Anyone else find the tone of this article odd? It kinda felt like an article you would see on the Verge. Anyway, some point:
1) Week long battery life - Why? Most Apple watch owners charge it every night, right along with their iPhone. Would have a long battery life really enhance the user experience? It's sort of like the questions of how long does it take to charge an electric vehicle, answer is it doesn't matter because it's owner is going to let it charge overnight while they sleep. 2) Roughed design options - Sure, you can never have something too indestructible 3) Podcasts - I don't listen to them, but makes sense to me that many people would find this useful. 4) Pride band - This should be available. 5) Video - Can't see the stated use cases not being incredible clumsy to interact with. 6) Full functionality without iPhone - Kinda feel like their would be no market for a stand alone Apple Watch. It was designed as an accessory to supplement and enhance the iPhone, most purchasing it have an iPhone. 7) Greater fitness tracking - I disagree here, I think the keep is simple approach works here.
A pride band? Really? Go buy one on eBay. How about a heart rate monitor that is actually consistent and accurate? I paid $400 to get rid of a chest strap in buying a Series 2. I have been absolutely unable to get it to measure a whole run or rapid change of HR during any exercise event. So, now I'm wearing a chest strap again, only now with a $400 watch instead of a $50 one. Apple was unable to figure it out and we tried everything.
Anyone else find the tone of this article odd? It kinda felt like an article you would see on the Verge. Anyway, some point:
1) Week long battery life - Why? Most Apple watch owners charge it every night, right along with their iPhone. Would have a long battery life really enhance the user experience? It's sort of like the questions of how long does it take to charge an electric vehicle, answer is it doesn't matter because it's owner is going to let it charge overnight while they sleep. 2) Roughed design options - Sure, you can never have something too indestructible 3) Podcasts - I don't listen to them, but makes sense to me that many people would find this useful. 4) Pride band - This should be available. 5) Video - Can't see the stated use cases not being incredible clumsy to interact with. 6) Full functionality without iPhone - Kinda feel like their would be no market for a stand alone Apple Watch. It was designed as an accessory to supplement and enhance the iPhone, most purchasing it have an iPhone. 7) Greater fitness tracking - I disagree here, I think the keep is simple approach works here.
On the first point, a few things. As someone who's reviewed multiple fitness trackers, it's more convenient if you can avoid charging every night, and there are times when charging is problematic - hospital stays, long flights, weekend roadtrips, and so on. On top of that, without multi-day battery life, sleep tracking is impractical.
Can Apple realistically step outside the garden a bit and give us an Android app Watch app? I literally keep an iPhone SE just for the purposes of getting my runs to Strava, then turn it off again until the next day.
I think you'd be much more likely to see a stand-alone Apple Watch, and at the current rate of improvement that's maybe even realistic in about 3-ish years.
If we are in the "I'd also like a pony" territory (see above re: week of battery and video too) I'd like to add a couple of things:
- some sort of upgrade program. I like my original apple watch. But as expected, its battery is dying. It is no longer an all day experience. I don't expect free, but imagine having bought a $14k launch day AW. - There's a bunch of "features" I'd like to remove to get more battery life and speed. I don't need all these built in apps for timers, clocks, or even more watch faces. Can I trade that for faster and more battery? And yeah, maybe Siri too. Why carry around things I don't use and interfere with things I do? Just a toggle to turn these "features" off.
My wishlist is possibility to create my own training plans/workout plans for the workout app - eg i set up 10 minutes walk - 2 minutes run, repeat 3 times. And the app will let me know (best with command vi airpods) every time it is time to change the activity...
And as we've complained before, there's no way to track sets, reps, and pounds in weightlifting without a third-party app.
...auto-weight tracking seems like a cooler feature than it is. Anybody not wasting their time in the gym is already running themselves on a "program" -- not a software program, but a lifting program. This program lays out the sets, reps & weight you'll be working with across weeks and months, many times in atypical ways during those periods. So these programs vary based on your goals and experience level, and must be set up & configured. A tracker app records your actuals and is the easy part. Many branded programs have their own apps, and there are general tracker apps for the rest which you can customize and configure. During the actual workout they are simple to use, and many will export the calculated energy data back to HealthKit.
So considering that lifting is a bit more involved than "I'm running now", it makes sense that this speciality use case is left to apps that can deal with it more sophisticatedly than the Exercise app can. Lifting programming is too specific, based on your goals, equipment, and the lifting program you're running.
"But I'm just a casual lifter and don't follow a program!" you say? In that case the general Exercise activity for strength training is fine for you, logged as generic exercise. But if you think you need to track your actual numbers, then you need a real program to follow, not just blind tracking. Not following a program is just wasting your time, tracking reps & sets or not.
Apple could even do one better and offer up complete exercise routines. That's what a lot of new gym-goers need -- guidance.
