Developer interest in Apple Watch eclipsed by iOS and tvOS, report says

2»

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 34
    GrimzahnGrimzahn Posts: 64member
    Cant agree on the interpretation of Realms data. Looks like attention whoreing to me. We dont use Realm ( no point in it on iOS) and all apps do support the watch, but our projects arent pulled into Realms useage data collection either. Give Realms anothet 2 years then they will be gone.
  • Reply 22 of 34
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    Apple addressed performance concerns in September with the release of watchOS 2, which allows developers to create apps that run natively on Watch hardware.
    No, they didn't. Third party apps are still too slow, to the point of not even loading before the screen shuts off. 

    Have you guys actually used the device? I enjoy mine, but performance is not a solved problem. 
    anantksundaramrazorpit
  • Reply 23 of 34
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member

    Time is on Apple's side with the watch.  As the physical world becomes more remotely controllable, a wrist wearable is an ideal controller.  It offers a form factor large enough to house the technology and a visual interface that's easily brought into the user's view, accepts voice as well as lightweight touch interaction, and has other supporting use cases (notifications, communications).  The Watch's day in the sun is coming.  
    Agreed. Despite its slowness, I use the Hue lighting app on my AW every day. It's easier to grab since its on me while my phone is often on the table elsewhere. 
  • Reply 24 of 34
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member

    As a developer I lost interrest because to develop for the watch you have to use storyboards and auto layout instead of having the freedom and flexibility of coding the user interface. I think the intensive use of storyboards and auto layout is also the reason why everything is slow on the watch. Its way to heavy for an underpowered device.
    Gosh, AI, fly-by-night "dislikes" are really ruining your site. It's impeding serious discussion, and getting tiresome. @cybertopian brings up something I have not heard before. Can the genius who "disliked" his post have the guts to reveal himself and tell us why he dislikes it? You know, advance the discussion instead instead of giving us what could, AFAIK, be just another lazy down-vote? (I am sure, as in the past, someone well-meaning poster will jump in to tell us, "I am not the OP,  but I am guessing what he meant was,.....blah blah...."). 
    I didn't downvote him but i fail to see why downvotes are "ruining" the site....

    i think single-poster trolls are more annoying and disrupt the signal to noise ratio in a more. 
    edited May 2016 williamlondon
  • Reply 25 of 34
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,081member
    anantksundaram said:
    Gosh, AI, fly-by-night "dislikes" are really ruining your site. It's impeding serious discussion, and getting tiresome.
    Those little buttons are so seductive.  Speaking only for myself, it's all too easy to react, rather than think.

    I'm not sure this is really better, but I tend to upvote meaningful counter-arguments, rather than downvote the provocative original...

    (I'm sure this will be downvoted, as well.)
    anantksundaramcrowley
  • Reply 26 of 34
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,408member

    Gosh, AI, fly-by-night "dislikes" are really ruining your site. It's impeding serious discussion, and getting tiresome. @cybertopian brings up something I have not heard before. Can the genius who "disliked" his post have the guts to reveal himself and tell us why he dislikes it? You know, advance the discussion instead instead of giving us what could, AFAIK, be just another lazy down-vote? (I am sure, as in the past, someone well-meaning poster will jump in to tell us, "I am not the OP,  but I am guessing what he meant was,.....blah blah...."). 
    I didn't downvote him but i fail to see why downvotes are "ruining" the site....

    i think single-poster trolls are more annoying and disrupt the signal to noise ratio in a more. 
    I've been here for about ten years now. I found few issues with the previous arrangement that AI had. I also think that discussions were far more substantive. I agree that single-poster troll posts are annoying, but I felt that the forum did a good job of policing and dealing with them.

    I agree with the poster about who notes that the buttons are "seductive," and it is easier to "react than think." For me, personally, that downside is worse.
  • Reply 27 of 34
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    hmmm maybe no one is buying the watch, like myself, I can't find a compelling reason to own one.
    Maybe you need to look harder.
    edited June 2016
  • Reply 28 of 34
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    Time is on Apple's side with the watch.  As the physical world becomes more remotely controllable, a wrist wearable is an ideal controller.  It offers a form factor large enough to house the technology and a visual interface that's easily brought into the user's view, accepts voice as well as lightweight touch interaction, and has other supporting use cases (notifications, communications).  The Watch's day in the sun is coming.  
    Fully agree.  The vast majority, it would seem, can't look beyond the horizon of the next negative article they will write, tweet they will post, or comment they will leave.  "Apple Watch didn't sell like gangbusters in its first quarter of limited availability...fail!  Fitbit sells more 'wearable thingies' than AW...fail!  Now, what is the next topic I can apply my brilliant insight to..."

