The Dark Side of the Apple Watch

[Codeworks]

Hello, all.

Let me start by saying I appreciate all technology. I currently own and use A Samsung Galaxy 6 Edge, Apple iPhone 6+, Windows phone, and even an Amazon Fire phone! I also have been using the Galaxy Gear S for several months; however, have been very much looking forward to the Apple Watch.

So, I got my Apple watch and there is a lot to like. Very nice looking, great build quality, iMessage capability, fitness features seem more accurate, and wow, the developer and app support is the one feature that will make this THE watch to get...

HOWEVER, as many apps as there are, the watch is VERY slow to load the apps (if they even load at all!), and once they load, they may not be able to refresh the data! That completely killed the experience, 100% and have since sold my watch on eBay (shipping it out today). For an Apple product, I was disappointed in the experience. Tim Cook says that you should use your smart watch in 15 second glances, but all kidding aside, I am not even sure if any of the 3rd party apps even loaded within that 15 seconds... Granted, the Apple 1st party apps loaded quickly and worked well.

In contrast, the Gear S loads apps VERY quick, never hangs, and the apps look great. BUT!!!!! There is absolutely ZERO developer support... If the Samsung Gear series had any support from developers, the Gear would run circles around the Apple Watch. Once Apple fixes their app loading and using woes, I will try it again. But as it sits now, I am 100% back to my Gear S and

For me, a nice selection of quick hit apps makes or breaks a smartwatch (or a smart anything!),

Again, I am not a fanboy of anyone. I appreciate all and buy all.. Right now, after a 5 day hands on with the Apple Watch, it has a ways to go... However, if they get the kinks worked out, I may be alternating watches as much as I alternate phones.

Just my experience.

 

[anon(5719825)]

I don't really care about apps on a watch so much because no matter what watch you get, the screen is still small.

When I bought my Gear S, I wasn't thinking so much about the apps but what mattered was what the watch could do for me. I liked the idea that I could leave my phone at home and still get calls and texts and notifications from it. You can't do that on the Apple watch.

I can also save the battery life on my phone by not having to have the watch connected through Bluetooth and still get the calls and notifications on the watch. Again, you can't do that on the Apple watch although I understand you can do that through WiFi. There was an article posted on MacRumors about how the Apple watch being connected to an iPhone through Bluetooth will have an affect on the phones battery life no matter what. Some have noticed a huge hit, I don't get that on my Note Edge because as I said, I don't keep the Bluetooth connection active. I only connect to BT when I want to sync the S Health data to my phone and once it does that, I turn BT back off. It only takes a minute or two to do that and the data syncs automatically when the BT connection is on.

That's my take on why I have no interest in the Apple watch even though I use both an iPhone and an Android phone.

 

[foxbat121]

From what I was told, currently 3rd party Apple Watch apps all run on a VM box on the iPhone. And the watch simply act as a remote screen. There is no way to write native watch app yet as Apple hasn't open it up for dev.

 

[Xingularity]

Also the first time you use an app on the apple watch it is really slow until the data gets cached. The more you use it the faster it gets.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[mountainbikermark]

I don't really care about apps on a watch so much because no matter what watch you get, the screen is still small.

When I bought my Gear S, I wasn't thinking so much about the apps but what mattered was what the watch could do for me. I liked the idea that I could leave my phone at home and still get calls and texts and notifications from it. You can't do that on the Apple watch.

I can also save the battery life on my phone by not having to have the watch connected through Bluetooth and still get the calls and notifications on the watch. Again, you can't do that on the Apple watch although I understand you can do that through WiFi. There was an article posted on MacRumors about how the Apple watch being connected to an iPhone through Bluetooth will have an affect on the phones battery life no matter what. Some have noticed a huge hit, I don't get that on my Note Edge because as I said, I don't keep the Bluetooth connection active. I only connect to BT when I want to sync the S Health data to my phone and once it does that, I turn BT back off. It only takes a minute or two to do that and the data syncs automatically when the BT connection is on.

That's my take on why I have no interest in the Apple watch even though I use both an iPhone and an Android phone.

