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What are your must-haves on the watch?

ssledoux

ssledoux

macrumors 601
Original poster
Sep 16, 2006
4,413
4,245
Down south
What apps/things do you use most on your AW? I don’t really feel like I’m getting my money’s worth from mine. I use it for texts when I’m not near my phone, alarms, a little of the activity stuff, monitoring my heart rate, and honestly, not much else.

What are some things you love using yours for/favorite apps, etc.?
 
ssledoux said:
What apps/things do you use most on your AW? I don’t really feel like I’m getting my money’s worth from mine. I use it for texts when I’m not near my phone, alarms, a little of the activity stuff, monitoring my heart rate, and honestly, not much else.

What are some things you love using yours for/favorite apps, etc.?
Click to expand...
GPS
Waterproof
Fitness Tracking: Swimming, Running, Walking, Biking

Still Needed: Interval Training on Default Workout app

Definitely, think it is worth it.
 
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I use mine for activity monitoring (just how far I walk really, I don’t run or work out) and sleep tracking. I also like being able to use Siri to set a timer when I’m cooking. I use Bring for shopping lists, Things for To Do lists and Departure Board to check train info so I don’t have to juggle my phone and my Oyster on escalators. In unfamiliar cities I find walking directions invaluable.
[doublepost=1522762832][/doublepost]I’m sure others make much more use of their watches than I do but I find it invaluable, nonetheless.
 
no big thing, just lots of little things all of which are good and none of which justifies what I spent on the watch:

general things
timers, especially whilst cooking.
answering text messages whilst walking, by voice, or quickly by scribbling on my watch.

apps
365 scores for football scores
2048 game
bring. probably the most used function, for when I go food shopping as I have the memory of a goldfish
currency. when in somewhere with a confusing currency, rather than take phone out of pocket, open it, open the app, type the amount, just tap on the complication type in the amount.very useful in Vietnam last holiday.
hue. to turn on my Philips lights although its quicker by voice.
bank app
shazam for recognizing music, similar to currency, its just so much quicker than using the phone.
maps, far quicker and you look less like a tourist.
wallet. for boarding passes.
 

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Starship67 said:
Isn’t that what this is?
Click to expand...
Not really what I need. The setting you showed is just a calibration for calories burned.

I need to be able to start stop the timer quickly as I do 440yd, 880yd or 220yd intervals. For example, I'll warm up 3/4 mile as I approach the 440yd start, I need to come to a momentary complete stop, tap 'lap' timer to reset timer to zero while keeping main timer running, then sprint the 440 and tap lap again as I cross for the cool down lap, then back at it again up to 12 more times. This lets me know my exact 440 time without having to do mental math. Mental math becomes pretty hard nearing the 10th interval.

Without the lap timer, it also gets a little difficult to keep lap count in your head ( I currently do it fairly well by using overall mileage ) but as you get more and more exhausted it becomes more and more difficult to focus on counting.

Minor complaint. Just a want really.

Does that make sense? I never use the High Intensity Interval Traning; I believe that is more for CrossFit workouts.
 
960design said:
Not really what I need. The setting you showed is just a calibration for calories burned.

I need to be able to start stop the timer quickly as I do 440yd, 880yd or 220yd intervals. For example, I'll warm up 3/4 mile as I approach the 440yd start, I need to come to a momentary complete stop, tap 'lap' timer to reset timer to zero while keeping main timer running, then sprint the 440 and tap lap again as I cross for the cool down lap, then back at it again up to 12 more times. This lets me know my exact 440 time without having to do mental math. Mental math becomes pretty hard nearing the 10th interval.
Click to expand...
A couple ideas --

Double-tapping the screen in the Workout app marks a new "lap" and resets the time display to 0:00. It'll save each lap in the summary. I don't know if this is documented, but I discovered it by accident.

Does the Chronograph face work while Workout is running, or does it normally go to the background?
 
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960design said:
What? That is AMAZING!! Thank you! That's why I hang around here. That is exactly what I needed.
Click to expand...
Ha, cool! When you first said something about intervals, I thought that you wanted a timer that'll alert you when you need to start/stop your exercise (like Tabatas, for example), which is what I've wanted. Then I read your post again and thought, "Wait a minute... I think this'll work..."

For the OP's question about "must-haves", here's what I miss when I wear one of my regular watches:
- Temperature/weather
- Texts/calls when I leave my phone at the far end of the apartment
- Logging workouts
- Flashlight for walking around the bed and not stubbing my toes
- Morning alarm on my wrist
- Light weight (relatively speaking)
- Apple Pay and Wallet
- Simple games, like Rules and Alien Invasion
- Skim through emails and delete the ones I don't need
- Remote camera shutter for the phone
- Sports scores
- Laundry alarm (back when we lived in an apartment building with communal laundry)
- Navigation directions (a little redundant with CarPlay, but excellently valuable at every other time)
- Live weather radar (maybe not a "must have", but it sure is cool)
- Calculator

The true "must haves" were, for me, tight iOS integration, on-the-wrist comfort, good looks, simple operation, and robust third-party support. From the beginning, it was clear that Apple hit all five of these points better than anyone else, so choosing whether to try the watch at all was an easy decision.

