Questions!

[WozzaTT]

Hi,

I was about to pull the trigger on an AWU this weekend, having never owned an AW before, but it seems that there will now be an update in September so I’ll maybe wait until then.

Anyway, the main question I have is does the AW actively encourage you to exercise? Do you all close the rings every day and track your exercising etc?! I can understand the rings thing but there seems to be a fascination with tracking all walks and runs and bike rides and so on. I get it for serious athletes but for the average joe like me, why do it? Do people seriously look back on a walk from 3 months back and study the output that was saved?

Similarly for sleep tracking, I can understand that it may be interesting at first, but then why do it every night? Surely you either sleep ok on a particular night, or you don’t? You’re tired in the morning or refreshed?

I’m genuinely not being critical - just interested in the motivation for this tracking/recording everything that seems to interest a lot of users. If I do get one I’m hoping it will encourage me to exercise more - hence my questions really.

Also, what’s the view on AppleCare+ for an AWU? Seems reasonably priced for 2 years, or not necessary really?

I may well think of other questions as I go along - TIA for your thoughts 🙂

 

[leescottdavis]

Had an AW for years, and I think it and the app eco-system that complement it have been fundamental to my fitness, health, and sleep improvements. I currently have the AWU and I'll likely upgrade too. I monitor fitness, sleep, diet and hydration every day. Part of my daily routine now.

 

[bricktop_at]

AppleCare+ gives me peace of mind, so
I would clearly recommend getting it. It‘s definitely not overpriced for two years of protection, even when you smash it yourself.

 

[Howard2k]

I went on a hike a while back (a year or so) and found a baby chipmunk sitting in the middle of the hiking trail. Got some poor photos , but I remember that I liked that particular trail, but I couldn’t remembers specifically which trail it was. Searching my photo library for rodent the AI found the poor photos of the chipmunk. I then pulled up the date of the photos and went back to that date in my activities. There was the hike and the map. I was able to find that trail again.

Totally an outside the norm experience but there we are.

Sometimes I look back on my old runs as I run a pretty regular route. I might see a run and a time and think “that was pretty poor” but then I see the temperature and can see how hot it was that day.

So nothing super compelling but it has come in useful from time to time.

I’m not a serial ring closer. My ring targets are a little bit of a stretch for me and with some regularity, like yesterday, I seem to just miss them. Despite two walks I ended at 99%. I need to work to close them and that doesn’t always happen. But others focus on maintaining a streak. Different people are motivated different ways, whatever works best for you is the correct answer.

I buy AC+ but have never used it.

 

[Tdude96]

I was about to pull the trigger on an AWU this weekend, having never owned an AW before, but it seems that there will now be an update in September so I’ll maybe wait until then.

Seems reasonable to wait if you're pretty sold on an Ultra and price is not a primary concern.

does the AW actively encourage you to exercise?

Yes, it can actively encourage exercise. It has easily dismissible reminders about closing your rings (which you can turn off altogether if you wish). It will offer encouragement and praise. Things like:
"You're way ahead for the day"
"You're crushing it"
"You can still do it. A brisk walk of N minutes will complete X ring"
And a bunch of others depending on how your ring progress or lack thereof.
You can personalize your rings to meet your individual needs or desires.
Additionally, you can add accountability by sharing with friends, or even competing with friends.
There are various awards you can earn for your activity, and after your activity has been established for awhile, customized monthly challenges that you can complete for awards.

Do you all close the rings every day and track your exercising etc?! I can understand the rings thing but there seems to be a fascination with tracking all walks and runs and bike rides and so on. I get it for serious athletes but for the average joe like me, why do it? Do people seriously look back on a walk from 3 months back and study the output that was saved?

I try to close my rings every day, but am not obsessive about it. One thing Apple Watch doesn't do is account for rest days or injury. If you need to reduce your goals due to one of those things, you have to do it manually and set back to your desired goals when you're ready. I just don't bother.

It does automatically recommend increasing your goals if you've been meeting/exceeding your goals every day.

