What upgrades would you like to see for S6?

[Stuey3D]

Those going on about having a camera in it are forgetting one key issue, if they fit a camera to the watch then it will get banned in places like swimming pools and you will loose a really good tool for tracking swimming workouts.

And the ban wouldn’t just apply to the new Apple Watch because let’s face it the staff won’t know which is which, so you’ll end up with a blanket ban of ALL Apple watches including the ones we use now.

Plus to be honest why would you want a camera on the watch anyway? Picture quality would be terrible, it would be hard to take pictures on it. The only reason I can see for a camera on it is if you are some kind of pervert and like to take pictures of strangers at swimming pools hence why they would get immediately banned from said establishments.

And before anyone comments that there are existing watches with cameras we all know the Apple Watch is the dominant smart watch platform at the moment, I see loads in the wild. By comparison I don’t think I’ve seen any of the Google Wear devices in the wild, and I’ve certainly not seen one with a camera yet hence why smart watches aren’t banned from pools at the moment. If Apple add a camera due to the popularity of the Apple Watch a ban would be immediate.
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What is like to see on the next Apple Watch is:

Ruggedised variant of it: Apple Watch Tough or something to that effect, for people like me who work outdoors and put their watches through a lot of abuse. Imagine a G-Shock style Apple Watch big chunky looks like it could survive the impending World War 3

Better battery life rated for at least 3 days then you can go away on a weekend without remembering another charging cable.

Sleep tracking which would possibly come with the better battery life.

Pulse Ox sensor, not that I need it but other watches are now fitting them so would be a decent tool to have for a health focussed watch.

 

[Oohara]

Roaming for the LTE versions. I live in Europe and travel a lot, and it sucks to only have the LTE functionality in my home country. My phone provider offers a sweet deal where you can add an AW to your monthly plan but it's LTE version only so I'd be paying extra for something I can't use 75% of my time.

Samsung's watches have had roaming from the start. I'm certain it'd be a breeze for Apple to enable it for their watches if they only wanted to.

 

[andiwm2003]

......................................................... The only reason I can see for a camera on it is if you are some kind of pervert and like to take pictures of strangers at swimming pools ............................................

I think your point about Apple watches with cameras getting banned from swimming pools is valid.

However saying everyone who wants a camera in a watch is a pervert in a swimming pools is stupid. Most people don't even go to public swimming pools and I'm sure if you put some effort into it you can come up with some reasons why people might want to carry a camera in their watch and use it outside of swimming pools.

 

[anthony13]

I actually wish there was a more ‘utility’ based watch as opposed to all these health censors. As simple as it is, I’d buy a new Apple Watch on day one if it had a flash light (one that pointed out parallel to your arm off the side of the watch). The compass is great, i‘m just wishing for more of that sort of watch features. I think the only thing the health features have done for me, (and I’m not knocking them for everyone, i understand their importance for some people) is give me anxiety.

 

[Stuey3D]

I think your point about Apple watches with cameras getting banned from swimming pools is valid.

However saying everyone who wants a camera in a watch is a pervert in a swimming pools is stupid. Most people don't even go to public swimming pools and I'm sure if you put some effort into it you can come up with some reasons why people might want to carry a camera in their watch and use it outside of swimming pools.

A camera in the Apple Watch is a terrible idea and I cant see any practical use for it.

If you put the camera in the screen area for selfies you'll have the worlds most useless selfie cam as if you have it on your wrist you wont get enough arm extension to capture anything other than your face taking up the whole frame and probably wouldn't even get your whole face in, an ultra wide might solve the framing but then you'll end up with a distorted selfie. You could take the watch off your wrist at which point it will lock requiring a pin code and then would you feel comfortable holding something so tiny at full arm extension for a selfie trying to tap a capture button on a tiny screen?

If you put the camera in the top edge above where the strap connects you'll then have to hold the thing parallel to the ground and look down at the tiny screen, which is probably a terrible way to compose photos and sounds proper uncomfortable.

They could put the camera in the buckle of a strap, however that will then put a lump in the strap which if you rest your arms on a desk you'll have pushing into the soft fleshy parts of your wrist which I imagine would be extremely uncomfortable.

Either way the Apple Watch needs an iPhone to function and as you have an iPhone you already have a far superior more functional, easier to use camera already.

The only reason I can see for having a camera in a watch is to take photos in places you shouldn't be either for perverted reasons as I tongue in cheek mentioned above, or you are going into a secret area and you want to take photos of secret documents like James Bond or something.

 

[nickdalzell1]

A huge screen first, now a camera? Why not just buy a used Galaxy Gear? Had all those things. This isn't 2012. Those gimmicks were failures. The market has spoken on that one. Before you know it, people here might ask for an IR blaster and they'd complete the set for Samsung in 2012

 

[johannnn]

Smaller bezels for sure. Looks decent when you have a black watch face, but looks terrible when you have the photo face (since most photos don’t have a black background).

