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Apple Watch |OT| Apple invents the watch!

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.

38mm or 42mm?
 
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.

well, at least if the app has a glance you can open it that way. i find myself doing that much more than going to the actual app/home screen, though granted it doesn't work for everything. the reason the app selection screen exists is because glances don't scale well, so i'd actually call the design function over form.
 
I saw my friend's stainless steel model, and then saw a sport today. I think the sport does not look very good compared to SS. This is further making me want to wait to a gen2 and pay more for the SS version.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, my boss.
t5yXt9j.jpg

(Dropped it while opening the box)

Wait I thought the screen was fully made of sapphire.
 

subrock

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.

Same experience with mine. I'm pleasantly surprised with the battery life
 

Future

Member
Ladies and gentlemen, my boss.
t5yXt9j.jpg

(Dropped it while opening the box)

Literally the previous page has a video of someone dropping and stepping on their watch and t surviving everything except a iron pan falling on its face. Was it the same price version as this one?
 

border

Member
I think I've finally settled on the Butterfly watch face. I like how it changes, and it's always a little bit fun to sit there in suspense and see what color/pattern butterfly will pop up when you raise the screen to your face. Everything else seems really boring and static by comparison. You can't have the weather forecast on this face, but I live in Florida where it's always gonna be hot as balls no matter what, and rain is mostly unpredictable.

Of course I think it would be more cool if they could do this with dragonflies or moths or something though.
 

subrock

Member
I think I've finally settled on the Butterfly watch face. I like how it changes, and it's always a lit bit fun to sit there in suspense and see what color/pattern butterfly will pop up when you raise the screen to your face. Everything else seems really boring and static by comparison. You can't have the weather forecast on this face, but I live in Florida where it's always gonna be hot as balls no matter what, and rain is mostly unpredictable.

Of course I think it would be more cool if they could do this with dragonflies or moths or something though.
I thought I would like the jellyfish more, but I tried it for a little while and went back to the "colour" watch face. The jellyfish looks rad, but I just don't like it for a face.
 

ecurbj

Member
How do you know when the Apple Watch battery is fully charged?

I see it says 100% using Glance but it says "charging" under 100%. Does it say "charged" when it's fully charged or no?
 

border

Member
How do you know when the Apple Watch battery is fully charged?

I see it says 100% using Glance but it says "charging" under 100%. Does it say "charged" when it's fully charged or no?

I imagine that if you take it off the charger and it still says 100% under Glances, then you are good to go.
 
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.

Well, unfortunately that involves one assumption: that Apple will repair a cracked screen without Apple Care. I had an iPad 3 without AppleCare+, I cracked the glass screen after the warranty expired, everything else about the device was perfect and functional. Apple wouldn't repair the screen, they would only give me a small discount ($50) on replacing the entire device. I ended up getting a tempered-glass screen protector and placing that on top of the cracked screen, and continued using that iPad for another couple years.

And Apple could be more stingy about this - the glass and the screen are one piece, so to replace cracked glass they would also have to replace the full screen, which is probably a large part of the cost of the device.
 

ecurbj

Member
I imagine that if you take it off the charger and it still says 100% under Glances, then you are good to go.
Ah. Okay. Thanks. I guess I'll pull it off the charger now.

EDIT: I was just about to take it off the charger and I checked Glances and saw 100% and under it, I saw "Charged". So it does say when it's fully "charged". I learn something new everyday with this Watch 😏
 
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.

At 9am mine was at 88%; it's 9:40pm right now and it's at 60%. This was checking the watch at least twice per hour, a couple Siri requests, a few app interactions, and an Apple Pay payment. I have the 38mm. I imagine at this rate if I didn't charge it tonight I'd wake up with 30-40% battery left. A lot better than I was fearing a few months ago.


I think I've finally settled on the Butterfly watch face. I like how it changes, and it's always a little bit fun to sit there in suspense and see what color/pattern butterfly will pop up when you raise the screen to your face. Everything else seems really boring and static by comparison. You can't have the weather forecast on this face, but I live in Florida where it's always gonna be hot as balls no matter what, and rain is mostly unpredictable.

Of course I think it would be more cool if they could do this with dragonflies or moths or something though.

Yeah I like the Butterfly face too (I call it the Nabokov face...he was obsessed with butterflies). It's kind of crazy that those are all recorded sequences of real butterflies, not CG. Must've been a ton of work. I'm curious if the animated faces take up more juice though.

My favorite face is still the Astronomy face. Wish you could customize it though. For more pragmatic times I've been using the Modular and Utility.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
Anyone know what determines the dictation language for Apple Watch messages? My wife can dictate in Finnish to me, but only in English to her best friend (who is Finnish too)
 

SURGEdude

Member
Really warming up to my aWatch. At first I was worried about battery life, but it seems decent. However still not a fan of the process of putting it on each day.
 
