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Apple Watch |OT| Apple invents the watch!

E

eyeball_kid

Member
mrklaw said:
Well the screen might be sapphire, but the steel isn't. You ding it, it'll scratch. The aluminium may be more forgiving for hiding that.
Click to expand...

I just scratched my aluminum today – grabbed the seatbelt while getting in my car and somehow whacked the face of the Watch pretty hard with the metal tooth. Didn't notice until I got home that the side has a minor ding. Kind of shocked that it's so fragile. Probably means I can't add AppleCare to it now, either. :(
 
jts

jts

...hate me...
eyeball_kid said:
I just scratched my aluminum today – grabbed the seatbelt while getting in my car and somehow whacked the face of the Watch pretty hard with the metal tooth. Didn't notice until I got home that the side has a minor ding. Kind of shocked that it's so fragile. Probably means I can't add AppleCare to it now, either. :(
Click to expand...
I think you can buy AppleCare+ via phone and only need to run a remote diagnostic to make sure it's ok, so maybe you're good to go.

Care to post a pic btw?
 
L

LyleLanley

Banned
TxdoHawk said:
Genuinely, hilariously bad. I look forward to sending them to confused iPhone owners.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much the only purpose I've found for them so far. Gigantic obnoxious emoji that no one likes. Now if they made an eggplant variation I might be interested.

Terrell said:
What kind of savage do you have to be to man-handle something that aggressively? I've seen starving dogs eat raw meat with less aggression.
Click to expand...

That video drives me crazy. Fuck up the box all you want but why would you throw around a brand new computer like that?
 
Warnen

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Battery life is surprising me, have had it on for just over 12hrs and using it a lot and I'm at 48%.

Wonder how long till stores get bands in, kinda want the black sports band but I would like to try on ther others 1st.
 
M

MercuryLS

Banned
For the people that have the watch, how are you finding the UI? From what I've seen of the promo materials it's pretty ugly looking, everything from the fonts to the emojis. Seems like a major step back from the pretty nice looking iOS 7/8 design.
 
Warnen

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
MercuryLS said:
For the people that have the watch, how are you finding the UI? From what I've seen of the promo materials it's pretty ugly looking, everything from the fonts to the emojis. Seems like a major step back from the pretty nice looking iOS 7/8 design.
Click to expand...

While I would like some nicer digital watch options over all I think it looks great. Coming from a pebble steel this looks way better. Crisp clean lines, really looks like a small iPhone screen with diffrent icons.

Only used the emojis one time, they are dumb can't see why u can just do them on the phone as well. I did like the drawing thing, dic pics to everyone!

Best looking app so far for me is runeblade, looks great but not much game play. It's more of a clock with modifiers thing.
 
L

LyleLanley

Banned
MercuryLS said:
For the people that have the watch, how are you finding the UI? From what I've seen of the promo materials it's pretty ugly looking, everything from the fonts to the emojis. Seems like a major step back from the pretty nice looking iOS 7/8 design.
Click to expand...

The biggest problem in my opinion is that quite a few things aren't immediately obvious. Force press is a cool feature but it just means that a lot of functionality is literally hidden without any hint that it's there. This is especially confusing when the music app uses force press for features like airplay and repeat whereas the music glance doesn't offer any force press functions.

Other than that there are some more minor problems I have with it like the loading times, the emoji and the gigantic button that brings you to the contact screen which feels like a waste to me.

Overall I like the look and feel of the UI but I understand that it's going to take a while to get used to it but it's also going to need some actual updates from Apple.

Warnen said:
Best looking app so far for me is runeblade, looks great but not much game play. It's more of a clock with modifiers thing.
Click to expand...

I'm not the only one playing this "game"?
 
C

ckohler

Member
MercuryLS said:
For the people that have the watch, how are you finding the UI? From what I've seen of the promo materials it's pretty ugly looking, everything from the fonts to the emojis. Seems like a major step back from the pretty nice looking iOS 7/8 design.
Click to expand...

It depends a lot on the app. Most of the native stuff looks good. Some 3rd party apps look kinda bland, especially when there's a list of text options to select. However, even with those apps they look better on the watch than in screenshots.
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
jts said:
I think you can buy AppleCare+ via phone and only need to run a remote diagnostic to make sure it's ok, so maybe you're good to go.

Care to post a pic btw?
Click to expand...

