12 facts about Apple Watch

Every time I meet someone who notices the Apple Watch on my wrist, I hear the question: “So how are they?”. This article answers the question. I tried not to fit into the usual format of the review, and focus on the 12 things you need to know about Apple Watch before you buy.

TL; DR:
Do not buy while Apple Watch, unless you are a developer or designer, leading them to develop.
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I set out to integrate Apple Watch into my daily life in order to assess their potential. Surprisingly, I found that it was somewhat difficult, because I had to remind myself of the need to use them.

1. This is not a decoration

The beauty and uniqueness of ordinary watches - in the dial. Therefore, we like watches, we wear them, and there are so many variations of them.

Every detail of the dial is important, from the form and materials to typography and visual design. In addition to practical application, when choosing watches, we are guided by the need to express our personality - this is similar to the choice of clothes.

For us it is important that other people distinguish them on our hand. As stated in the series "Mad Men": "This is not just a watch, it is a reason to start a conversation." A beautiful and unique watch, and usually with its dial, for many more years will serve as a pretext for starting conversations.

But the Apple Watch display is just a black screen that looks the same for everyone. It shows the dial only if you hold the wrist to the face - otherwise you, no one else will see it.

Unless Apple comes up with how to show the dial all the time (without putting the battery on), your watch will always look exactly the same as the others. If you like watches, it will be difficult for you to replace them with Apple Watch. Apple, of course, tried to solve this problem by offering options for colors and straps, but at first glance they all look the same.

2. They do not replace any of your devices.

Apple Watch is not intended to replace your iPhone or other device. This is like a second screen for iPhone. It is difficult to interact with them, because you have to work with both hands, and for a long time to keep your hand turned and bent unnaturally.

You will never use Apple Watch for longer than 15-30 seconds at a time. And in principle, and conceived. This is just a matter of expectations. The hype around them was great, but do not confuse them with an iPhone.

3. They are terribly slow

So far, Apple Watch is working so slowly that it kills all the joy of using them. Native applications should appear soon, and with them promise to achieve better performance. But while launching applications on the clock takes longer than just getting an iPhone and doing something on it. Perhaps in the future the situation will change.

4. The home / app screen is not used.

Having tested the clock for a couple of weeks, I noticed that I never or very rarely use the application screen. Mainly because it is not needed. In the future, with the release of new applications, this may change, but in general the main potential of the watch, in my opinion, is contained in those applications that Apple calls “Glances”. This is about how widgets are in Mac OS, or live tiles in Windows.

From the experience of using watches, I realized that the format of "launching applications" is not suitable for them. I look forward to the emergence of new "views" in the future.

5. Careful with notifications

After setting the clock, your iPhone starts to broadcast all the notifications to them. In the first couple of hours, this is fun, but then it starts to annoy you and you turn everything off. But I like several types of notifications:

• Invites from the calendar - simply accept or reject them
• meeting notifications
• reading incoming messages - it takes 50% less time than on the phone. Raised his hand, looked at the message - and all

6. Taptic Engine is cool

I belong to those people who have no iPhone makes sounds. I like the world without ringtones, and the sound of the phone's vibration bothers me. Sometimes it seems to me that I hear it, even when the phone doesn’t really vibrate (I know many people with the same problem).

Taptic Engine can change this forever. It is a barely perceptible sensation on the wrist, as if someone was tapping the hand with a finger. And only you can feel it. No ringtones, vibrating tables - when everyone feverishly rushes to check the phone.

7. “Digital Crown” is a toy

Although he was widely advertised, I can not understand to whom it may be useful. I almost do not use it for scrolling - it's more convenient to do it with my finger. It would be convenient to read long texts, but nobody does it anyway.

Rather, it feels like a tribute to nostalgia and an attempt to imitate real watches. At least, does not interfere.

8. Out of sight - out of mind

The battery has enough hours for one day, if you use them inactive. Consumption coincides with the iPhone, which eats the battery even better, because of the included bluetooth. Therefore, by the end of the day, both devices have to be charged.

The problem is that sometimes you forget to charge the watch, which is why they naturally become useless for the whole next day. And one skip wearing a watch starts a cycle in which you forget to charge them the next day. As a result, you take your old watch as a safety net, and, in the end, Apple Watch is not used for a week.

And although this is a question of habit, in fact this is because the Apple Watch is simply NOT NEED. You tenderly charge your iPhone, because you cannot live without it, and without it you feel that something is missing.

If you forget to charge or use your Apple Watch - nothing happens, everything remains the same. This is how I stopped using the Jawbone bracelet - I forgot to charge it in one week, and I don’t have it. Out of sight, out of mind.

9. Magic

There is magic in the use of watches. For example, the application Uber. With one touch you order a car, and it drives up in a few minutes. Sitting in the car, you can see on the watch important contextual information on the route, including the time of arrival. It is amazing and beautifully demonstrates the useful use of the Apple Watch.



This, of course, is due to the essence of the Uber service and the way it fits well with the Apple Watch - but I hope to see more of these magic services and applications for the Apple Watch. (Including Apple Pay or FlightTracker). This is an example of how well Apple Watch is suitable for tasks that do not require interaction with the device for more than 10 seconds.

10. Health applications are underdeveloped.

Applications for health and fitness are advertised very widely, and I had high hopes for them. Now Apple Watch provides daily statistics on calories, amount of time spent standing, etc. But the potential of health-related functions seems endless - and so far this is not particularly realized in the clock.

They are more like a toy than a serious device for tracking health and fitness. And here I also hope that this situation will improve.

11. Gestures nose

I mentioned that the watch requires two hands - and the iPhone can use one. A few weeks later I began to have situations in which both hands were occupied. And I started to use my nose quite often for navigation or for pulling notifications on the watch. Sometimes even just because I was too lazy to raise my right hand (which could be, for example, a cup of coffee). It was interesting to watch such an unusual way of use.

12. Social acceptability

The new experience of using Apple Watch was that if during a conversation with a person I received a notification, it was very difficult to resist the temptation to immediately look at the watch. Interestingly, from a social point of view, for some reason, it is more acceptable to check your phone than to look at your watch imperceptibly.

It is also worth noting that during the vibration of the iPhone, everyone notices this and understands that something needs your attention. And Apple Watch do it unnoticed, and therefore there is some kind of social tension.

Total

Now I can summarize my experience using the Apple Watch in one sentence: if someone took the Apple Watch from me, I would not miss them.

I still think that there is a future for smart watches. In general, Apple Watch is an amazing device that you can buy, but which you don’t need as much as an iPhone or laptop.

It seems to me that due to some specific expectations and reading other reviews, we did not fully realize the correct positioning of the Apple Watch. They are not designed to replace current devices, or distract you from your daily schedule. Functionality and performance will improve over time, but they will still remain passive and complementary.

What I'm not sure about yet is a matter of fashion and style. For those who like their watches, it will be difficult to adapt to the Apple Watch. But it will still be decided by the next generation - traditional watches may leave the stage in the next 20 years, since the younger generation simply does not have an attachment to traditional watches.