Anyone know what determines the dictation language for Apple Watch messages? My wife can dictate in Finnish to me, but only in English to her best friend (who is Finnish too)

I just asked Siri on the watch if she understands Spanish, and she responded that I can select the language on the iPhone. So I think the Watch uses whatever Siri language settings you have set up there.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
I guess it would depend on the feedback Siri gives you audibly (if she did on the Watch, which she doesn't at the moment). Yeah, it can't display charts and stuff on the Watch like the iPhone, but maybe it could just speak the results on the Watch and if you want to see the chart or calendar or whatever, it could guide you to look at the phone for more info.

As a rough example, I could ask the phone "How old is President Obama", and it can show the wikipedia page, the photo, and whatever on the phone like it does now, but just speak the result over the watch and show "53 years old" on the face. Or, like when I ask for measurement comparisons when cooking or baking. I don't need to see the WA chart like it shows on the phone, I just need to hear the answer to how many tablespoons are in a quart or whatever.

I use Siri a lot, and almost entirely hands free (I hold the home button at home and just say "Hey Siri" when driving). Taping to send a message with Siri on the watch would be a step back for me.

All this could be a function of battery life or them not wanting to overload Siri like what happened when she debuted. I just hope it changes for version 2.

To those using the Apple Remote, can you use it just through bluetooth or does the phone and watch need to be on the same wireless network? My phone is on a different wireless network than the apple tv, so it's why I never use my phone as a remote since they are required to be on the same network. I'm just wondering if that changed with the watch.


It wouldn't take much to at least display the message (but not read it aloud) and go 'here is the message, do you want to send it?' Or default to sending with a timed undo button like android wear.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
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.


Is there anything about force pressing that couldn't have been done with a long press? It seems like it just holds options that don't fit in the main UI, and a long press would seem to make sense for that. Why teach people a new interaction for something that is already familiar to people?
 

subrock

Member
Third party apps are useless atm. I'm in love with notifications with the taptic engine though.
I'm finding the same thing. I've deleted all my glances and am basically just using it for notifications and activity which is fine. I've been pulling my phone out way way less though which I think is a win.
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
So, where's the NeoGAF watch app?

I mean, just pulling up your wrist and scrolling through the newest threads would be pretty rad.
 

cakefoo

Member
42mm here. Shot a wedding for 12 hours today. Did a ton of time checks, sent 25 texts with Siri, read a couple dozen notifications, and did a few demos for people who recognized it. Battery is at 54% after 17 hours.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
Have had my Apple Watch for a bit now, so impression time!

Packaging
- While beautiful, the packaging is incredibly wasteful.
- Really, the pictures don't convey how absolutely massive the SS and Sports packages are, they are ridiculously big in real life.
- The SS box has a smaller plastic box inside which the watch sits with tons of empty space around it.
- I am sure next year the packages will scale down.

Design
- The SS watch is gorgeous, it looks beautiful on both make and female wrists (42mm and 38mm respectively).
- The OLED screen fading to black is gorgeously crisp and vibrant, almost like a print.
- Sports band is comfy and firm, although I find putting it on a bit of a hassle

Usability
- General usage is pretty simple and the mental model becomes easy quickly
- The watch turns on fairly reliably when looking at it
- Digital crown has seemed pointless so far, button function aside
- Everything is rather quick and snappy, better than the reviews made me fear

Annoyances
- I never really thought about this, but sleeves are massively annoying for using the Watch
- Taps seem to register a bit worse close to the edges of the screen
- Screen timeout is a bit short on glances
- Watch has to be close to you for the screen to turn on, flicking wrist for a distant glance rarely works

Apps
- Messaging and notifications are really useful, they help my phone stay in pocket
- With phone in pocket there is less temptation to get immersed in other stuff when in company
- It's reassuring to know that you are always in the know
- Calendar is super useful
- Weather is great, finally a place where it's handy
- Stocks are great, I can follow where my Apple and Nintendo shares are at
- It's the best Apple TV remote so far, quick, responsive and easy to use blind

Thirdy party apps
- It's clear most third parties have not yet really figured out where the watch is useful
- News headlines work great - BBC and Guardian
- Cab services are superb too - Hailo and BBC
- Shopping lists are *awesome* on watch - Clear

Games
- Most games don't really translate to a good watch experience
- Peak, the brain training game, works best and is most faithful to the core experience

Overall, I thing it's a solid and exciting product, totally worth the lust - and a beginning of something new. I can see how in a few generations the experience really evolves when developers get personal experience on what the watch is best for.
 

jts

...hate me...
Cancelled my order amongst rumours of the 2nd wave approaching. I can feel it.

And I would regret jumping through all these hoops and not having proper support etc. I mean, if I'd get a launch Watch that's one thing. It was getting here in May/June anyway, so might as well wait.
 
Have had my Apple Watch for a bit now, so impression time!

Packaging
- While beautiful, the packaging is incredibly wasteful.
- Really, the pictures don't convey how absolutely massive the SS and Sports packages are, they are ridiculously big in real life.
- The SS box has a smaller plastic box inside which the watch sits with tons of empty space around it.
- I am sure next year the packages will scale down.

