Add swimming to the workout app and I'll be a happy camper.
Unfortunately I don't think adding Swimming to the Workout app will happen because of the potential can of worms it can open up, unless they can make it considerably more water resistance to protect against jackassea who like to file lawsuits.
Has anyone seen a single report of water damage to an Apple Watch? I've had mine on while swimming and bathing and have only heard stories about how long and deep it can stay under water. I think most users would take the chance if someone published some user statistics outside of Apple.
I noticed in the shower yesterday that a weather red icon popped up. It was not a severe weather alert or anything like that but seemed to be caused by the water. I'm not knocking the watch I just like to play it safe and at $600 would rather take it off rather than shower with it for 10 minutes.
I really love my apple watch. First and foremost it's a great watch. But a word of advice. Keep it out of the water. Especially sea water. You're doing damage you can't see or notice yet but know that damage is being done. Apple is very consistent on the water resistance rating and you're doing all the things they recommend not to. Apple watch has the same rating of some GPS devices like Tom tom and Garmin. You would t take those for a swim or in the shower so don't do it with your apple watch. Unfortunately you're asking for trouble at some point probably soon.
I refer people questioning the capabilities of the Apple Watch to this blog post. I felt comfortable exposing my watch after reading it and embedded links.
I refer people questioning the capabilities of the Apple Watch to this blog post. I felt comfortable exposing my watch after reading it and embedded links.
'you can connect to heart rate wearables' - sort of sums up my problem with the Watch, right there. Why would you want to wear the Watch AND a HR wearable (eg a strap)? That's rhetorical, of course. You need to wear a strap because the Watch can do some HR stuff, but not very accurately and certainly not to do HR training.
And it's a good part of the reason I won't be buying an Apple Watch anytime soon.
My desire to buy one is quite high. As a very definite non-athlete but someone who wants to keep fit, that's my main area of 'need'. The Apple Watch doesn't address it in several ways:
I want to track my general HR 24/7. Watch fail as it only does it when I'm awake - the rest of the time it's charging. My Garmin Vivofit has been on my wrist since last November.
I want to do HR training based on my running. Watch fail as it won't (from what I've read) track my HR at anywhere near the level I need compared with my Polar device.
I want to track my gym activity (treadmill, weights, etc). Watch fail as the app doesn't let me track individual exercises; the guy in the Apple shop could only offer the category 'other' in the fitness app on the Watch. There are various apps on the iPhone I could use but actually none of them are comprehensive enough. They are nearly all geared around a single activity (eg running, cycling) or just not very good. I liked Fleetly but it lacked a sustainable business model and has effectively died.
The Watch has to REPLACE all those and it is, at present, very far from that goal. All the other things it CAN do are, to me, bells and whistles. Nice to have, but worth splashing out the money on? No way.
And as for replacing my wind-up, again, no way. My mechanical watch cost quite a bit, yes, but the Watch isn't going to last 25 years (being very conservative). I'd be lucky if its shelf life is that many months.
So for me, buying an Apple Watch is very easy to postpone. Only time will tell if there are enough people like me around to see if it improves its offer enough to pull me in. Apple Watch 3? 4? Sadly, I'm thinking it might be a long wait...
Someone on MacRumors said they're now getting 40 hours battery life with the latest watch beta. And this was a 38mm watch. That's amazing, hopefully it's not an outlier.
'you can connect to heart rate wearables' - sort of sums up my problem with the Watch, right there. Why would you want to wear the Watch AND a HR wearable (eg a strap)? That's rhetorical, of course. You need to wear a strap because the Watch can do some HR stuff, but not very accurately and certainly not to do HR training.
And it's a good part of the reason I won't be buying an Apple Watch anytime soon.
...
Most of this is complete nonsense. I wore my Watch in the doctor's office when his nurse took my pulse and blood pressure. My Watch and the nurse got the exact same result. It is true that the Watch needs to be recharged often. However, often is a relative term. I recharge my Watch while I sleep at night. However, it still has 50%± of its charge remaining when I place it on the charger. I estimate that it will take 40 hours or so deplete the battery. This means that it can easily track my heart rate well into the next day. This means that it can easily monitor my heart rate during sleep.
Charging will sleeping is a convenience, not a requirement. I do not wear my Watch in the shower. Because it recharges so rapidly, I could easily alter my showering and grooming schedule to include recharging the Watch.
I noticed in the shower yesterday that a weather red icon popped up. It was not a severe weather alert or anything like that but seemed to be caused by the water. I'm not knocking the watch I just like to play it safe and at $600 would rather take it off rather than shower with it for 10 minutes.
Even Apple says a shower is fine. The icon you saw is probably the red alert notifying you that you have temporarily disconnected from your iPhone. There is no such icon for contact with water. If there was, your watch would be dead before it could show you the icon.
I'm curious to see where they go with the hardware. Unsure whether to wait for version 2 or not. With the Australian dollar inexplicably tanking it's likely going to be more expensive.
So, you want them to reveal a roadmap they never have before... Letting the competition know everything! Huh! Not going to happen.
As for the swimmer's watch. I think your in for a very very long wait.