Ah, here you're asking for a program. The problem with this is as I mentioned, programming is specific to goals and experience level and age, and even philosophy of training. There is no one-size fits all. I personally adhere to whole-body compound lifts, while others prefer isolation movements and bro splits. Different philosophies and goals. Which is right? Which is right for you? Which does Apple promote at the expense of other methodologies? Etc. It's not like jogging.
If anybody is interested in a general strength training program geared for newbies, check out the StrongLifts program & app. It's simple to follow, provided you have access to a power rack. It focuses on newbie-gains training, aka "linear progression". This is the period for almost any new lifter can run for several months and make their biggest gains, while working from very lift weights to very heavy. A good intro to strength training via compound movements (Squat, Deadlift, Press, Bench, Row):
More colors. The watches always seemed like they were designed by someone who thought Apple was selling Rolexes, not Swatches. Big mistake in my opinion. I’d even consider buying a ceramic one if they came in anything other than white or grey. This shows in the choices of bands as well. Apple has always seemed to have an issue with color, like it would hurt their image. Watches are a fashion statement more than anything else Apple sells, the product line should reflect that. Do they want to move product or not?
Bluetooth 5 support. Faster, more range, pretty much a no brainer.
More digital watch faces. I know people are really used to analog watches, but does using 80+% of the watch face to emulate an analog face really make sense for a smart watch, except to save power?
More sensors. Oximetry should be possible, perhaps even easy. A magnetic sensor would allow use as a compass.
Double the battery life AND streaming video from security cameras?
Lol. Come on now. Streaming my Wifi camera to my iPhone drains the battery within 5-6 hours. Can’t imagine what it would do to the watch battery.
What do you mean "my iPhone drains the battery within 5-6 hours"? I have never reached 5-6 hours of usage time with my iPhone, regardless of what I'm doing. If I reach 4 hours, it was a good day. And mind you, that's not 4 hours of actual usage time. That's 4 hours my iPhone is reporting as usage time, even if I'm not actually using it.
If we are in the "I'd also like a pony" territory (see above re: week of battery and video too) I'd like to add a couple of things:
- some sort of upgrade program. I like my original apple watch. But as expected, its battery is dying. It is no longer an all day experience. I don't expect free, but imagine having bought a $14k launch day AW.
It truly sucks that any first-generation/S0 solid gold "Watch Edition" is basically a piece of junk, valuable only in the same way that a 20th Anniversary Mac is valuable. Or raw materials.
I have a buddy on a S0 stainless steel watch, he's too classy for aluminum, but not ready to drop another $800 until there's a form factor revision. Early adopter curse really bit him in the ass.
Basically agree with the article. Week long battery life is out though. One more day is possible. Others get more battery life with smaller screens, fewer features, weaker processors, and/or much larger cases.
the other thing is the use of the word “waterproof”. The USA government doesn’t even allow that term to be used for most everything, because it means something else. The correct term is “water resistant”, with a “down to”, or other phrase having similar meaning, with a depth, and sometimes a time rating. It may seem like nit picking, but it’s not, because many people take these descriptions as gospel, and treat the device that way. But Apple’s own description shows why it’s not.
i had a diving watch from Omega, back when I used to do that. This was a long time ago, and the watch cost $5,000. It was rated as water resistant down to 1,000 meters. But read the warrantee, and you would find that if water did get in, it wasn’t covered, unless Omega determined that it was because of a factory defect, when used according to the terms of use.
With the potential spanning so many fields we may move to a situation where watches are developed with a full boat of sensors, but software packs that focus on the various fields, There is no reason to include blood pressure feature in al watches delivered as long as it is available with an available app. (Blood pressure might actually require a specific watchband to function.)
1) An option to disable all other features like email, text, etc... and use the watch as a stand alone fitness band. Also this can save battery ss well.
2) homepod control wothout using phone to connect.
3) avility to remove some Apple stock apps like stocks, alarm etc that I hardly use.
If we are in the "I'd also like a pony" territory (see above re: week of battery and video too) I'd like to add a couple of things:
- some sort of upgrade program. I like my original apple watch. But as expected, its battery is dying. It is no longer an all day experience. I don't expect free, but imagine having bought a $14k launch day AW.
It truly sucks that any first-generation/S0 solid gold "Watch Edition" is basically a piece of junk, valuable only in the same way that a 20th Anniversary Mac is valuable. Or raw materials.
I have a buddy on a S0 stainless steel watch, he's too classy for aluminum, but not ready to drop another $800 until there's a form factor revision. Early adopter curse really bit him in the ass.
Fairly, if you had $14k to drop, it is likely a "early adopter curse" has little sting.
I'd be OK with a $29 battery replacement. Not happening, even though it is also likely my AW is slowing for the same reasons people are getting $29 iPhone batteries.
Ability to mix and match watch and bands when purchasing online or in the store. I don't know why purchases are limited to only a few combinations.
