'Theater Mode' Coming to Apple Watch

[andy.ringwood]

I don't see how this is deserving of a whole article; this is a minor feature at best.

I think it's more likely they're clearing up the fact "Theatre Mode" isn't for the iPhone.

 

[Math889]

Dark Mode = iPhone 8 exclusive. Will be interesting to see how they preview it at WWDC though. They might add it to the last two generations of iPhone.

I hope they add this feature to iPhones that uses A9 processor

 

[69650]

I don't like the name Theatre Mode

 

[petsounds]

Because for well over a month, "theater mode" has been heavily rumored to exist and to possibly be a dark mode of sorts.

Wasn't aware of that. But how much more dark can watchOS get? (insert Spinal Tap reference) Most screens already have black backgrounds due to the OLED screen requirement. Unless you're talking about iOS, which would be nice, though probably a pain for developers.

 

[andy.ringwood]

I don't like the name Theatre Mode

But it's the perfect name... Just because we don't call it Theatre...

 

[manu chao]

Included in 3.1.3 but not activated until 3.2? Why bother including it in 3.1.3 then?

Maybe they want to hold a media event in the near future and announce this feature (among other bigger news) there.

 

[jutdon84]

This sounds great. I normally put my Watch on Power Reserve Mode when I go to the cinema, or else it will light up several times during a film

 

[Math889]

But it's the perfect name... Just because we don't call it Theatre...

Black mode

 

[mariusignorello]

Ugh would it not take them two minutes to code a dark mode, at least for messages? So annoying having to inverse colors all the time at night. I could care less about any other update other than that at this point

A little more than two minutes. It has to actually look good. If the UI elements don't look good against a dark background and app devs don't implement the APIs it will flop.

 

[azentropy]

Good, much needed feature.

 

[LordQ]

If a Dark Mode eventually exists—exclusively for iPhone 8, I will be a very pissed Apple fanboy...

 

[SeaFox]

I don't like the name Theatre Mode

How about "Don't get me kicked out of the Alamo Drafthouse" mode?

 

[lordofthereef]

I am honestly more distracted by people smacking their lips and rustling with candy, slurping drinks and getting up to pee. Can we get an theater mode for human decency?

 

[digitalm3]

Was hoping for Dark Mode as well but I do welcome this feature I only hope it will actually switch the phone to/from theater mode instead of having to toggle both to/from silent.

 

[JCoe13]

Ugh would it not take them two minutes to code a dark mode, at least for messages? So annoying having to inverse colors all the time at night. I could care less about any other update other than that at this point

Is the screen really that bright that a dark mode would be that beneficial? Same reason I am not sure why this mode exists either. Not like a watch is lighting up a theater, but maybe I'm wrong?

 

[jonnysods]

I didn't even know 3.1.2 was out!

I'll grab it now!

 

[samcraig]

Good. Missed it. One of the most loved features of Android Wear watches from the start.

Nothing worse than people's phones and watches lighting up a theatre.

When Wear 2.0 came out, people freaked because it disappeared from the quick settings menu, but it turned out you just had to double click the side button to enable it.

Pretty surprised it wasn't in there from the get go.

 

[tremlock]

people still go to the movies?

A side from that i can see that as being a usable feature, better no be limited to Series 2

 

[CPx]

This makes A LOT more sense.

 

[RickInHouston]

Truly amazing! I can't wait for the multiple television ads featuring this mind-blowing, magical feature.



ugh.

 

[sentiblue]

I'd recommend to auto-enable or at least pop-up and ask users when they come into close proximity of a known theater... don't just let them manually enable threater mode because most people either don't know or simply don't remember.

 

[chesleya]

Can a dev or someone smart let me know if the AVAudioPlayer API would allow a Watch app like Overcast to load Podcasts directly on the Watch a la Music?

 

[bluespark]

This falls into the small-but-very-much-appreciated category. Nothing worse than a bright light shining from someone's wrist when watching a play/movie/concert in a dark theatre.

 

[Otaviano]

Really looking forward to this feature. Whenever I put out 2 year old to sleep I need to go digging in the menus to turn of the wake on wrist detection.

A nice button in the control center is going to be super useful.

 

[ItsNotaTumor]

I do the same thing with my watch and my phone in a theater - turn it off.