Siri and AirPods: the future of the Apple watch

Aviv Melamud
Aug 23, 2017 · 2 min read
Apps on the Apple Watch

When the Apple Watch was originally released in 2015, the vision was of an app ecosystem similar to the one on the iPhone. Users were expected to download and use many different applications. Today we know that using apps on the watch like its a miniature iPhone is simply not practical on such a tiny screen. In the latest versions of WatchOS Apple has added several features that focus on quick access to apps at a glance. These features make it more useful, but the concept of touch controlled apps on such a small screen is still not practical. The solution is Siri.

When the AirPods were released, the one feature that interested me was the Siri integration. Siri is actually built into the headphones! Now combine the Apple Watch, AirPods and a better Siri, and let’s see the use case:

The use case

You step out of your house and walk to the closest Starbucks for some coffee, but there is no iPhone in your pocket, the iPhone is sitting on your desk at home. Instead, AirPods are in your ears and an Apple Watch sits on your wrist. You tap your AirPods and ask “Siri, show me directions to the closest Starbucks”. A map shows up on the watch’s screen. The map navigates you to the store, you don’t have use any UI. The watch serves as a phone with an app ecosystem without the screen size problem (navigating apps on a 1.5-inch screen is terrible). If Apple decides to give priority to Siri integrated apps on the app store, most apps will quickly become compatible

Pretty soon we will live in a world like this:

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