Second-guessing the AW design

[sean000]

I think AW will never be compatible to Android. Only work with iOS is advantage not disadvantage for Apple revenue and stay as luxury brand point of view. Apple has no intention to have 100% smart watch market, in fact, for any luxury brand item, which Apple products are, most of them do NOT want to own 100% of market, because it means they will have to satisfy both high-end and value-focus customer. With few exception, lots if not most of Android phone customer look for value added. More feature for the $$ pay. Value-focus is more important than being the top of the quality on build, look, and feel. Just as same as Rolex will never interested on selling new watch less than $1000 or get 100% mechanical watch market, or Porsche will never be interested on selling new sports car less than $20,000 or get 100% sports car market.

Yes...I would actually be pretty shocked if Apple took any steps towards making an Apple Watch talk to an Android phone, but some tech blogger (can't remember which one at the moment) was speculating just that recently. I don't see it happening either, and I don't see them going to great lengths to accommodate other watch makers directly. Apple has never tried to be everything to everyone. They know there is a market for the products they make and the way they like to make them.

Edited: With regarding battery life, AW last 1-2 days full function, same or more than all iPhone released, and 72 hrs extra when running low and switch to power reserve mode. AW is accessory (definition of accessory: something added to something else to make it more useful, attractive, or effective) for iPhone, not as stand along smart watch. Apple never sell it as stand along device. Most of us charge our iPhone nightly, unless forgot same as we will forgot to charge iPhone, why does an accessory of iPhone need to have longer full function battery life than the master device? It is not a direct mechanical watch replacement. It is a smart watch could do 1000 more things than mechanical watch, and happen to be able to tell time also so one does not have too wear mechanical watch. If one feel the need to have a device to tell time without have to charge daily, one could always wear both, one wrist with AW and another wrist with mechanical watch.

Yup...for how I use it the Apple Watch is a fantastic accessory to my iPhone, and I have yet to run out of battery. It's always between 10% and 40% when I go to bed, and I just charge both my iPhone and my watch. No issue at all. Personally I don't understand the issue with nightly charging, because for me that routine is easier and more foolproof than remembering to charge a device I only need to charge every few days or only a few times a month. I also have little problem reading the AW in bright sun, but I will sometimes switch to a face that is big and bold when I'm out in the sun (like X-Large). But of course some people just can't stand the fact that the battery won't last a week, or that the watch face isn't always on, or that the watch can't do everything without the iPhone close by. None of this bothers me, and I see the watch face turning off as being good for privacy anyway. Oh well... they will have their options and that's fine. As interesting as some of the other smartwatches are, their features and capabilities are too limited for my needs.

Sean

 

[Rogifan]

I'm actually surprised that I haven't seen any ads/commercials directed to women. Apart from the smaller sized face available (I have a larger wrist so went with the 42mm), if you are a woman who carries your phone in a purse, having the watch is such a wonderful thing. Can't count the times I haven't gotten to my buried phone in time or couldn't hear the ring. My husband keeps his watch in his front jeans pocket so maybe that is a bit more convenient to pull out than for me but still having the immediate access to the time, notifications, etc. is just nice.

Back to the original question, Now can you imagine trying to do things on a round faced watch that would be compatible in size to the 38mm ones?

Yeah I think Apple needs to do more marketing towards women. I tried on a Moto 360 and it was comically huge my wrist.

 

[BarracksSi]

One of the ads online—I think Apple calls it "Family"—has a bit with a mother answering a phone call on her Apple Watch while holding her baby.

Apple also had a major spread in Vogue early this year (February, maybe) with life-sized images of the Watch.

They also have their two travel ads, and I remember for sure that the one for Beijing features two German twentysomething women.

I want to say that we think Apple isn't marketing towards women only because the tech press is still male-dominated.

 

[BostonQuad]

Thanks all for indulging me and leaving some thoughtful comments. A few replies...

I hate edge gestures on my iPhone / iPad.

I guess I wasn't clear. I didn't mean using the edge of the screen for the proposed touch input; I meant using the edge of the case where the crown and friends button currently are. The iPhone and iPad don't have anything like that.

Scrolling in a circle would be no fun, not to mention that round watch face doesn't really work for text.

I think here is another misunderstanding, as I wasn't describing scrolling in a circle. Rather, it would be like swiping up or down along the edge of the case.

As for text: yes, i'm aware that would raise new challenges. I didn't address it when I posted because I imagined there'd be enough issues with the little I did propose.

Virtual (touch screen) buttons are not practical when you are sweating a lot. [..] It is almost impossible to pause/restart the Workout app while running if your hands are sweaty.

Great feedback, though I don't fully understand the issue. I tried to simulate this effect by dipping my finger in water, then trying my Mac trackpad, my iPhone virtual keyboard, and scrolling with my iPhone. They worked fine. (But I don't doubt you, and another user raised the same issue.)

I get occasional false-presses of the crown when I bend my wrist. Can you imagine how often it would go off if it were a digital touch input rather than a physical one?

Another great piece of feedback. I posted because I knew there would be things like this I wasn't aware of, but I wanted to learn what they were. Thanks.

Here's my Garmin 410, [..] It's unreliable with dry fingers, it's horrible with sweaty fingers. The screen is too small to show enough text, too, which only shows that a rectangular screen is much better for smartwatch-type tasks.

