I still find the Apple Watch the most exciting product that Apple offers these days. The iPhone and the iPad have matured as fully featured devices and most people have a hard time vocalizing what new features they might want from these tools in the future.
But the Apple Watch still has a long way to go before it’s at the level where it seems to meet everyone’s basic expectations. As good as watchOS 5 is, I know that there are functions which I want my watch to do which it doesn’t even come close to doing yet. Here are the biggest three.
“Live” Complications
The Heads-Up display in my car gives me access to the most vital information necessary. It does so in the simplest clearest manner so as to reduce distraction. This is what I want from Apple Watch complications. I want access to information in a quick concise manner.
I’d love to see the complications gain a live aspect which is reminiscent of the Windows phone live tiles. Today the complications are either a static piece of information, like the temperature, or they are merely shortcuts to opening the app. Why can’t the small heart rate complication show me my last measured heart rate or average for the past hour?
Or, I want my stock price complication to show me not just one stock price but maybe two to four. However, since there’s only room for one, the complication would need to cycle through my list one at a time and pause on each one for about a half second. And it would do that every time I turn my wrist with the latest info. This would be great for stuff like currency valuations, temperatures in different cities, sports scores for different games, etc.
But you can’t have multiple complications going off at once so they would have to go off in linear succession. Meaning the watch would start in one corner and proceed to the next complication when the first one was done. You could get a full update in under fifteen seconds without ever having touched the screen once.
Better Audio File Management
The iPhone and iPod Touch killed the old style iPods because the new wireless transfer of files was so much easier. The thought of having to hookup your device to your laptop via a sync cord suddenly became burdensome. If you’re about to head out of the house and you remember about a podcast or new song you’d like to listen to on the way, the last thing you want to do is close the front door and go sit at your desk in order to transfer the file.
The Apple Watch is stuck in 2005 where it has to be connected to a dock in order to transfer files or software updates. You can’t quickly download playlists on the fly like you would with an iPod Touch.
But as inconvenient as wired transfers are, at least you know the straight forward process. With the Apple Watch, I’m still not sure how to manually move files from my iCloud onto my watch.
The Apple Watch should be the iPod Nano of today. The only reason that it’s not, is file transfers are a pain or impossible.
Video Capability
As intriguing as a camera on my Apple Watch sounds, I don’t really think I’d use it all that much. I don’t even use the camera on my iPhone more than a couple times a week. But what I would use on a daily basis would be video on my watch. Especially if the screen got larger.
I’m not looking to watch a full 2-hour feature film on my watch. But a lot of the YouTube videos that I like to watch are more like short daily talk shows. Most of the interest is audio and I only need to take occasional glances at the screen while I do something else. Being able to watch YouTube videos on my Apple Watch would be great because I would then be able to walk around the house while the video is playing.
You could walk around the house while listening to a YouTube video on your iPhone. But if all of a sudden you need to look at the screen it’s a pain to quickly fish your iPhone out of your pocket. Especially if you’re painting a wall or washing the dishes. Or you could set up your iPad on a ledge and watch a video but then you got to take it with you when you move. So if you’re putting away your clean laundry, it’s a pain. But turning your wrist would be relatively easy and much quicker and solves the issues with both the iPhone or iPad.
Conclusion
I can work on my iPad for hours at a time. I can use my iPhone for many minutes at a time. I can only look at my Apple Watch for a few seconds at a time. Apple needs to optimize the Apple Watch for interactions of under fifteen seconds. Whether that is to catch up on the latest crypto currency swings or to see what my favorite YouTube vlogger is pointing at, the interaction time is similar, about 3 seconds. The fact that the Apple Watch screen goes everywhere I do, is never put away, and is so quickly visible is its superpower. Plus, you never have to worry about dropping it.
“Live” Complications
The Heads-Up display in my car gives me access to the most vital information necessary. It does so in the simplest clearest manner so as to reduce distraction. This is what I want from Apple Watch complications. I want access to information in a quick concise manner.
I’d love to see the complications gain a live aspect which is reminiscent of the Windows phone live tiles. Today the complications are either a static piece of information, like the temperature, or they are merely shortcuts to opening the app. Why can’t the small heart rate complication show me my last measured heart rate or average for the past hour?
Or, I want my stock price complication to show me not just one stock price but maybe two to four. However, since there’s only room for one, the complication would need to cycle through my list one at a time and pause on each one for about a half second. And it would do that every time I turn my wrist with the latest info. This would be great for stuff like currency valuations, temperatures in different cities, sports scores for different games, etc.
But you can’t have multiple complications going off at once so they would have to go off in linear succession. Meaning the watch would start in one corner and proceed to the next complication when the first one was done. You could get a full update in under fifteen seconds without ever having touched the screen once.
Better Audio File Management
The iPhone and iPod Touch killed the old style iPods because the new wireless transfer of files was so much easier. The thought of having to hookup your device to your laptop via a sync cord suddenly became burdensome. If you’re about to head out of the house and you remember about a podcast or new song you’d like to listen to on the way, the last thing you want to do is close the front door and go sit at your desk in order to transfer the file.
The Apple Watch is stuck in 2005 where it has to be connected to a dock in order to transfer files or software updates. You can’t quickly download playlists on the fly like you would with an iPod Touch.
But as inconvenient as wired transfers are, at least you know the straight forward process. With the Apple Watch, I’m still not sure how to manually move files from my iCloud onto my watch.
The Apple Watch should be the iPod Nano of today. The only reason that it’s not, is file transfers are a pain or impossible.
Video Capability
As intriguing as a camera on my Apple Watch sounds, I don’t really think I’d use it all that much. I don’t even use the camera on my iPhone more than a couple times a week. But what I would use on a daily basis would be video on my watch. Especially if the screen got larger.
I’m not looking to watch a full 2-hour feature film on my watch. But a lot of the YouTube videos that I like to watch are more like short daily talk shows. Most of the interest is audio and I only need to take occasional glances at the screen while I do something else. Being able to watch YouTube videos on my Apple Watch would be great because I would then be able to walk around the house while the video is playing.
You could walk around the house while listening to a YouTube video on your iPhone. But if all of a sudden you need to look at the screen it’s a pain to quickly fish your iPhone out of your pocket. Especially if you’re painting a wall or washing the dishes. Or you could set up your iPad on a ledge and watch a video but then you got to take it with you when you move. So if you’re putting away your clean laundry, it’s a pain. But turning your wrist would be relatively easy and much quicker and solves the issues with both the iPhone or iPad.
Conclusion
I can work on my iPad for hours at a time. I can use my iPhone for many minutes at a time. I can only look at my Apple Watch for a few seconds at a time. Apple needs to optimize the Apple Watch for interactions of under fifteen seconds. Whether that is to catch up on the latest crypto currency swings or to see what my favorite YouTube vlogger is pointing at, the interaction time is similar, about 3 seconds. The fact that the Apple Watch screen goes everywhere I do, is never put away, and is so quickly visible is its superpower. Plus, you never have to worry about dropping it.
RSS Feed