Seriously, just go on Amazon. There are a zillion companies making bands for the watch that are just as good and WAY cheaper than the Apple ones. Just get the cheapest Apple band when you buy the watch, and go from there.
Everyone is nerding the "Week long battery life" to death.
The main point is that a better and longer life battery would REALLY help the watch. My wife is addicted to fitness tracking and on holidays & weekends her S2 stainless is dead by 6pm.
Yep. If I track a workout that is longer than about an hour, I get 8 hours tops out of my Apple Watch. When some on the new OS releases came out, a 30 minute workout was eating up about 30% of the battery. Somehow they got that sorted out.
Comments
1) Week long battery life - Why? Most Apple watch owners charge it every night, right along with their iPhone. Would have a long battery life really enhance the user experience? It's sort of like the questions of how long does it take to charge an electric vehicle, answer is it doesn't matter because it's owner is going to let it charge overnight while they sleep.
2) Roughed design options - Sure, you can never have something too indestructible
3) Podcasts - I don't listen to them, but makes sense to me that many people would find this useful.
4) Pride band - This should be available.
5) Video - Can't see the stated use cases not being incredible clumsy to interact with.
6) Full functionality without iPhone - Kinda feel like their would be no market for a stand alone Apple Watch. It was designed as an accessory to supplement and enhance the iPhone, most purchasing it have an iPhone.
7) Greater fitness tracking - I disagree here, I think the keep is simple approach works here.
- some sort of upgrade program. I like my original apple watch. But as expected, its battery is dying. It is no longer an all day experience. I don't expect free, but imagine having bought a $14k launch day AW.
- There's a bunch of "features" I'd like to remove to get more battery life and speed. I don't need all these built in apps for timers, clocks, or even more watch faces. Can I trade that for faster and more battery? And yeah, maybe Siri too. Why carry around things I don't use and interfere with things I do? Just a toggle to turn these "features" off.
So considering that lifting is a bit more involved than "I'm running now", it makes sense that this speciality use case is left to apps that can deal with it more sophisticatedly than the Exercise app can. Lifting programming is too specific, based on your goals, equipment, and the lifting program you're running.
"But I'm just a casual lifter and don't follow a program!" you say? In that case the general Exercise activity for strength training is fine for you, logged as generic exercise. But if you think you need to track your actual numbers, then you need a real program to follow, not just blind tracking. Not following a program is just wasting your time, tracking reps & sets or not.
Ah, here you're asking for a program. The problem with this is as I mentioned, programming is specific to goals and experience level and age, and even philosophy of training. There is no one-size fits all. I personally adhere to whole-body compound lifts, while others prefer isolation movements and bro splits. Different philosophies and goals. Which is right? Which is right for you? Which does Apple promote at the expense of other methodologies? Etc. It's not like jogging.
If anybody is interested in a general strength training program geared for newbies, check out the StrongLifts program & app. It's simple to follow, provided you have access to a power rack. It focuses on newbie-gains training, aka "linear progression". This is the period for almost any new lifter can run for several months and make their biggest gains, while working from very lift weights to very heavy. A good intro to strength training via compound movements (Squat, Deadlift, Press, Bench, Row):
https://stronglifts.com
I have a buddy on a S0 stainless steel watch, he's too classy for aluminum, but not ready to drop another $800 until there's a form factor revision. Early adopter curse really bit him in the ass.
the other thing is the use of the word “waterproof”. The USA government doesn’t even allow that term to be used for most everything, because it means something else. The correct term is “water resistant”, with a “down to”, or other phrase having similar meaning, with a depth, and sometimes a time rating. It may seem like nit picking, but it’s not, because many people take these descriptions as gospel, and treat the device that way. But Apple’s own description shows why it’s not.
i had a diving watch from Omega, back when I used to do that. This was a long time ago, and the watch cost $5,000. It was rated as water resistant down to 1,000 meters. But read the warrantee, and you would find that if water did get in, it wasn’t covered, unless Omega determined that it was because of a factory defect, when used according to the terms of use.
1) An option to disable all other features like email, text, etc... and use the watch as a stand alone fitness band. Also this can save battery ss well.
2) homepod control wothout using phone to connect.
3) avility to remove some Apple stock apps like stocks, alarm etc that I hardly use.
I'd be OK with a $29 battery replacement. Not happening, even though it is also likely my AW is slowing for the same reasons people are getting $29 iPhone batteries.
Seriously, just go on Amazon.
There are a zillion companies making bands for the watch that are just as good and WAY cheaper than the Apple ones.
Just get the cheapest Apple band when you buy the watch, and go from there.
Yep. If I track a workout that is longer than about an hour, I get 8 hours tops out of my Apple Watch. When some on the new OS releases came out, a 30 minute workout was eating up about 30% of the battery. Somehow they got that sorted out.