Design
- The SS watch is gorgeous, it looks beautiful on both make and female wrists (42mm and 38mm respectively).
- The OLED screen fading to black is gorgeously crisp and vibrant, almost like a print.
- Sports band is comfy and firm, although I find putting it on a bit of a hassle

Usability
- General usage is pretty simple and the mental model becomes easy quickly
- The watch turns on fairly reliably when looking at it
- Digital crown has seemed pointless so far, button function aside
- Everything is rather quick and snappy, better than the reviews made me fear

Annoyances
- I never really thought about this, but sleeves are massively annoying for using the Watch
- Taps seem to register a bit worse close to the edges of the screen
- Screen timeout is a bit short on glances
- Watch has to be close to you for the screen to turn on, flicking wrist for a distant glance rarely works

Apps
- Messaging and notifications are really useful, they help my phone stay in pocket
- With phone in pocket there is less temptation to get immersed in other stuff when in company
- It's reassuring to know that you are always in the know
- Calendar is super useful
- Weather is great, finally a place where it's handy
- Stocks are great, I can follow where my Apple and Nintendo shares are at

Thirdy party apps
- It's clear most third parties have not yet really figured out where the watch is useful
- News headlines work great - BBC and Guardian
- Cab services are superb too - Hailo and BBC

Games
- Most games don't really translate to a good watch experience
- Peak, the brain training game, works best and is most faithful to the core experience

Overall, I thing it's a solid and exciting product, totally worth the lust - and a beginning of something new. I can see how in a few generations the experience really evolves when developers get personal experience on what the watch is best for.

Excellent summary, can't say I disagree with any of your points. Like I pointed out last night, I'm surprised at the battery life. From 7:00 AM through 11:00 PM I was still at 53%. And that includes quite a bit of texts, a quick GPS route, an Apple Pay use, and two workouts.
 

Dez

Member
Has anyone had issues where the digital crown stops working in apps? The only way I can fix it is to power down and power up the watch.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
Shopping groceries with a list manager is awesome with Apple Watch. Having a shopping list on a phone was too much hassle, with having to pull phone out of pocket, unlock etc. constantly. It's perfect on the watch. I'm using Clear. Added to my summary.

Only thing I would like is that the app would be there every time I flick up my wrist.
 

jts

...hate me...
Shopping groceries with a liat is awesome with Apple Watch. Having a shopping list on a phone was too much hassle, with having to pull phoe out of pocket, unlock etc. constantly. It's perfect on the watch. I'm using Clear. Added to my summary.

Only thing I would like is that the app would be there every time I flick up my wrist.
I think you can:

Wake to the watch face—or your last activity. You can set Apple Watch to show the watch face when it wakes, or return you to where you were before it went to sleep. The default is to wake to the watch face. To choose to return to the last app you used, open Settings settings icon, tap General > Activate on Wrist Raise, and make sure Wrist Raise is turned on. Then scroll down to choose opening to the last-used app. You can also do this using the Apple Watch app on iPhone: tap My Watch, go to General > Activate on Wrist Raise, then choose Resume Previous Activity.

edit: sorry, late, but confirming what ^ previous post said. Link.
 
After reading through the initial impressions of the first couple days of GAFers watches and seeing not a single complaint about the battery life, I'm left wondering if it's at all possible there was some sort of firmware fix that Apple got out between the reviews hitting and actual release.

That was like a unanimous negative in the reviews, along with "slowness" of apps. Both of which I have yet to really see mentioned here. There are some reports of slower third party apps but it seems dependent on the app. Lots of "your milage may vary" is making this rollout interesting.

Or is this just a psychological thing since we've been primed for these negative experiences after reading the reviews? Were the negatives in the reviews popping as big negatives because overall there were very few?

That being said, there seems to be a huge difference in reviewers saying that their watches are barely making 10 hours after normal use and then this:
42mm here. Shot a wedding for 12 hours today. Did a ton of time checks, sent 25 texts with Siri, read a couple dozen notifications, and did a few demos for people who recognized it. Battery is at 54% after 17 hours.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Does working out with the apple watch drain the battery faster?
Yes. Normally the watch collects your heart rate once every ten minutes. With the workout app running it collects it multiple times a minute. And the app is running (time and other data points, back to GPS on phone). With that being said I ran the app for an hour yesterday with hear rate frequently raising to 187 and hanging out closer to 90-130. All of that and normal first day playing and it was still ~44% when I went to bed.

Fractology - no, third party apps are slow. That is true. But yeah I don't get the battery life complaints at all. Like it wasn't even close.
 
Yes. Normally the watch collects your heart rate once every ten minutes. With the workout app running it collects it multiple times a minute. And the app is running (time and other data points, back to GPS on phone). With that being said I ran the app for an hour yesterday with hear rate frequently raising to 187 and hanging out closer to 90-130. All of that and normal first day playing and it was still ~44% when I went to bed.

So when working out, do I need to open the fitness app for it to start tracking the data or does it do it all automatically?
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
So when working out, do I need to open the fitness app for it to start tracking the data or does it do it all automatically?
You have to open the fitness app, then select workout type. I think all selecting the workout type does is gives you options for type of workout. So if you select outdoor run or bike it gives you distance as an option, otherwise just calories, time, or "open" (just runs non-stop and gathers data)

Oh and the fitness app only runs on the watch, so at the same time you can have whatever app you want/need running on your phone.
 
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