Apple posts Apple Watch 'Guided Tours' for Phone Calls, Siri, Maps and Music [updated with video]

Posted:
in Apple Watch edited April 2015
Apple on Wednesday added four more videos to its Apple Watch Guided Tours webpage covering Phone Calls, Siri interaction, Maps navigation and Music playback.




The latest releases follow three virtual tutorials discussing watch faces, messaging features and Digital Touch posted to Apple's webpage earlier this month. With its Guided Tours webpage, the company is offering early explainer guides while at the same time drumming up interest in Watch before preorders arrive on April 24.

Today's videos concentrate on more advanced device features like placing and receiving voice calls using Watch's built-in speaker and microphone. Users can access phone functions by tapping on the dedicated app, accessing friends via the device's side button or invoking Siri. On-screen user interface controls include handing off calls to iPhone, ending calls, muting Watch's microphone and more.





Apple says Siri may be fastest way to interact with Apple Watch. Activating Siri is as easy as raising Apple Watch and saying, "Hey Siri." It appears Siri is as full-featured as its iPhone counterpart and is able to open apps, set alarms and access information from the Internet.





Apple notes users can access turn-by-turn navigation directly on their wrist using Maps. The app will load when a user taps on detected addresses from Messages or other text, finding Maps in Glances or navigating to the home screen app icon. In Maps, a Force Touch brings up recent search options, including recent queries and button to search via dictation. Results return with location data, contact information, reviews and a selector for walking or driving directions. Navigating on iPhone automatically pushes the same data to Watch, which can provide haptic taps for upcoming turns.





Finally, Apple highlights Music capabilities like streaming over Bluetooth, both from iPhone and to Bluetooth or AirPlay speakers, playing loaded songs and browsing music libraries. The video is one of the first to explore Glances, which in this case involves swiping up to see the Now Playing screen. Here, music playing on an iPhone will automatically appear on Apple Watch.





The video A Force Touch gesture brings up a settings screen where users can select audio sources. Storing music on Apple Watch entails connecting the wearable to its charger, opening the Apple Watch app on iPhone and creating a synced playlist under Music settings.

Apple's Guided Tours webpage shows three tutorials covering Apple Pay, Activity and Workout as coming soon. The videos should be up by next week, as the first Apple Watch orders are expected for fulfillment on April 24.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member
    Unless I'm stupid, this article doesn't give any actual link to the tours. WTF?
  • Reply 2 of 24
    boeyc15boeyc15 Posts: 986member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RichL View Post



    Unless I'm stupid, this article doesn't give any actual link to the tours. WTF?

     

    Be bold, be a rebel, think outside the multiple choice options, be a crazy one --- try clicking on the link 'virtual tours' in the story (I know the wording is a bit out of context).  Are those the droids you are looking for?

  • Reply 3 of 24
    adrayvenadrayven Posts: 460member
    No, it's Apple's Website.. LOL

    If you use Safari, you cannot see them! Open Chrome or Firefox.. they show up..

    wow.. opps.. rofl!
  • Reply 4 of 24
    jpellinojpellino Posts: 697member
    Tried out the watch today at the Apple Store. This is a bigger deal than I thought. It's still too expensive (I'll bite at $250) but the responsiveness, the functions you no longer need to handle your phone for, the expert-in-seconds interface... this is more than my jaded view that any tech company's watch is just another way to tethered to their ecosystem. Every time you don't yank your phone out of your pocket is one less time it can fall to the ground. I'm sold. I'm cheap, but I'm sold. Plus my (free - stop laughing) 4s is under contract til May.
  • Reply 5 of 24
    boeyc15boeyc15 Posts: 986member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Adrayven View Post



    No, it's Apple's Website.. LOL



    If you use Safari, you cannot see them! Open Chrome or Firefox.. they show up..



    wow.. opps.. rofl!

    Apple--- those pranksters!

  • Reply 6 of 24
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member

    Interesting, so you cannot transfer music to the watch unless its on its charger. Maybe it's a battery saving measure considering transferring 2GB of music might take a while? I wonder if that will be a restriction for any other file transfers in and out of the device?