You missed the best possible context for a 'Don't hold your breath' response. That makes me sad.
I received my Watch on April 24, 108 days ago. I missed a few days here and there on the move goal, so am at 99 total days of exceeding my move goal (meaning I've missed it only nine days since getting the watch). But all nine of those days were prior to the middle of June. Since then I've been diligent, as others here have related, about doing whatever I must to hit that goal each day. I got the award for hitting it every day of July, my first month where I hit it every day of the month. And tomorrow, August 10th, I'll be sure to hit it in order to get the 100 days award. So you can see that the awards and the tracking and presentation are motivating. And, also indicated by another commenter here, the integration makes the whole thing work. I don't have to worry about synching, it happens automatically. My workouts are charted, and also listed in the activity tracking calendar when I drill down on a day, with awards earned on that day also available for review. Apple chose the right metrics and created a great user experience.
as if apples going to reveal their deepest secrets in some magazine interview. get real.
as for gps it's obviously a power consumption issue in the watch's small form factor, as everybody would like to have it. but for now it's fine because after calibrating the watch it's been proven to be very accurate.
How do I use that function? I've done the 20 minute calibrations. I'd like to be able to go for a run without my phone now. Distance that's 100% accurate isn't that necessary to me. But to be close would be ok.
That's it then, you are done. Just leave the phone at home and start a run workout on the watch. When you get home the watch will upload the data to the phone. At least that's how I understand it.
That's it then, you are done. Just leave the phone at home and start a run workout on the watch. When you get home the watch will upload the data to the phone. At least that's how I understand it.
The thing I don't like about the rings is the daily active workout being the same every day. I would like to set a goal for the total week and use the total weekly average. Either that or be able to set individual daily goals.
For example, I run Monday, Wed and Fri. I don't want to miss the calorie goal on Tues and Thurs because I don't run those days.
Also, I wish there was some definition of what "Exercise" is. I know it must be linked to heart rate, but I don't like having an understanding of what it take to fill that ring. I have gone for a mile walk before and had it add no time to "Exercise".
Give me GPS and waterproof and then I'll buy it (blood pressure monitor would be great too). Oh, and no, not the FaceTime camera on a watch. please not.
'you can connect to heart rate wearables' - sort of sums up my problem with the Watch, right there. Why would you want to wear the Watch AND a HR wearable (eg a strap)? That's rhetorical, of course. You need to wear a strap because the Watch can do some HR stuff, but not very accurately and certainly not to do HR training.
And it's a good part of the reason I won't be buying an Apple Watch anytime soon.
My desire to buy one is quite high. As a very definite non-athlete but someone who wants to keep fit, that's my main area of 'need'. The Apple Watch doesn't address it in several ways:
I want to track my general HR 24/7. Watch fail as it only does it when I'm awake - the rest of the time it's charging. My Garmin Vivofit has been on my wrist since last November.
I want to do HR training based on my running. Watch fail as it won't (from what I've read) track my HR at anywhere near the level I need compared with my Polar device.
I want to track my gym activity (treadmill, weights, etc). Watch fail as the app doesn't let me track individual exercises; the guy in the Apple shop could only offer the category 'other' in the fitness app on the Watch. There are various apps on the iPhone I could use but actually none of them are comprehensive enough. They are nearly all geared around a single activity (eg running, cycling) or just not very good. I liked Fleetly but it lacked a sustainable business model and has effectively died.
The Watch has to REPLACE all those and it is, at present, very far from that goal. All the other things it CAN do are, to me, bells and whistles. Nice to have, but worth splashing out the money on? No way.
And as for replacing my wind-up, again, no way. My mechanical watch cost quite a bit, yes, but the Watch isn't going to last 25 years (being very conservative). I'd be lucky if its shelf life is that many months.
So for me, buying an Apple Watch is very easy to postpone. Only time will tell if there are enough people like me around to see if it improves its offer enough to pull me in. Apple Watch 3? 4? Sadly, I'm thinking it might be a long wait...
unless you're a professional athlete (you're not), you're getting caught up in speeds & feeds. the HR monitoring during activities is more than adequate for the normal, non-pro consumer. I've tested it against gym readers and they were either the same or near identical. this is used to calculate calorie burn, and that's about it. as a non-athlete I'm not sure why'd you'd need the chest strap, but it's merely an option.
I'm curious to see where they go with the hardware. Unsure whether to wait for version 2 or not. With the Australian dollar inexplicably tanking it's likely going to be more expensive.
as with any piece of equipment, get the thing when you feel you can derive value from the thing. waiting for the next version is a treadmill game that will not end. sure you'll get more future value from a future product, but you'll have lost all the value gain in the interim.
How do I use that function? I've done the 20 minute calibrations. I'd like to be able to go for a run without my phone now. Distance that's 100% accurate isn't that necessary to me. But to be close would be ok.
just doing the calibrations is all you need do, but be sure to do them at every movement rate you'll do without the phone. eg, walk, job, run, etc. I read an article on CNET where they tested the watched pre and post calibration, and once calibrated it was very accurate to the treadmill's distance reading. within minimal fault tolerances.