Yeah, forgot you could add via phone. Had no problem doing so, thanks. A pic would be underwhelming; from any reasonable distance it looks like a tiny fleck of something is stuck on it, and that's what I thought it was at first. It is only me that will forever stare at the micro-dent in horror. (for reference, this is a silver; space grey may not show dents as much) Next time around I'll definitely be getting SS.

LyleLanley said:
The biggest problem in my opinion is that quite a few things aren't immediately obvious. Force press is a cool feature but it just means that a lot of functionality is literally hidden without any hint that it's there. This is especially confusing when the music app uses force press for features like airplay and repeat whereas the music glance doesn't offer any force press functions.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd agree with that. The Force Press is basically a physical hamburger menu, stuffing things into it that they either ran out of screen real estate for, or couldn't find a better place for. Normally I'd say that stinks of bad UX design, but in this case I think it's just that Apple has made a lot of UX sacrifices to stuff everything into the tiny screen. I find switching between tapping the screen and using the crown very awkward, and sometimes my brain freezes on trying to decide which one to use for a particular task.

It's definitely not intuitive the way the first iPhone was. If the Watch had multitouch it would be a lot more straightforward, or at least feel more familiar, but I imagine they prototyped a multitouch version and found it lacking in some way.

The notifications and glances became easier to remember once I realized that they're mirroring the iPhone's swipe-down for Notifications and swipe-up for Control Center. But it also feels a bit weird to swipe on the tiny screen. And it gets really confusing that notifications and glances are only available from the watch face.

I'd say the biggest UI mess on the Watch is the app screen though. It feels like it was designed by Marketing because it looked cool, not because it solved the problem of opening apps the best. It feels like a prototype from a college student. Tapping apps often results in mis-taps, and trying to get an app to be in the center so you can use the crown to open it is a frustrating experience. By the time I get to the app I needed to get to, I could have just opened my phone.
 
L

LyleLanley

Banned
eyeball_kid said:
I'd say the biggest UI mess on the Watch is the app screen though. It feels like it was designed by Marketing because it looked cool, not because it solved the problem of opening apps the best. It feels like a prototype from a college student. Tapping apps often results in mis-taps, and trying to get an app to be in the center so you can use the crown to open it is a frustrating experience.
Click to expand...

It reminds me of coverflow, a fairly clever UI idea that isn't actually that useful. Although I think it'll be fine as long as you don't install a ton of apps.

Edit:

I just ordered dinner from my watch. I feel like the height of excess.
 
G

GalacticMouse

Member
LyleLanley said:
CDYuEgPWMAAmv68.png
Click to expand...

Boylston Street store?
 
S

subrock

Member
Gotta say, I'm impressed with the battery life. I've been dinking around with directions and messaging since 9am today and I'm still at 75%
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
LyleLanley said:
It reminds me of coverflow, a fairly clever UI idea that isn't actually that useful. Although I think it'll be fine as long as you don't install a ton of apps.
Click to expand...

CoverFlow is a good analogy, although at least that was 'delightful' to use. I get much more delight out of the Astronomy watch face than the app screen. All they really need to do is give us a way to open apps via the same UI as Glances; just swipe left and right. They chose form over function.

I just ordered dinner from my watch. I feel like the height of excess.
Click to expand...

I used Apple Pay with the Watch at Whole Foods earlier; it would have felt futuristic except for the fact that WF still makes you sign your name like we're all savages.
 
D

Dreamwriter

Member
For those who don't like the app springboard clump, just organize it so it isn't a clump. Arrange them in a grid with space between each icon or something. It'd require more scrolling, but be easier to just tap exactly on the app you want to run.
 
T

TxdoHawk

Member
The only real problem I have with this online ordering system is that it seems to have brought out the scalpers big-time. Just had a glance at NY and NJ Craigslist, lots of Apple Watches listed.
 
D

Dreamwriter

Member
My problem is, I stayed awake to finish ordering a Space Black Stainless Steel at 3:02am Eastern, due to be delivered in May, and I really, really want that one. But life is really trying to make me rethink spending $1178 on a watch (after taxes) - since ordering it, I had to spend $4000 on dental work, and then had an unexpected hospital visit that lasted 2 1/2 days that is definitely going to be pricey. But if I cancel and order a cheaper watch now, I won't get it until June (unless I get a watch I don't want).
 