EXTRA TIP if you haven't tried this already: Load up every single compatible app you have now onto the Watch, then try them out to see which ones are any good. My favorite example has been the variety of news apps. Of the five I've tried so far, each of them approach the platform differently; and it became obvious which ones knew what a smartwatch is best for, and which ones either didn't care to do anything or tried to make it do too much.
 
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ssledoux said:
What apps/things do you use most on your AW? I don’t really feel like I’m getting my money’s worth from mine.
Click to expand...

You have to remember, the Apple Watch does so many things (Its a digital multi tool), that you don’t have to utilize every feature or function for you to “Not have your moneys worth”. I can tell you that I don’t utilize likely a third of the capabilities my Apple Watch, but there still available features that I can use at any given time if I want to or when I least expect when I want to use certain capabilities.
 
960design said:
Not really what I need. The setting you showed is just a calibration for calories burned.

I need to be able to start stop the timer quickly as I do 440yd, 880yd or 220yd intervals. For example, I'll warm up 3/4 mile as I approach the 440yd start, I need to come to a momentary complete stop, tap 'lap' timer to reset timer to zero while keeping main timer running, then sprint the 440 and tap lap again as I cross for the cool down lap, then back at it again up to 12 more times. This lets me know my exact 440 time without having to do mental math. Mental math becomes pretty hard nearing the 10th interval.

Without the lap timer, it also gets a little difficult to keep lap count in your head ( I currently do it fairly well by using overall mileage ) but as you get more and more exhausted it becomes more and more difficult to focus on counting.

Minor complaint. Just a want really.

Does that make sense? I never use the High Intensity Interval Traning; I believe that is more for CrossFit workouts.
Click to expand...

Gotcha.

960design said:
What? That is AMAZING!! Thank you! That's why I hang around here. That is exactly what I needed.
Click to expand...

Glad BarrackSI were able to help.
 
To tell the time, alarm, and track my steps. I still have a gen 1 and am not going to upgrade once it dies. Haven't gotten my moneys worth. I like it but my needs are pretty basic.
 
BarracksSi said:
Ha, cool! When you first said something about intervals, I thought that you wanted a timer that'll alert you when you need to start/stop your exercise (like Tabatas, for example), which is what I've wanted. Then I read your post again and thought, "Wait a minute... I think this'll work..."

For the OP's question about "must-haves", here's what I miss when I wear one of my regular watches:
- Temperature/weather
- Texts/calls when I leave my phone at the far end of the apartment
- Logging workouts
- Flashlight for walking around the bed and not stubbing my toes
- Morning alarm on my wrist
- Light weight (relatively speaking)
- Apple Pay and Wallet
- Simple games, like Rules and Alien Invasion
- Skim through emails and delete the ones I don't need
- Remote camera shutter for the phone
- Sports scores
- Laundry alarm (back when we lived in an apartment building with communal laundry)
- Navigation directions (a little redundant with CarPlay, but excellently valuable at every other time)
- Live weather radar (maybe not a "must have", but it sure is cool)
- Calculator

The true "must haves" were, for me, tight iOS integration, on-the-wrist comfort, good looks, simple operation, and robust third-party support. From the beginning, it was clear that Apple hit all five of these points better than anyone else, so choosing whether to try the watch at all was an easy decision.

EXTRA TIP if you haven't tried this already: Load up every single compatible app you have now onto the Watch, then try them out to see which ones are any good. My favorite example has been the variety of news apps. Of the five I've tried so far, each of them approach the platform differently; and it became obvious which ones knew what a smartwatch is best for, and which ones either didn't care to do anything or tried to make it do too much.
Click to expand...
Was going to post a list of my "must haves", but this is basically it right here. The *only* thing missing from the watch (that I can think of) is a watch face store. This is a "must have" for a smart watch IMO as there are only a couple of faces I routinely like and use currently. Please Apple, let us download more faces!
 
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Activity monitor (I started walking consistently after getting my watch) and the weather.
 
Sleep tracking. Activity. TripView. Phone call. Message. Listen to music.
These are my bare minimum of using the watch. Anything else is a bonus.
 
With today's smartphones you're carrying a computer/communication device in your pocket. With my S3 LTE I can now leave the phone at home and carry a computer/communication device on my wrist. All for the cost of a cup of coffee give or take a week. If that's not worth it, I don't know what is.
 
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I wish they would abandon the HR sensor they are using and go to the type that FitBit or Garmin uses. They work better for me and use less power so they are collecting HR data all the time.
 
wish list: death lasers, ability to move back or forward in time, global teleporter, atomic scale power generation, cloaking shield, and unbreakable/scratchable glass. I'm hoping for these things in a Series 5 or 6.
 
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Fitness tracking
Siri for iMessages
Weather
Timers
Alarm Clock
Schedule
Email notifications (from Work and/or VIP contacts)
 
DevinNj said:
With today's smartphones you're carrying a computer/communication device in your pocket. With my S3 LTE I can now leave the phone at home and carry a computer/commutation device on my wrist. All for the cost of a cup of coffee give or take a week. If that's not worth it, I don't know what is.
Click to expand...

I don’t have a wishlist. The Apple Watch does so many things already, I really couldn’t ask for more. Whatever Apple introduces or improves from here on out, will only make the Watch experience better. The Watch is a digital multi tool encompassing fitness capabilities. It can only get better and its continually dominating the competition.
 
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