One big reason to track workouts is to see trends. The historical data is used to show assorted trends for your activity and health, which can help show your progress over time or used as a warning that something may be wrong.

Personally I like looking at specific historical data from time to time, especially maps to review old routes I haven't done for awhile.

Similarly for sleep tracking, I can understand that it may be interesting at first, but then why do it every night? Surely you either sleep ok on a particular night, or you don’t? You’re tired in the morning or refreshed?

I found this to be exactly the case. I got a 3rd party app (before Apple added their own sleep tracking) and had fun digging through all the data for awhile, but stopped looking at it daily after awhile. However, I've continued wearing the watch for sleep tracking, even though I rarely dig through the data anymore. It can be helpful, especially if you're trying to establish better sleep patterns, and I imagine the data would come in handy when consulting a doctor about some conditions. I could see Apple leveraging the data in the future for other functionalities. But overall wearing it every night for sleep tracking probably isn't "necessary" for most people.

Also, what’s the view on AppleCare+ for an AWU? Seems reasonably priced for 2 years, or not necessary really?

I've not carried AC+ on any of my devices. I might start doing it for computers after some recent issues, but still do not see the value for it with a watch, phone, AirPods.

 

[calliex]

I worked at the local Apple store when the watch came out. I thought it was neat tech but over priced. Apple made us sell it like fine jewlery. That not what I had signed up for and quit the store over it. I did buy the 1st generation watch though since we got 50% off. Long story/short it grew on me. I use mostly for exercise. I almost can't exercise without it now. Sometimes on a long run I pause it, then forget to un pause it. I get upset I am not getting credit for my exercise.
I have found some health apps that produce reports from the data on my watch which I take to my doctor periodically.
Answering the phone with it when on long walks, EKG, checking the weather, etc

 

[NoBoMac]

I thought it was neat tech but over priced. [...] I did buy the 1st generation watch though since we got 50% off. Long story/short it grew on me.

Similar story. Thought it was a gimmick (still kinda do to be honest), but once Apple made the 3 the entry level Watch, was a a price point that willing to give it a try. And it grew on me as well (currently using SE after I killed the 3 canyoneering).

Back to OP...

Rings: I never bother with them. Get no notifications for it and never bother looking at them. Close all but stand ring during my morning workout, and think it's gimmicky but will not poo-poo it to those that like it, use it.

Similar to rings, also don't bother with the Activity Badges. Does nothing for me.

And also don't bother with Sleep.

But, do look at a workout from the past. For example, might finish a hike that I felt I was dragging doing, so go back to see how good/bad it was compared to previous hike on same route.

Along same lines, good to have the data, imo, to see if improvement (speed, distance) but more importantly if sliding backward (sign of illness, need to change workout/diet, other).

Also nice that everything ties into Health app so calorie burn from Watch/Fitness get put there and food tracking app picks it up. My blood pressure monitor syncs there as well. Pretty close to one stop shopping for all my health snd medical stats (also have tied Health to labs to download results).

One thing that does not get mentioned much is audio controller via the Watch. Love it when working out. Can do all the skip foward/back, next track, change playlists, etc without pulling out the phone while on the move (don't use Apple buds, my buds can do most of this, but hopping between playlists needs phone or Watch app).

 

[Tdude96]

One thing that does not get mentioned much is audio controller via the Watch. Love it when working out. Can do all the skip foward/back, next track, change playlists, etc without pulling out the phone while on the move (don't use Apple buds, my buds can do most of this, but hopping between playlists needs phone or Watch app).

One "weird" use I put my watch to is due to my cat. I like listening to audio books as I fall asleep, but the cat has a bad habit of either knocking the phone off the nightstand or chewing on its charging cable. So I've taken to sticking the phone in an inaccessible place where I can hear it and it can charge, but he can't get to it or the cable. I use the watch's "Now Playing" link to the phone to adjust playback, mostly raising or lowering the volume as-needed.

 

[WozzaTT]

One "weird" use I put my watch to is due to my cat. I like listening to audio books as I fall asleep, but the cat has a bad habit of either knocking the phone off the nightstand or chewing on its charging cable. So I've taken to sticking the phone in an inaccessible place where I can hear it and it can charge, but he can't get to it or the cable. I use the watch's "Now Playing" link to the phone to adjust playback, mostly raising or lowering the volume as-needed.