L

LyleLanley

Banned
Dreamwriter said:
My problem is, I stayed awake to finish ordering a Space Black Stainless Steel at 3:02am Eastern, due to be delivered in May, and I really, really want that one. But life is really trying to make me rethink spending $1178 on a watch (after taxes) - since ordering it, I had to spend $4000 on dental work, and then had an unexpected hospital visit that lasted 2 1/2 days that is definitely going to be pricey. But if I cancel and order a cheaper watch now, I won't get it until June (unless I get a watch I don't want).
Click to expand...

You could order a cheaper watch and sell your Space Black watch for a healthy profit.
 
B

border

Member
ckohler said:
Man. Seeing stuff like this gets me scared. I'll probably pick up AppleCare+ tomorrow just for the two incidents of accidental damage.
Click to expand...

Just food for thought, but I'll bet the AppleCare+ fee combined with the cost of the first deductible ($120 when you add them both up) is probably greater than the cost of repairing a single cracked screen. AppleCare is almost never worth it unless you plan on completely destroying the iDevice (water damage) or breaking the screen at least twice.
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
border said:
Just food for thought, but I'll bet the AppleCare+ fee combined with the cost of the first deductible ($120 when you add them both up) is probably greater than the cost of repairing a single cracked screen.
Click to expand...

The AppleCare service fee for accidental damage repairs is $69 for the Sport model, $79 for the the SS model. Edit: sorry, I misread you. Still, I have no qualms about adding AC on the Watch, especially after already scratching mine on the second day.

LyleLanley said:
Could've sworn someone specifically ordered a blue sport watch and it shipped the next day.
Click to expand...

Could be. It's possible that they pooled extra stock of the blue Sport for the developers and are giving overflow to other customers. Speaking of colors, I really hope Apple releases those colored bands Jony unveiled in Milan. I'd love to have a darker band for more formal occasions.
 
C

ckohler

Member
border said:
Just food for thought, but I'll bet the AppleCare+ fee combined with the cost of the first deductible ($120 when you add them both up) is probably greater than the cost of repairing a single cracked screen. AppleCare is almost never worth it unless you plan on completely destroying the iDevice (water damage) or breaking the screen at least twice.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I'll have to consider this some more. I'm very careful with my gadgets but this is my first wearable gadget I've owned in a long time.

eyeball_kid said:
The AppleCare service fee for accidental damage repairs is $69 for the Sport model, $79 for the the SS model.
Click to expand...

I think he means the cost of AppleCare+ ($50) plus the deductable ($70) which comes out to $120.
 
.hacked

.hacked

Member
1st full day of use, put on at 7:00am this morning, wore all day and just took off to charge at 10:15 and I am at 50% batt life left. not bad and i was using it a lot as a remote for apple TV, went for long walk with my dogs to test out the fitness app and even used it to make 2 10-15min calls.

Definitely will have to charge every night but I do that anyway with all my gear already.
 
B

border

Member
eyeball_kid said:
The AppleCare service fee for accidental damage repairs is $69 for the Sport model, $79 for the the SS model. Edit: sorry, I misread you. Still, I have no qualms about adding AC on the Watch, especially after already scratching mine on the second day.
Click to expand...

I don't think people that get AppleCare are stupid or clutzes or anything, just that in this case I think it's just smarter to gamble on it. You can get an 4-5" iPhone screen replaced for like $80.....the 1.6" AppleWatch screen is probably way cheaper. I daresay you could probably get it replaced twice and not exceed the cost of AppleCare plus two deductibles ($190). Of course the downside is that you aren't protected against other damage....but a watch is less likely to be susceptible to the types of damage that kill cell phones and tablets (falls, water, children, etc).
 
C

ckohler

Member
border said:
I don't think people that get AppleCare are stupid or clutzes or anything, just that in this case I think it's just smarter to gamble on it. You can get an 4-5" iPhone screen replaced for like $80.....the 1.6" AppleWatch screen is probably way cheaper. I daresay you could probably get it replaced twice and not exceed the cost of AppleCare plus two deductibles ($190). Of course the downside is that you aren't protected against other damage....but a watch is less likely to be susceptible to the types of damage that kill cell phones and tablets (falls, water, etc).
Click to expand...

That makes sense and if the Apple watch is a hit, then there's sure to be a lot of places offering screen replacements.

In fact, wonder if in the future we could have our Sport model screens replaced with sapphire screens? :)
 
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