Some constructive criticism

[ZornGottes]

some background

OK, so I’ve bought an AWS2 about 8 months ago, and am pairing it with my iPhoneSE. I’m already into Apple’s ecosystem for many years & on the whole verrrrry satisfied in how harmonious they’re integrating their different devices most of the time (not convinced of the HomePod yet, since such a Siri-dependant device is probably only really functional in english and in the US/UK. I’m living in Brussels). I’m even convinced of their pricing policies (Apple is actually really good value compared to the Samsungs & Dell’s of this world)


It took me many months to actually start appreciating my watch & finding it very useful (even though I jumped straight into watchOS3). I never liked wearing watches and in the past only occasionally wore a mechanical one for fashion reasons (yeah shoot me but women consider it an important "accessory", like decent shoes). My Series 2 space gray, I’m wearing it every day since I got it.


my observations….

All that as a prelude as to why I'm a little irritated at what I perceive to be its issues:

• up until 3.1 the watch crashed & restarted too many times to count. I was actually shocked for an Apple product to be this unstable & also was in disbelief of not seeing this being reported. I only started adding 3rd party apps/complications slowly so I think this can’t be attributed to them. So I was baffled by the many restarts.
• the time for apps to communicate with their big brother on iPhone just takes too long. There are way too few 3rd-party-apps that are native & work as seamless as for example Apple’s Messages. Even reputed developers from fe. Fantastical or Citymapper have apps that are just too slow - why is it so difficult. The Omnigroup’s Omnifocus is speedy, as are a handful of others, but on the whole - there’s too much lag & I think Apple is not to blame for all of it. Let’s hope the supposed watchOS4 speedbump helps…
• The number of open apps/apps in memory combined with all open complications -> one would think waychOS 3 would have sped things up (and it probably does icw watchOS2) However it still results in way too many instances of being presented with an app starting up after clicking its complication … (whether or not my iPhone is in the near vicinity or not plays only a minor role)

Result: I don't recommend it to interested colleagues, let alone friends. I can see the potential of the watch, but by the gods, is the road long...


Am I too sceptical/critical?

 

[Hastings101]

Not really. Bugs, performance, and battery life are usually the things people complain about with the Apple Watch in posts I see. So you're actually 2/3 skeptical as normal lol.

That's why I'm waiting for the next revision and OS, it just doesn't seem quite ready yet.

 

[44267547]

It's hard to measure how critical somebody can be of the Apple Watch, because every one will use it differently and formulate their own personal view point. With each version of watchOS, will come bugs and glitches. But the watch has increasingly become much better and more efficient through each watchOS update. It's way better than It ever was from the first watchOS.

I still think smart watches are in their infancy and they have loads of potential for health related features that are more important over notifications. I personally think there's no other smart watch on the market they can rival the Apple Watch with its hardware and software. And I'm excited to see what the future holds from Apple with the Apple Watch.

 

[Stefan johansson]

Never had any major issues with mine. Guess some people think apps communicate instantly,which they don't.
Crashes usually depend on too many active functions.

 

[douglasf13]

The Watch is all about expectations. I've had mine nearly two years, and my expectations were firstly that it's a watch and secondly that it's a text/email/phone notification device. Dark Sky is the only 3rd party app I have on the Watch, and the Watch suits me quite well.