    There is a very easy-to-follow story of computing devices getting smaller & proliferating into new uses (mainframe -> mini -> desktop -> laptop -> mobile/tablet -> smartwatch???).  And for those that use the straw man "who wants a mobile phone on their wrist...", the obvious answer is that the smartwatch isn't meant to be that.  A smartphone didn't become a "laptop in your pocket", complete with foldable screen, keyboard, mouse.  It was a computing platform that took over some jobs that used to be exclusive to a laptop, but also (most importantly) created new jobs that such mobile computing could do.  The smartwatch will be the same - it will take over some jobs that are done mostly/exclusively on a mobile phone today (notifications, reminders, quick messages, payments,...), but more important are the new use cases that are emerging or will come in the next 5 years (health monitoring, fitness, identity, physical gesture controls, always-available-voice-assistant, etc).

    And to the thesis of the story - no surprise at all.  Well covered here by a few posters like Marvin, EsquireCats.  
  • Reply 29 of 34
    hmmm maybe no one is buying the watch, like myself, I can't find a compelling reason to own one.
    You are correct.  I was in the Apple Store today in Los Angeles and the store was crowded, but not one person was looking at the watch table.  Not one customer was wearing an Apple Watch...and these things have been on the market for over a year.  But all of them had iPhones.  Why should developers waste their time on a device with so few users out there?  Developers write software to earn a living, and there is no money to be made in Apple Watch apps compared to iOS apps and now, AppleTV4 apps.  It is like asking a developer to write PowerPC apps, when the percentage of users is a very minimal amount.  It is rare when I do see someone with an Apple Watch, and they are using their phone instead of the watch to do things.
  • Reply 30 of 34
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,408member
    hmmm maybe no one is buying the watch, like myself, I can't find a compelling reason to own one.
    Not one customer was wearing an Apple Watch...and these things have been on the market for over a year.  But all of them had iPhones.  Why should developers waste their time on a device with so few users out there? 
    Exactly. This is why Cook's decision to not release Watch numbers was not very smart, imho. There were only two possibilities: the actual numbers are either good or bad. If it was good and developers knew it was good, the Watch would have got a solid developer following. If it was bad and developers knew it was bad, they would have abandoned it, for sure. The other two possibilities -- good/bad, bad/good -- forced them to choose, and they went with: "since I don't have the data before I commit resources, I have to go with the dominant narrative. Moreover, it's likely they're not releasing the data because it does not look good." Bottom line, in the absence of information, they abandoned it anyway.

    No one halfway sensible is going to waste talent and resources based on a hunch. People are not stupid. Cook should have realized this.
  • Reply 31 of 34
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Gosh, AI, fly-by-night "dislikes" are really ruining your site. It's impeding serious discussion, and getting tiresome. @cybertopian brings up something I have not heard before. Can the genius who "disliked" his post have the guts to reveal himself and tell us why he dislikes it? You know, advance the discussion instead instead of giving us what could, AFAIK, be just another lazy down-vote? (I am sure, as in the past, someone well-meaning poster will jump in to tell us, "I am not the OP,  but I am guessing what he meant was,.....blah blah...."). 
    Yeah that was me, and I didn't think the down vote warranted an explanation because it was obvious. Auto Layout and Storyboards exist for a reason: To create an adaptive layout whilst avoiding a programatic mess, and to quicken development time. There's nothing worse than having to refactor code written by someone who hard codes frame sizes, or that is not adaptive whatsoever, written at a time when there was only one screen size. Sure there's a bit of overhead, but in the grand scheme of things, this does not outweigh the benefits.

    You could use the same argument transitioning from a procedural language to OOP. 
    Mmm. It might not have been obvious to non-programmers. He made a good point, you eventually came back with (IMO) a better one. Rather than abandoning a good idea because the hardware is slow, it makes more sense to wait until the hardware improves. 

    It seems to me that there is an almost manic desperation for this device to fail. It's human nature I guess: if you don't get it, tear it down. 

  • Reply 32 of 34
    brucemc said:
    hmmm maybe no one is buying the watch, like myself, I can't find a compelling reason to own one.
    Maybe you need to look harder.
    The watch is fashion beyond the fanboys and girls I think I have seen 5 people with the watch while I travel everyday in NYC to get to work. Again give me a a compelling reason to own one.
    edited June 2016 singularity
  • Reply 33 of 34
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    brucemc said:
    hmmm maybe no one is buying the watch, like myself, I can't find a compelling reason to own one.
    Maybe you need to look harder.
    It's the consumer's fault that a consumer product doesn't appeal.

    Right.
    singularity
  • Reply 34 of 34
    LandanLandan Posts: 7member
    Apple Pay is the number One feature on my Apple Watch. I use it my daily commute instead of my Oyster card on the London Underground and I would say at least 90% of all my transactions are paid using Apple Pay now. A somewhat nice surprise is that I can use my watch to for payments in excess of the £30 limit found on contactless debit and credit cards.
Sign In or Register to comment.