warranty mark. Which is coincidentally when her previous one's battery died, and Fitbit refused to replace it on warranty even though it had just exprired less than week ago. Since the current one is already acting up we figured this would be a very cheap and effective way to see whether an Apple Watch is something we should look into for her in the not too distant future.

So far everything seems to be working great. The watch itself is pretty slow and laggy sometimes, which is to be expected given its age and weak single-core processor, but seems to be working perfectly fine otherwise. The woman she got it from kept it in mint condition, and besides a few minor scratches it looks like new. However, there seem to be a few minor software issues we've run into.

1. There is no Apple Podcasts app. I can configure the Utility watch face to display the Podcast complication at the top right corner but doing so will leave said corner empty when selected. Is this not available on Watch OS 4 yet? If so, are there any good alternatives to Apple's Podcast app that will sync with her iPhone running iOS 14?
2. Some apps, such as Bank of America or Microsoft Outlook, will simply crash immediately upon launch. Is the watch simply too old for these apps to work? If so why do they even get installed in the first place, and is there any way to prevent this from happening?

Since this is the first Apple Watch in our family (except for that short period when I got a series 3 for free from a friend, used it for about a week or two, and then decided it was utterly worthless to me and returned it) any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Night Spring]

Regarding the Podcast app, I looked at my partner's Series 0 watch, and it appears that the app is not installed on the watch, even though "podcast" appears in the list of complications, like you say.

There are two places you can check to see what apps are installed on the watch. In the Watch app on the iPhone, and in the app view on the watch. Podcast doesn't appear in either of these places.

My guess is that Podcast doesn't work on the S0, but it's there in the complications list because someone didn't think to adjust the complication list just for S0.

Likewise, it's likely that the apps you mention doesn't work on the S0, but the developers didn't think to check for watch version before installing. You can uninstall the apps that don't work from the iPhone watch app, but I don't think there's a way to tell which apps work without first installing and trying to run them.

I loved the S0 watch when I used it, but it was slow and limited compared to newer versions. My partner mostly uses it for time and notifications, for which it is fine. I think your wife will be happy with one of the more recent models.

 

[mj_]

Regarding the Podcast app, I looked at my partner's Series 0 watch, and it appears that the app is not installed on the watch, even though "podcast" appears in the list of complications, like you say.

There are two places you can check to see what apps are installed on the watch. In the Watch app on the iPhone, and in the app view on the watch. Podcast doesn't appear in either of these places.

My guess is that Podcast doesn't work on the S0, but it's there in the complications list because someone didn't think to adjust the complication list just for S0.

Yes, I've realized that the Podcasts app isn't listed on the phone either. I find it hard to believe that Apple forgot to remove the complication from its watch face though. In the meantime I was able to puzzle together a possible answer: seems like Apple only added watchOS support for its podcasts app with watchOS 5. Are there any other podcasts app that she can use instead that will work on a S0?

I loved the S0 watch when I used it, but it was slow and limited compared to newer versions. My partner mostly uses it for time and notifications, for which it is fine. I think your wife will be happy with one of the more recent models.

Honestly, she's super happy with her Fitbit Inspire 2 as it is. All she needs is something to display the date and time, messages, notifications, and the most basic fitness stats so I don't see how a later model would offer any benefits over the S0 (other than maybe battery life). I'm the one sick of having to purchase Fitbits at a rate of one per year because their batteries keep crapping out as soon as they're out of warranty and Fitbit refuses to do anything about it. This is her third Fitbit and the third time this is happening, and quite frankly I'm done throwing even more good money after bad.

 

[Night Spring]

Are there any other podcasts app that she can use instead that will work on a S0?

Sorry, I don't use the watch for audio listening, so I can't tell you. I know there are a few 3rd party podcast apps that work on the watch, but I've never tried them myself. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

Honestly, she's super happy with her Fitbit Inspire 2 as it is. All she needs is something to display the date and time, messages, notifications, and the most basic fitness stats so I don't see how a later model would offer any benefits over the S0 (other than maybe battery life). I'm the one sick of having to purchase Fitbits at a rate of one per year because their batteries keep crapping out as soon as they're out of warranty and Fitbit refuses to do anything about it. This is her third Fitbit and the third time this is happening, and quite frankly I'm done throwing even more good money after bad.

