Watch protection during swimming

[Foilguy]

My searches on this topic got some isolated responses but I’m still left wondering how most people are protecting their Watches whole swimming and with other water sports. My understanding is that AW touch screens tend to quit working when the popular bumper/screen-cover combo’s get wet. Does that mean most people are pulling them off to swim and then replacing them afterword? I‘m assuming the coverless bumper guards like a Rhino Shield bumper case would work, albeit with no screen protection (?). No idea if those tight-fitting adhesive based covers (film or tempered glass) work while swimming. I read that they are pretty finicky. I do a lot of swimming, both pool and open water, along paddle boarding, kitefoiling, wingfoiling, kiteboarding, windsurfing.…

Right now using some Misxi case/covers on an AW SE I just purchased, and they seem to work great dry but I’m still wondering how I’ll deal with all my water activities. Thanks for any help!

 

[Velin]

but I’m still left wondering how most people are protecting their Watches whole swimming and with other water sports.

Answer: use a Timex Expedition Digital Chrono with Indiglo, can be purchased for < $30 new when on sale. I've had this thing in heated olympic pools for years, as well as in rough shore breakers and jet skis. I've changed the battery myself. Still working great. No water intrusion, no condensation on the digital readout. I think the ultrabasic design of this type of digital watch helps keep H20 out (no crowns, no complications, no mechanical pushers).

Anything water related, I'm using either a diver watch or a supercheap digital. My experience thus far, bought one cheap digital, has lasted years. I simply do not -- do not -- want to deal with water intrusion, seal failures, condensation, reef strikes, sand scratching a glass or sapphire crystal, on more expensive gear. And, a Timex (or a Casio or Seiko) water resistant digital watch can be purchased for less money than some of these waterproof covers. If I bust it on coral, scratch the face on sand, break the band and watch it sink a hundred feet, oh well, I'll get another the same day. Dealing with it will cost me ten minutes of my day.

If you think about the most elegant solution which will cost you the least amount of time, money, worry, and aggravation, this is the way to go.

 

[Night Spring]

There's no need for extra screen protection while in the water. Just make sure to turn on water lock before you get in.

How to use Water Lock and eject water from your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Turn on Water Lock to avoid unintended taps on the display when you wear your Apple Watch in water. When you get out, press and hold the Digital Crown to clear water from your watch's speaker. Here's how.

support.apple.com

It's true that the touchscreen doesn't work when wet, but this happens whether or not you have a case or screen protector on the watch. Also, if you have a case that covers the screen, and water gets in between the case and screen, the touchscreen won't work until the water is removed. I've found that trapped water usually dries off if you wait a bit, but you may sometimes have to remove the case to dry the watch.

 

[1rottenapple]

Apple literally has a commercial with some dude drifting on a surfboard or something. It’s pretty water resistant. They built features like water ejection into the water, water lock. Etc. pretty sure they want you to wear your watch in the ocean.

 

[Foilguy]

Many thanks for the advice Velin, but I definitely did not purchase an AW to avoid using it in all my water activities, even at the risk of water damage. I’ll protect it as well as I can and see what happens. I’ve seen enough posts/videos to know that long term water use is certainly possible without water damage. Otherwise I just would have kept my Garmin Instinct (that thing was a durability beast). Oh well, something to figger out!

Thanks Night Spring. I guess that sounds pretty workable. I’ll just have to experiment when to start my open water swim or pool swim timing depending on the type of protective case I’m using, if any. Sort of hoping a bumper-only case (no screen cover) will allow me to just hold my arm above water to start and stop timing. For dry land use those Misxi covers I have seem to work great so far. The biggest damage risk to the AW will likely come from the foiling activities (see the avatar). I have one friend who either keeps his AW under his wetsuit sleeve in cooler weather, or wears a cut up piece of wetsuit sleeve over his AW and wrist during warmer weather. We can have some pretty aggressive wipeouts!

 

[bransoj]

I've been using my AW6 with nothing in terms of case or covering for swimming for a while now. Was in and out of the pool 2 or 3 times a day last summer on holiday in France swimming with my daughter and for a while now i've been swimming on a regular basis after work using the watch to track the exercise. When you start the swimming activity it activates the water lock to prevent inadvertent screen presses and you just turn the crown to unlock at the end. No issues with my watch at all.