 

[cics]

A camera in the Apple Watch is a terrible idea and I cant see any practical use for it.

The only reason I can see for having a camera in a watch is to take photos in places you shouldn't be either for perverted reasons as I tongue in cheek mentioned above, or you are going into a secret area and you want to take photos of secret documents like James Bond or something.

Well, just because you can't see a practical reason doesn't mean there aren't any.

 

[Stuey3D]

Well, just because you can't see a practical reason doesn't mean there aren't any.

I like how you cut out the parts of my post where I explain why an Apple Watch camera would be a terrible idea.

Can you come up with some uses for a camera which would be extremely limited and uncomfortable to actually line up shots with?

 

[cics]

I like how you cut out the parts of my post where I explain why an Apple Watch camera would be a terrible idea.

Can you come up with some uses for a camera which would be extremely limited and uncomfortable to actually line up shots with?

Your use cases were only revolving around swimming pools (not everyone goes to the pool) or secret areas

There are countless of scenarios where having a camera for quick shots could be useful, of course these scenarios are not "standardised" but very situational.

3 examples that come to my mind:
- During grocery shopping, I buy products for my partner and when I don't know what to buy I snap pictures to the products themselves and send them to her.
- When I try on clothing before buying, I snap and share pictures to collect opinions from partner/friends etc
- When walking out my dog I take pictures for various reasons (e.g. one day after a storm I was walking by another property of mine which had the fence completely torn off by a fallen tree, another time I noticed abandoned garbage close to a corn field and wanted to share the picture to our FB neighborhood group...and so on)

 

[Stuey3D]

Your use cases were only revolving around swimming pools (not everyone goes to the pool) or secret areas

There are countless of scenarios where having a camera for quick shots could be useful, of course these scenarios are not "standardised" but very situational.

3 examples that come to my mind:
- During grocery shopping, I buy products for my partner and when I don't know what to buy I snap pictures to the products themselves and send them to her.
- When I try on clothing before buying, I snap and share pictures to collect opinions from partner/friends etc
- When walking out my dog I take pictures for various reasons (e.g. one day after a storm I was walking by another property of mine which had the fence completely torn off by a fallen tree, another time I noticed abandoned garbage close to a corn field and wanted to share the picture to our FB neighborhood group...and so on)

But why wouldn’t you use your phone for those? It has a far superior camera and is easier to compose shots on.

There is no place on a watch you can physically place a camera which would make taking those shots comfortable. Also using a 1” screen as a viewfinder unless it’s up against your eyeball isn’t going to be any good.

 

[cics]

But why wouldn’t you use your phone for those? It has a far superior camera and is easier to compose shots on.

There is no place on a watch you can physically place a camera which would make taking those shots comfortable. Also using a 1” screen as a viewfinder unless it’s up against your eyeball isn’t going to be any good.

In fact I am "forced" to bring my iPhone everywhere (I would do that anyway since it's my main personal device), but I understand a lot of people want to use the Apple Watch standlone outside, and I can see situations where having a camera could be convenient.

No way Apple would add a camera to the AW itself, in my opinion, but I can see integrating that on strap maybe.

 

[andiwm2003]

But why wouldn’t you use your phone for those? It has a far superior camera and is easier to compose shots on.

There is no place on a watch you can physically place a camera which would make taking those shots comfortable. Also using a 1” screen as a viewfinder unless it’s up against your eyeball isn’t going to be any good.

You points about placing the camera on the watch are of course valid. It would be awkward to use. However some (or many?) of us want to replace the phone with the watch on many (not all) occasions: shopping, sports (running, hiking, biking), work, going out in the evening. The cellular models allows that now.
The only functionality I'm missing is the chance to take the occasional picture. To add to the examples given by other posters it's things like a pic of the opening hours of a shop or the menu of a restaurant, taking pics of the damage to my car by the guy who backed into it at the mall, selfies with friends and so on).
As said I would like to avoid carrying my phone around and that's possible now. I can make and take calls, texts, emails, can use google maps, read news. All of that in a limited fashion but the basic functionality is there. Only the camera functionality is missing completely.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Sleep tracking
High quality third party watch faces
02 sats
Blood pressure
Blood glucose
Better battery life
Another way to unlock doesn’t have to be face ID, an in display FPS would work well.
True always on display with improved battery life.

 

[Stuey3D]

In fact I am "forced" to bring my iPhone everywhere (I would do that anyway since it's my main personal device), but I understand a lot of people want to use the Apple Watch standlone outside, and I can see situations where having a camera could be convenient.

No way Apple would add a camera to the AW itself, in my opinion, but I can see integrating that on strap maybe.

I get that people want to leave their phones behind in fact the wife does that a lot and the cellular Apple Watch has come in handy for her.