Well, if you want durability, I can confirm watch S0 is quite durable. My partner and my mom are still using them, and they are still going! I just thought your wife might like the more recent models, since you were asking which apps worked on the S0. If your wife is happy with just the built-in Activity and Workout apps, the S0 should be fine. If she wants to use any other apps on it, a more recent model is definitely recommended.

 

[b.c.]

Have you tried TuneIn to see if that does what you want? I know many podcasts are available on that service, and there is a TuneIn app that will load on the Apple Watch

I have a S0 watch (SS model, extremely durable, btw) and I just checked, I can load the TuneIn app onto my S0. I do use TuneIn occasionally to listen to radio stations but just on my Mac or iPhone, never on the watch until trying it just now.

It's slow to launch the first time (though, what isn't on the S0!). But once launched it shows my TuneIn favorites list and when I click on one of them in the list it then causes it to play on my iPhone. Not sure if that will give you what you want, or if the slow UI will be more hassle than it's worth, but maybe check it out

 

[mj_]

Thanks @Night Spring and @b.c. for your suggestions and help but all that research and effort was ultimately in vain. She took the watch off earlier today after just a few hours of wearing it and said it's too heavy, too big, and too clunky overall, and she doesn't want it. Instead, she's now looking at getting an aluminum 38mm S3, which would solve all of her above-mentioned problems. It's either that or yet another Fitbit...

Suddenly I find myself with yet another Apple Watch I have no use for on my hands. Maybe I'll set it up for myself but I honestly doubt it'll go any better than last time I tried that about a year ago. I got so annoyed at the constant pseudo life-improving fitness and health goody two-shoes nonsense it kept shoving down my throat (Breathing? WTF Apple, seriously?) that I took it off and returned it after less than two weeks.

Anyway, thanks again for your input.

 

[Night Spring]

LOL. If your wife finds the aluminum Apple Watch still heavy, I recommend the newly released solo loop. It's the lightest band Apple has released. The only problem is it comes in something like 12 sizes, and you need to find the exact fit. If you can get to an Apple Store to try it on, it's the best. I did that, and it was totally worth the trip -- much lighter and comfortable to wear than the previous bands.

 

[mj_]

Good to know, thank you. I will keep that in mind.

 

[mj_]

Just a quick and most likely final update on the podcast issue: now that I came into the unexpected possession of a fully working S0 I am going to force myself to wear and use it as much as possible, and unlike last time I am not going to give up after two weeks again but use it until the end of the year to see what all the fuss is about. 100 billion flies can't be wrong, right?

Since I, too, listen to podcasts when out and about very often I've tried every single podcast application on the App Store that still works with watchOS 4.3.2, and I can now confirm that none of them allows me to sync podcasts from my phone directly onto the watch itself. It was, at this point, a purely academic exercise since I never leave my house without my phone anyway but at least now I know for certain it's not possible without upgrading to at least watchOS 5

 

[Night Spring]

Once you use the timer on the watch, you never look back. You can even use Siri to set it.

 

[b.c.]

sorry to hear the watch didn't work out for your wife, but glad to hear you're going to give it another go in spite of lack of working podcasts

btw you earlier mentioned annoyance with the Breathe app - you know you can disable notifications from that app and never ever hear from it again, right? that's what I immediately did, although I do use the Activity app all the time and leave its notifications on.

aside from that my favourite use for my Apple watch is using Apple Pay for contactless credit or debit card payments. Works perfectly even with the lowly, slow S0. I never have to take my card out of my wallet or iPhone out of my pocket to pay

 

[mj_]

btw you earlier mentioned annoyance with the Breathe app - you know you can disable notifications from that app and never ever hear from it again, right? that's what I immediately did, although I do use the Activity app all the time and leave its notifications on.

I do know that, thank you. That was literally the first thing I did after the watch successfully paired with my iPhone. In a perfect world I would be able to delete that piece of c*** and never have to see it again. It actually bothers me to even have to look at it because it's a constant reminder of Apple's esoteric holier-than-though shove it down your throat attitude. However, this is Apple we're talking about here, and the Apple experience is never about what I want but always about what Apple wants me to want. At least there's no chance of that notification ever renenabling itself after an OS update