Getting Snoopy on Apple Watch was more challenging than you'd think

Posted:
in Apple Watch edited September 2023

The new Snoopy face was reason enough for people to join the Apple Watch beta test, but now everyone can get it -- and see the results of unbelievable attention to detail.

Snoopy rests on the minute hand of his Apple Watch face
Snoopy rests on the minute hand of his Apple Watch face



Apple Watch launched in 2015 with faces including a Mickey Mouse one, but that was simple compared to the effort that has gone into the new Snoopy and Woodstock face for watchOS 10.

In them, Snoopy may hang off the hour hand, or throw something that bounces along the minute hand before hitting him back on the head. And when users turn their wrists and the Watch face dims, Snoopy goes to sleep atop his famous red kennel.

Speaking to Britain's GQ magazine, the team behind the Watch face reveal an astonishing degree of detail and effort behind the delightful series of faces.

"When you design an analogue watch with Snoopy, he's a static character right?" Paige Braddock, chief creative officer at Charles M Schulz Creative Associates, told the publication. "So all you're really focusing on is the hands and the arms."

"You wouldn't believe the minutiae we go into to make them work at every angle," continued Braddock, "but going into this first meeting with Apple I was going 'I don't even know if I'm smart enough to wear this watch.'"

It began with a meeting with the Apple Watch team at the Charles M Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California. Ultimately became 12 minutes of animation work, with 148 distinct animations.

"I'm typically a very organised person," Gary Butcher, human interface designer at Apple, said. "So I felt, We've got a limited amount of time together and there might be some uneasiness, so I'll print out 148 pieces of blank paper and we need to leave the room having filled out every one of those pages.'"

"By the end of the day," continued Butcher, "we'd not touched the wall of A3 paper, but had tons of sketches littering the table."

"In the initial brainstorm, the team had started with sort of generic sketches where he's walking in the rain with an umbrella or whatever," continues Braddock. "But there are some very specific Snoopy things that that no other comic character does, like he holds up his ear and blocks the rain for Woodstock."

And then there was Snoopy himself. Over the 70 years since his creation, Snoopy has gone through radical changes both in character and appearance. The version of Snoopy on the Watch is instantly recognizable, but is actually a compromise, showing a shorter nose than he had in the 1970s, and a straighter one than in the 1990s.

Even then, it wasn't just a case of drawing the animations and having the Watch show them randomly. There were considerations over such issues as how often the set repeats. Also, some are more suited to certain times of day than others.

Consequently, and possibly unbelievably, this Apple Watch face comes with a Snoopy decision engine. It choose the best face for the current time, and avoids repetition without making it so that you have to sit there for hours trying to see a particular one.

The Snoopy face is available in watchOS 10, which has now been officially released by Apple.

Read on AppleInsider

jahbladespheric

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    "Snoopy decision engine" is proof of the infinite possibilities of language.
    gregoriusmmacguiAlex1Nbageljoeyhcrefugeewatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 2 of 7
    It is utterly delightful...

    I think there are so many other little things in this slew of OS updates that are a bit fun, a bit animated, a bit surprising, where designers have added a little extra over and above functionality. I'm thinking it's reflecting a happy software team in the broadest sense at Apple. 
    kdupuis77gregoriusmsphericwilliamlondonAlex1NAnilu_777appleinsideruserwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 3 of 7
    grouse675 said:
    It is utterly delightful...

    I think there are so many other little things in this slew of OS updates that are a bit fun, a bit animated, a bit surprising, where designers have added a little extra over and above functionality. I'm thinking it's reflecting a happy software team in the broadest sense at Apple. 
    Absolutely agree so far an excellent round of updates! Shared AirTags, No more "Hey" in Siri, New Ring tones (many more business-friendly finally) and positively loving the re-working of the WatchOS interface... The new button/crown assignments actually feel far more natural and are getting me where I want to be much faster - Along with the re-vamped app-layout which is now a sweet spot between the giant list and the swamp mess of app icons it used to be! Really, really, really looking forward to the Sonoma update next week also!

    Oh, and SNOOPY too... what a cool watch face! (Just scroll through the color choices in the watch face lol, what a trip down 'member-berry lane haha)

    Anyone know if a 17.0 firmware release is in the cards for the Studio Display and if that will do anything new and interesting for us too?
    edited September 2023 gregoriusmAlex1NAnilu_777watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 7
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,469member
    I have to retrain myself to be careful of saying 'Siri' now that they 'Hey' is optional. I've always disliked saying it but no I have to be aware of unintentional activation. A couple times a week Siri starts recording what I'm saying, or answers some question not asked. Siri has heard me or the TV say something that was heard as 'Hey Siri'.

    I never liked saying 'Hey' so now that's it's optional there will be more instances of Siri saying 'I don't understand...'

    Time to try the Snoopy watch face.

    Alex1NAnilu_777kdupuis77hcrefugeewatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 7
    occam1 said:
    "Snoopy decision engine" is proof of the infinite possibilities of language.
    As is "so I'll print out 148 pieces of blank paper" - so much for Apple's environmental sensibilities! Just take the paper out of the tray, then you don't waste energy.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 7
    macgui said:
    I have to retrain myself to be careful of saying 'Siri' now that they 'Hey' is optional. I've always disliked saying it but no I have to be aware of unintentional activation. A couple times a week Siri starts recording what I'm saying, or answers some question not asked. Siri has heard me or the TV say something that was heard as 'Hey Siri'.

    I never liked saying 'Hey' so now that's it's optional there will be more instances of Siri saying 'I don't understand...'

    Time to try the Snoopy watch face.

    Messing around with it yesterday, it seemed like when I passively mentioned "Siri" in a statement, it would sometimes activate and listen, but would realize Im not asking it a question directly and would turn off (on my iPhone at least). By and large, Siri on the iPhone is working great right now without the "Hey" and also with accepting more complex and/or multiple instructions without having to repeat the activation phrase. All the HomePod Minis in my house... are working a little better with Siri, which isn't saying much because honestly those kind of suck and iOS 17 has marginally improved that experience. However, now I have HomePods forgetting what room they're in and requests such as "turn on the lights", which used to be smart in that the HomePod would turn the lights on in the room it knows it is sitting in (because I designated it) are not working so smoothly anymore for me. Oh well, I think we need a "Snow Leopard/High Sierra" style release to get HomeKit up to Amazon/Google standards.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 7
    I absolutely LOVE that Apple collaborated with Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates to put Snoopy and Woodstock on the Apple Watch. The animations are great and if I'm exercising I can see Snoopy and Woodstock jumping rope on my Apple Watch. LOL it is perfect :) Thanks Apple for finally making a watch face that brightens my day. 👍🙂
    watto_cobra
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