Love it! 🐈

 

[arc of the universe]

One big reason to track workouts is to see trends. The historical data is used to show assorted trends for your activity and health, which can help show your progress over time or used as a warning that something may be wrong.

this.
on the iPhone, one of the main sections of the Activity app is the Trend info portion.
this primarily uses only data that were recorded during activities of some kind of Workout.

This Trend info has become the most important part of the Activity app data to me - not the closing of the daily rings. I dont care if i close daily rings or not.
The trend arrows point upward not only if you make progress but continue to point upward as long as you are staying at the same level as well. The graphs given are really valuable and precise.

 

[bransoj]

I do try and make sure i close all my rings, complete the monthly challenges etc...sense of accomplishment when you do it each time along with getting to 10,000 steps for the day. I know 10,000 is a bit of an arbitrary figure someone just picked but its better than not doing any steps so its a target!

When i first got it i did used to track all my dog walks but now i generally only track out of the ordinary longer one\different ones but i do track my bike route to and from work each time i do it more to see how i'm getting on in terms of getting quicker especially now i've got a new bike!

 

[Gears]

Once you get one you wont go back as you will find something you will always depend on it for. For example

The alarm was very handy for me precovid as i got up way before the missus and so silent alarm vibrating on your wrist is great as it doesnt disturb the other person.

The other for me is having notifications on my wrist meaning i dont miss any. This was especially good when we started having someone look after our son while we were out doing something such as a date night. Just gave peace of mind that if whoever was looking after him was trying to contact us we wouldnt miss the message or call.

The biggest annoyance for me now is my other normal watch! I have a really nice watch the wife got for me as a wedding present but i never wear it as the times i do want to wear it like date nights are the nights i want that peace of mind i can see messages

 

[WozzaTT]

Once you get one you wont go back as you will find something you will always depend on it for. For example

The alarm was very handy for me precovid as i got up way before the missus and so silent alarm vibrating on your wrist is great as it doesnt disturb the other person.

The other for me is having notifications on my wrist meaning i dont miss any. This was especially good when we started having someone look after our son while we were out doing something such as a date night. Just gave peace of mind that if whoever was looking after him was trying to contact us we wouldnt miss the message or call.

The biggest annoyance for me now is my other normal watch! I have a really nice watch the wife got for me as a wedding present but i never wear it as the times i do want to wear it like date nights are the nights i want that peace of mind i can see messages

I can relate - treated myself to a nice Tag years ago after I quit smoking and have worn it ever since. If I do get an AW I know the Tag will hardly get any use anymore plus I’ll have to buy an automatic winder for it!

 

[calliex]

Also nice that everything ties into Health app so calorie burn from Watch/Fitness get put there and food tracking app picks it up. My blood pressure monitor syncs there as well. Pretty close to one stop shopping for all my health snd medical stats (also have tied Health to labs to download results).

What kind of blood pressure monitor do you use? I hand input my BP into my phone so I can use Heart Reports to send a report to my doctor every 6 months or so.

 

[NoBoMac]

What kind of blood pressure monitor do you use?

An iHealth model. Manufacturer was on the recommended list from my doctor, and conveniently, was on sale on Amazon for a super low price at the time.

iHealth Track Blood Pressure Monitor

Shop now and start your wellness journey at your fingertip with this user-friendly iHealth Track Blood Pressure Monitor. This smartphone compatible blood pressure monitor comes with one-button design, intuitive color-coded display, FDA510K clearance and CE approval to ensure its accuracy. Buy...

ihealthlabs.com

Seems to be working well: appears to line up with BP monitors in doctor's office. But have not done a real test of bring in the unit and measure at the same time.

Relatively small unit vs some others so easily packable if want to take it on the road. AAA batteries so no need for chargers, converters.

Their app has the ability to export the data via email: csv, Exel, PDF formats for output. And, of course, writes to Health.