  • Reply 7 of 24
    Hilarious. I just watched the Phone Calls video. The easiest way to call someone is to say "Hey Siri"...so when they said it Siri pops open on my phone and stops the video. Oops.
  • Reply 8 of 24
    "It appears Siri is as full-featured as its iPhone counterpart"...
    I bet if you ask her to search the web for something she can't do it (no safari). Either that or she shows you the results on your iPhone.
  • Reply 9 of 24

    Finally!

     

     

    On edit: LOL! Of course the Siri tour alerted my iPhone 6 Plus with 'Hey Siri.'

  • Reply 10 of 24
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member

    Extremely well conceived, and educational. I've already shared them with a few people I know considering the watch. Really demystifies the OS and makes the watch super accessible. Actually, almost every aspect of the Apple Watch's launch and lead-up has been close to genius. IMO they've handled everything extremely well, and obviously a ton of thought and consideration has gone through the entire process, from the store setup, to the marketing, to the SKUs. 

  • Reply 11 of 24
    mac_128 wrote: »
    Interesting, so you cannot transfer music to the watch unless its on its charger. Maybe it's a battery saving measure considering transferring 2GB of music might take a while? I wonder if that will be a restriction for any other file transfers in and out of the device?

    What kind of files would you want to transfer to a watch? Why?
  • Reply 12 of 24
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post

     

    Interesting, so you cannot transfer music to the watch unless its on its charger. Maybe it's a battery saving measure considering transferring 2GB of music might take a while? I wonder if that will be a restriction for any other file transfers in and out of the device?


     

    I'm thinking your right. You probably could transfer it while on your wrists, but you'll kill the battery.

  • Reply 13 of 24
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post





    What kind of files would you want to transfer to a watch? Why?

     

    Also, the watch does not have a user-exposed file system, you cannot sideload apps, it does not have an SD slot, removable battery or stylus support. It is not "open", and it doesn't come infested with adware. For these reasons, it will obviously fail. 

  • Reply 14 of 24
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 878member
    After watching these videos, I just kinda laugh to myself, over all of the people who thought Apple was too late to the party or saying they weren't even actually working on this. Cause when you see the %uF8FFWatch in action you realize oh, they had to make a completely new OS for this device from scratch (somewhat) but an OS that has WiFi, BT, Internet, Siri, email, etc. On top of that they had to make an SDK for Xcode for developing apps.

    I mean for crying out loud, an entirely new OS for this. Not just a simple Monochrome LCD with some functions hardwired on to a circuit board, if you know what I getting at.

    This thing is sick! And yeah they came out a little late, but a whole OS takes a little bit of time like say 2-3 years minimum? sheesh.... Don't get me wrong because they have resources but we are talking about Apple can now almost make independent devices in the future and just crank out OSes for them, like Windows used to do for simple machines. And then they all can just interface with iPhone? wow, it's possible. I mean this watch could be any type of device.

    Not only all of this they had to get the style worked out. This is really cool.
  • Reply 15 of 24
    diegogdiegog Posts: 135member
    The video made my phone call my mom....
  • Reply 16 of 24
    mr omr o Posts: 1,046member

    Siri and the Digital Crown are the main user interface for the ? watch.

     

    The videos confirm this:

     

    1. From the phone call video: "You can press the contact button, BUT an easier way is to ... "

    2. From the music video: "You can use the homescreen, BUT an easier way is to ... "

     

    It is as Apple already know themselves what offers the best user experience. The dedicated contact button and (bubbly) homescreen are cluttering the user experience. They shouldn't be on the watch.