What I don’t understand is why people would want to use a heavily compromised camera that is all, I mean when phones first got camera’s they were dreadful in terms of quality but you could still hold them and use them like a regular point and shoot and the technology has improved significantly hence why they have replaced point and shoots for most people.

But the compromised usage of a camera mounted to a watch and the awkward ways to actually take the photo would make the thing almost useless.

I guess they could put it in the strap which would improve usability of the camera but if you put it in the buckle depending on size of wrist the camera still might not be in a comfortable place to take photos.

Also what would worry me would be if they did somehow manage to get a camera in either the watch itself or the strap would be the blanket ban of all smart watches in places like swimming pools and stuff which would annoy a lot of people as they like to use their watches for fitness tracking, the swimming tracking feature for me has been a great motivator.

For people like you who want to leave their phones at home what Apple should make is a little key ring style camera that can link to the Apple Watch and then you can still hold it like a normal camera and press a button to take the pic, but the watch becomes the storage and iCloud link.
I assume most people still take keys around with them so having it on your person wouldn’t be an issue, plus as the camera isn’t on the watch or strap itself the entire watch wouldn’t get banned from sensitive areas, as the camera can be left in a locker with the keys.

The key ring camera will never happen I know, but I really worry about the fallout if Apple puts a camera in the watch as I reckon all the places phones are currently banned would then extend to the watch too.

 

[NoodleMonster]

It would be nice to see improvement in AW battery OR improvements in iPhone battery capacity and the ability to wirelessly charge your AW with your iPhone's battery. This will also allow you to use the same cable for your iPhone and AW.

I dont see the logistics of a camera on a watch with the angle of the screen and the lens to allow you to see on your AW screen a live image of your shots before you snap them.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Re:Cameras in smartwatches. Samsung tried that in 2013 and again in 2014. The market decided it was a fail. Why are we asking for outdated and failed features to be included in the Apple Watch?

Also, there's a reason for that shutter sound effect on your iPhone and it's not skeuomorphism either. It's to alert folks around you that you just snapped a photo. I remember when cameras on flip phones were the 'next big thing'. People got all pervy and got in massive trouble over it so the sound effect was included to make sure no more 'secret agent' photos. Cameras in phones were controversial for a long time. Even today I don't really care if the camera in my phone is worth a hoot since I never use it. I have an actual DSLR camera for real quality photos. I never want to be 'that guy' who snaps pictures with an iPad either

 

[pumazooma]

Also those cameras on the bezel as in the top picture wouldn't be good on an Apple watch for people who wear it on the other wrist 'upside down'. So the only option would be on the face and that's no good because you can't see what you're 'framing' for the shot as the screen would be away from you. Can't see it happening myself. You're far more likely to have your phone with you so you'd use that instead.

 

[Duncan68]

This is software, but I would like a hybrid Now Playing/Workout Watch app that displays most of the workout info along with the name of the track/song I'm listening to, so I don't have to keep switching between Workout and Now Playing.

 

[Monkswhiskers]

STOP IT WITH THE WATCH CAMERA THING IT IS A TERRiBLE IDEA! 😂

 

[sjinsjca]

A FaceTime camera would be a fun thing I'd use frequently.

More EKG functionality would be great (beyond detecting atrial fibrillation).

 

[44267547]

STOP IT WITH THE WATCH CAMERA THING IT IS A TERRiBLE IDEA! 😂

Apple will never add a Camera to the Apple Watch. The reason being, as you can see in the media, they value privacy to the upmost extent, and by simply putting a camera on a smart watch would devalue privacy by adding a camera in a multitude of ways.

Side note:

[If I recall correctly, there was a company that tried to implement a watch band that had a built-in camera into it, but of course it was never successful long term.]

 

[PugMaster]

As a female, you learn pretty quickly that walking up stairs to in a skirt in public requires you to be VERY aware of your surroundings nowadays. There are folks out there that stick their mobile under your skirt while you have no idea, to take pictures and probably share them. That‘s why I hope devices like the Apple Watch will never get cameras. And it’s great that mobiles get bigger, not smaller.

 

[cics]

As a female, you learn pretty quickly that walking up stairs to in a skirt in public requires you to be VERY aware of your surroundings nowadays. There are folks out there that stick their mobile under your skirt while you have no idea, to take pictures and probably share them. That‘s why I hope devices like the Apple Watch will never get cameras. And it’s great that mobiles get bigger, not smaller.

Do you understand that using an Apple Watch for this kind of thing would be more "dangerous" than using a phone? The phone extends itself over the hand, making it easier to get wider shots just by changing the angle of the phone, with an Apple Watch you'd see people extending their arms close to the feet... it's a nonsense

 

[PugMaster]

No. Just imagine crowded public spaces like public transportation etc... It would be easy to stand close to you, and try to aim under your skirt with my wrists. Just because you need to watch out for phones doesn't mean we need even another thing to watch out.