Very informative, thank you. That helps me realize that a round screen is a problem for text not only because of the mismatch of shapes (text is naturally rectangular), but because of the usable space for a given amount of surface area. I had given thought to the former, but not the latter.

The problems you mention concerning touch (unreliable with dry fingers, horrible with sweaty fingers) -- do you find they also apply to the current AW touch screen as well?

 

[BarracksSi]

The problems you mention concerning touch (unreliable with dry fingers, horrible with sweaty fingers) -- do you find they also apply to the current AW touch screen as well?

Not really, no, at least not to the same extent. It might be the touch technology that Garmin used that's at fault, not simply the idea of a touch bezel.

I can't use my AW very well in the shower, for example (I had to take a call from a coworker… weird, I know) unless I wipe my finger dry. But, it hasn't failed on me during my exercise sessions. For now, then, let's say that a circular touch bezel can be made to respond just as reliably.

I'll add that I don't like swiping in a circle. It's unnatural and uncomfortable, and my finger blocks the screen at least half the time. The AW's UI design is helped by the digital crown so much, but in such a subtle way that I don't realize how great it is until I don't have it. Scrolling through a list on the AW via the crown leaves the screen visible, yes? However, scrolling through a list on the Garmin means covering the face half the time, blocking exactly what I want to see.

I'm trying to imagine a circular touch bezel with improved sensors and a better UI (the Garmin's UI is the other half of what I hate about it), and I think it could possibly work.

What you'd have to figure out (among other things) is how to differentiate between a zoom action and a scrolling action. If you get rid of zoom, you can use the bezel simply to select and scroll. If you try to run a music controller app, though, you'll need to decide whether you want the volume adjustment to be consistent (like, clockwise = increase) or to move in the direction of the volume display (differs depending on whether you use the top or bottom of the bezel).

Another neat thing that the AW's digital crown affords is a near-Home button function. The Garmin's hardware buttons are also a great help during a workout, because even if the bezel doesn't respond, I can mark laps or end the workout with a good button press. A circular touch bezel should still be accompanied by a hardware button, IMO.

Now we're back to including at least one hardware button on the side of the case. We could have three buttons — two to scroll up and down, and a third to select — but this puts us back in Pebble territory. Just one button forces the UI to take lots of operations via the bezel… unless the button can turn, too. Hmm. Sounds familiar.

What I haven't mentioned yet is the Garmin's ability to "lock" the bezel. Press both side buttons and the bezel turns off. This prevents accidentally switching modes, which could take you to time-only display, or setup menus, or potentially even turn off the GPS in mid-workout.

The AW has no ability to "lock" its screen, right? What it has instead is its third input method, Force Touch. When you want to end or pause a workout, to describe a sweaty-fingered example, you push hard on the screen, a more conscious effort than a simple accidental swipe. Not even accidentally pressing the crown with the back of your hand can end a workout even if it takes the AW back to the Home screen; pressing the Garmin's buttons by accident pauses, laps, or ends a workout, whether you've locked the bezel or not..

As it stands, then, I think it's hard, or maybe impossible, to improve upon the AW's combination of input hardware.

 

[BostonQuad]

I'll add that I don't like swiping in a circle. It's unnatural and uncomfortable, and my finger blocks the screen at least half the time.

That's not what I had in mind. I meant for the edge of the case (or rim) to be used in this manner - so, where you now put a finger to click the crown or friends button, you similarly touch the case, and swipe down or up along the rim. That way, it wouldn't block the screen at all.

What you'd have to figure out (among other things) is how to differentiate between a zoom action and a scrolling action. If you get rid of zoom, you can use the bezel simply to select and scroll.

Well, I was thinking whatever could be done now could be done with my idea, as the input functionality is equivalent. In my mind, I remove two physical buttons and a physical dial (two of which are combined into the same object), and I replace them with two virtual buttons and a virtual dial.

The Garmin's hardware buttons are also a great help during a workout, because even if the bezel doesn't respond, I can mark laps or end the workout with a good button press. A circular touch bezel should still be accompanied by a hardware button, IMO.

(Assuming you'd make the same point for a touch rim, rather than bezel...)
Yes, sometimes there's no good substitute for a hardware button. Another point for your argument would be the button for powering a device on/off. If that's a virtual button, the device could never be truly turned off. (It would have to be on to see if the virtual button is being used to turn the device "on". In fact, many modern devices are never truly turned off, but are merely put into a low-power state. But I assume iPhones, iPads, and AWs are truly capable of being turned off, to save every bit of precious battery life.)

Now we're back to including at least one hardware button on the side of the case.

If so, perhaps an unobtrusive one on the other side of the case? But I admit once you include one hardware button, my idea loses force. However, I'm still finding this exercise useful in terms of a thought experiment, so thanks again for indulging me.

 

[BarracksSi]

Yeah, I'm just trying ways to sort out a bezel-only interface.

There are several traditional quartz watches by Rado which operate by a touch bezel. I may be able to figure it out with the manual, but I don't know if I'd be able to remember it later.

http://www.rado.com/en/watches/hype...-ceramic-touch-dual-timer-765.0102.3.017.html