I do not take this claim too seriously. Apple Watch development increasingly looks like it is being dropped. Many of the apps are tied to phone apps and of the few I've used, they are often terrible. The Audible app in particular should burn in hell for eternity it is so bad.
Garmin apps tend to focus on more music services, deep integration with websites that provide certain unique types of navigation, really unique or obscure sensors types, and yes a ton of customizable watch faces.
How many Apple Watch applications allow you to install a proper third party watch face? How many Apple Watch threads talk about the desire for more watch faces or the desire to allow third party applications to add watch faces?
You call it trivial stuff but it clearly isn't trivial to the people using it.
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Garmin has a native payment system and Apple has lots of lawsuits related to third party stores, companies complaining about their charges for hosting the apps being 30% and so on. Apple is often having to settle these lawsuits by allowing third party stores and payment methods.
That thing on your wrist is for more than blasting notifications your way. Make your smart watch smarter with the best Apple Watch apps
www.stuff.tv
That is a list of best Apple Watch apps. Let me summarize them quickly.
Here's 5-7 workout apps that try t make it easy to do what the native Apple app doesn't do. Here's also some golf apps since the Apple Watch doesn't do golf natively.
Here are more apps that duplicate Apple core apps that also are lacking. Audible, Overcast and Carrot Weather are examples of this.
Here's some weird desperate attempt to rationalize your watch like an odd game, tracking your mood, checking your streaks all which are just basically ways to punch in the same information as you would on your phone but now on your wrist!
Many also require SUBSCRIPTIONS rather than a one time payment. From a Garmin mindset it seems absurd to pay a monthly subscription fee to have your health data presented to you in some sort of understandable manner vs just tossed into health. It is ridiculous to need a subscription to dive, to snorkle, to golf, to hike, and so on in the vast majority of instances.
I don't want death by a thousand cuts. I'll take the ONE cut even if it is a thousand dollars to have a device that can do it all.
Does the Fenix 8 cost too much? I don't know. Does it cost too much if my Apple Watch won't access the cellular network in a foreign country when I want to purchase my day pass for Oceanic+ for my snorkeling or diving excursion I've booked? What's the cost then when it doesn't sort out?
Many of these "best apps" are just native features on Garmin Watches from diving. running, cycling strength and so on. In summary the best third party apps are just trying to do what Apple has failed to do and what Garmin has actually done as a first party.
arstechnica.com