  • Reply 17 of 24
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    mr o wrote: »
    Siri and the Digital Crown are the main user interface for the ? watch... The dedicated contact button and (bubbly) homescreen are cluttering the user experience. They shouldn't be on the watch.
    That all depends on how you plan on using the watch. Frankly, until I start using Siri on the watch, I'm a bit skeptical in relying on it as a primary input method, especially since it will require me to talk to my watch in all sorts of socially unacceptable settings. Perhaps I'm alone in this, but if I get to the point where I have to start talking to my watch, I'm probably pulling out the iPhone instead. And unless Apple has been holding back advances with Siri, specifically to wow us with the watch, I don't have high hopes I would want to interface with Siri any more than I do now.

    That said, I'm with you on the button. The digital crown seems like a completely elegant solution that should have been able to handle most everything, along with the touch screen. And the "contacts" button is twice as big as the digital crown but only does one thing. And again, I'm not sure how useful that one thing is, considering that to use your contacts it's probably gonna require Siri unless it's to send a heartbeat or a custom drawn smiley face. And I don't care how cool that is, it's not why anybody is buying this thing. So why devote and entire button to it? My guess is, it's a "panic button", for Apple. It gives them a way to solve a future problem, or add additional features down the road.possibly used for harwdware resets. But why does it have to be so large?

    As for the bubbly home screen, well, you kind of have to have a home screen, the only other alternative is a scrolling list of apps. And frankly, I'd prefer to have some other way to interface with the watch than Siri.
  • Reply 18 of 24
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    foggyhill wrote: »
    I'm thinking your right. You probably could transfer it while on your wrists, but you'll kill the battery.
    Yup. It probably works just like a wireless iTunes synch. I wonder if Photos can be transferred on the fly, or if you have to dock the watch to do that too? Since the photo limit is so small, they probably aren't anticipating as great a battery drain. It would be unfortunate if you couldn't take a photo on your iPhone, and load it onto your watch without your charger.

    And that's to say nothing of what third party apps may allow. Apple doesn't allow video as far as I know, but will that restriction apply to a third party app? And what about PDF documents? I have to wonder also about e-mail ... Is anything stored locally on the watch, or is it just a remote display for what's on the phone? I'm imagining some situations where you might head out for a jog, without your phone, and while out think of something, or want to respond to an email -- will it be on the watch to draft a response to be sent when you return to your phone? Will attachments be included if any email is stored on the watch? I suppose worst case you could dictate your thoughts to a note and then access that on your phone when everything synchs again.
  • Reply 19 of 24
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    The more I see the more I am convince I made the right decision to buy. Here I was thinking I need to take my phone to the gym, but i can load a play list and pair it to my bluetooth headset and I am set to go, no longer need the watch while I am on the equipment. Can not tell you how many time I left my phone on the treadmill or it fell out of my pocket while on weight equipment.
  • Reply 20 of 24
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    rezwits wrote: »
    After watching these videos, I just kinda laugh to myself, over all of the people who thought Apple was too late to the party or saying they weren't even actually working on this. Cause when you see the %uF8FFWatch in action you realize oh, they had to make a completely new OS for this device from scratch (somewhat) but an OS that has WiFi, BT, Internet, Siri, email, etc. On top of that they had to make an SDK for Xcode for developing apps.

    I mean for crying out loud, an entirely new OS for this. Not just a simple Monochrome LCD with some functions hardwired on to a circuit board, if you know what I getting at.

    This thing is sick! And yeah they came out a little late, but a whole OS takes a little bit of time like say 2-3 years minimum? sheesh.... Don't get me wrong because they have resources but we are talking about Apple can now almost make independent devices in the future and just crank out OSes for them, like Windows used to do for simple machines. And then they all can just interface with iPhone? wow, it's possible. I mean this watch could be any type of device.

    Not only all of this they had to get the style worked out. This is really cool.

    To your point, most time it takes see how others do something completely wrong before you figure out how it should be done. Apple has a great track record of looking around and seeing all the poor conceive ideas or products and realizing how it should be done. Trust me I was one who first did not get the whole watch things and could not see how people would want a watch like this. However, I am also smart enough to realize I am not the norm and just because I can not see the immediate value does not mean others would see it an buy it. I chose this time not wait and put my full faith in Apple and buy with just the Apple Hype machine in full swing and bet on they got it right.
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