On my Note4 the battery hit keeping Bluetooth connected is negligible ~ 1-2% . A 1 hour Bluetooth music session on the phone uses about 10x as much battery as all day of the watch connection. My Fit uses even less.
I like using apps for productivity and convenience ,as stand alone, on my watch and, like you, could care less about most apps folks say are needed because even at a whopping 2" of screen that's still tiny.
I've got a browser but only use it to show the watch capabilities, even though I could actually surf this forum if I chose, but back to the tiny screen. I use mostly apps for lists/notes S Wallet, calculator, etc along with Instant Settings so I don't have to take out my phone to change volume network status, etc. S Health, as you mentioned is another.
The Apple watch will get better but imo it was rushed to market and not ready.

 

[Ultraman666]

Hello, all.

Let me start by saying I appreciate all technology. I currently own and use A Samsung Galaxy 6 Edge, Apple iPhone 6+, Windows phone, and even an Amazon Fire phone! I also have been using the Galaxy Gear S for several months; however, have been very much looking forward to the Apple Watch.

So, I got my Apple watch and there is a lot to like. Very nice looking, great build quality, iMessage capability, fitness features seem more accurate, and wow, the developer and app support is the one feature that will make this THE watch to get...

HOWEVER, as many apps as there are, the watch is VERY slow to load the apps (if they even load at all!), and once they load, they may not be able to refresh the data! That completely killed the experience, 100% and have since sold my watch on eBay (shipping it out today). For an Apple product, I was disappointed in the experience. Tim Cook says that you should use your smart watch in 15 second glances, but all kidding aside, I am not even sure if any of the 3rd party apps even loaded within that 15 seconds... Granted, the Apple 1st party apps loaded quickly and worked well.

In contrast, the Gear S loads apps VERY quick, never hangs, and the apps look great. BUT!!!!! There is absolutely ZERO developer support... If the Samsung Gear series had any support from developers, the Gear would run circles around the Apple Watch. Once Apple fixes their app loading and using woes, I will try it again. But as it sits now, I am 100% back to my Gear S and

For me, a nice selection of quick hit apps makes or breaks a smartwatch (or a smart anything!),

Again, I am not a fanboy of anyone. I appreciate all and buy all.. Right now, after a 5 day hands on with the Apple Watch, it has a ways to go... However, if they get the kinks worked out, I may be alternating watches as much as I alternate phones.

Just my experience.

I completely agree, I cant stand Apple but the watch has a couple things that android watches dont, you nailed it on the head, but I love my gear s and what it can do, once you understand the function and how you can customize it completely even tho Im not using a samsung phone(OPO) it is still the best watch I have used hands down, but once apple gets the kinks out it will be a great watch there is no doubt about it.

 

[kieso]

I've heard reports that some apps are running slowly on the crapple watch and that makes me happy

 

[mrsmoore78]

UBS on the Apple Watch - Business Insider


Here's a good article. Apple is disappointed in lackluster interest and sales. I spent 6 years with apple phones and though they are good quality and work well, they are boring and behind the times. They are arrogant enough to think that as soon as they release ANYTHING the sales will go through the roof because the kool-aid drinkers will come running. I think the price point on their watch is FAR too high considering what it's capable of, though I DO like their design a little bit better than the Gear S.

 

[xendula]

I bought the Gear S so I could go running without my Note 2. It serves me well in that capacity, and I love the screen and the look, but the scarcely populated app store is why I may look elsewhere when a real alternative becomes available.

I guess the lack of developer support depends on your individual use cases. As a runner, I am disappointed that only one other third party running app can even be used stand-alone, which is Nike. However, while Nike updated their Android/iOS apps to automatically pause your run when they detect you stopped running, the Gear s was never updated accordingly, and likely never will. The app is what it is and support is likely nonexistant.

That's just one example. Others are apps I use while I run on my phone, that I don't have on my Gear S, with Audible being one of them.

Developer support is just really important for anything smart nowadays. People all have their own needs, and the manufacturer may throw a few apps on the market, but they will never meet everyone's individual need, like good developer engagement would.

 

[InfamousUnknown]

IMHO right now there are some really good endurance watches (Garmin, Polar, etc) and some pretty good smart watches.

The endurance watches are starting to get some smart watch features, and vice versa.

But for now I can't use my S for a really long ride or run, and wouldn't trust it for a swim (it doesn't count strokes etc anyway). And I can't take calls or get emails on my Garmin.

In a few iterations I think there will be good cross over but for now, if I need the phone I take both.