Comments
Unfortunately I don't think adding Swimming to the Workout app will happen because of the potential can of worms it can open up, unless they can make it considerably more water resistance to protect against jackassea who like to file lawsuits.
Ml
I refer people questioning the capabilities of the Apple Watch to this blog post. I felt comfortable exposing my watch after reading it and embedded links.
http://furbo.org/2015/07/14/a-watch-water-and-workouts/
I think Apple knows it's waterproof, but what they really need is thousands of field tests without liability.
Glad to see the debate here.
'you can connect to heart rate wearables' - sort of sums up my problem with the Watch, right there. Why would you want to wear the Watch AND a HR wearable (eg a strap)? That's rhetorical, of course. You need to wear a strap because the Watch can do some HR stuff, but not very accurately and certainly not to do HR training.
And it's a good part of the reason I won't be buying an Apple Watch anytime soon.
My desire to buy one is quite high. As a very definite non-athlete but someone who wants to keep fit, that's my main area of 'need'. The Apple Watch doesn't address it in several ways:
I want to track my general HR 24/7. Watch fail as it only does it when I'm awake - the rest of the time it's charging. My Garmin Vivofit has been on my wrist since last November.
I want to do HR training based on my running. Watch fail as it won't (from what I've read) track my HR at anywhere near the level I need compared with my Polar device.
I want to track my gym activity (treadmill, weights, etc). Watch fail as the app doesn't let me track individual exercises; the guy in the Apple shop could only offer the category 'other' in the fitness app on the Watch. There are various apps on the iPhone I could use but actually none of them are comprehensive enough. They are nearly all geared around a single activity (eg running, cycling) or just not very good. I liked Fleetly but it lacked a sustainable business model and has effectively died.
The Watch has to REPLACE all those and it is, at present, very far from that goal. All the other things it CAN do are, to me, bells and whistles. Nice to have, but worth splashing out the money on? No way.
And as for replacing my wind-up, again, no way. My mechanical watch cost quite a bit, yes, but the Watch isn't going to last 25 years (being very conservative). I'd be lucky if its shelf life is that many months.
So for me, buying an Apple Watch is very easy to postpone. Only time will tell if there are enough people like me around to see if it improves its offer enough to pull me in. Apple Watch 3? 4? Sadly, I'm thinking it might be a long wait...
Most of this is complete nonsense. I wore my Watch in the doctor's office when his nurse took my pulse and blood pressure. My Watch and the nurse got the exact same result. It is true that the Watch needs to be recharged often. However, often is a relative term. I recharge my Watch while I sleep at night. However, it still has 50%± of its charge remaining when I place it on the charger. I estimate that it will take 40 hours or so deplete the battery. This means that it can easily track my heart rate well into the next day. This means that it can easily monitor my heart rate during sleep.
Charging will sleeping is a convenience, not a requirement. I do not wear my Watch in the shower. Because it recharges so rapidly, I could easily alter my showering and grooming schedule to include recharging the Watch.
Even Apple says a shower is fine. The icon you saw is probably the red alert notifying you that you have temporarily disconnected from your iPhone. There is no such icon for contact with water. If there was, your watch would be dead before it could show you the icon.
I'm curious to see where they go with the hardware. Unsure whether to wait for version 2 or not. With the Australian dollar inexplicably tanking it's likely going to be more expensive.
You missed the best possible context for a 'Don't hold your breath' response. That makes me sad.
How do I use that function? I've done the 20 minute calibrations. I'd like to be able to go for a run without my phone now. Distance that's 100% accurate isn't that necessary to me. But to be close would be ok.
That's it then, you are done. Just leave the phone at home and start a run workout on the watch. When you get home the watch will upload the data to the phone. At least that's how I understand it.
Ok, thank you very much.
The thing I don't like about the rings is the daily active workout being the same every day. I would like to set a goal for the total week and use the total weekly average. Either that or be able to set individual daily goals.
For example, I run Monday, Wed and Fri. I don't want to miss the calorie goal on Tues and Thurs because I don't run those days.
Also, I wish there was some definition of what "Exercise" is. I know it must be linked to heart rate, but I don't like having an understanding of what it take to fill that ring. I have gone for a mile walk before and had it add no time to "Exercise".
unless you're a professional athlete (you're not), you're getting caught up in speeds & feeds. the HR monitoring during activities is more than adequate for the normal, non-pro consumer. I've tested it against gym readers and they were either the same or near identical. this is used to calculate calorie burn, and that's about it. as a non-athlete I'm not sure why'd you'd need the chest strap, but it's merely an option.
as with any piece of equipment, get the thing when you feel you can derive value from the thing. waiting for the next version is a treadmill game that will not end. sure you'll get more future value from a future product, but you'll have lost all the value gain in the interim.
just doing the calibrations is all you need do, but be sure to do them at every movement rate you'll do without the phone. eg, walk, job, run, etc. I read an article on CNET where they tested the watched pre and post calibration, and once calibrated it was very accurate to the treadmill's distance reading. within minimal fault tolerances.