The Apple Watch is the first true mobile device
Two months into using the Apple Watch, I just took a step back to see how I really use it. It is striking: most of my usage comes down to what I thought I would do with the iPhone six years ago when I started developing apps.
iPhone Mobility
Six years ago, I had just attended the now-famous iPhone Development class at Stanford and I was experimenting with ideas of iPhone apps. I was trying to find a situation where the iPhone was a must have. Back then, I assumed it meant a situation of mobility. One day, I was just making a photo album of a ski trip and I realized that skiing was simply the perfect situation of mobility, especially when you are going down the slopes. You would be able to measure your speed, take pictures, follow ski rides thanks to a beautiful app. I developed the apps right after, while still being at Stanford, and we were really successful with my business partner, Skiplan (which I eventually sold the apps to). The speed tracking feature was a great selling point for users and ski resorts. But, in reality, the speed tracking feature had a lot of battery and GPS issues back in 2009. After a few month, I realized the ski resort reports, weather reports and the webcams were the ones driving the usage and the retention of the app. In fact, people were mostly using the app from their hotels or during a break in a restaurant not when actually skiing. The real value was to quickly access data without turning on your computer. It took me a while but I had just understood the real definition of mobility with the iPhone, being away from your laptop but not moving.
iPhone Mobility := distance from laptop > 0 & speed = 0.
A few years later, when talking at conference about this experience, most people still didn’t get what was iPhone-mobility. They were still building their apps for users walking in the street or running. So, I collected these statistics on HeyCrowd, the social polling start-up I was working on.
When you think about the users of the most successful apps you must think about them as people lying in the bed, sitting on their sofa or even in the toilets. Definition of iPhone-mobility = distance from laptop > 0 & Speed = 0 . Instagram, WhatsApp, SnapShat, Candy Crush, Clash of Clans belong to this category. I am not denying some success stories solving problems people had when moving but fitness apps, shopping lists apps, skiing apps are not the huge successes on mobile. Armbands are not convenient to run with, a good friend was telling me yesterday he still runs with his iPhone in his hand because he is afraid of breaking if it stays in his pocket and he doesn’t like armbands. Take grocery lists apps user experience : stop, drop your bag, pull your phone out of your pocket, unlock it, find the next product on your list, put this product in the grocery bag, put your phone back in your pocket, grab your bag, restart from step one. It just doesn’t work. Navigation Apps might be the only exception but you’re not truly moving, you’re sitting in a car that is moving.
A new definition: Apple Watch Mobility
All this cases of mobility that don’t work well enough with your iPhone are exactly the situations I have been using my watch the most in the past months. Running, To-Dos, Navigation, Going through check in at the airport. All these situations are Apple Watch Mobility := speed > 0. I use the Apple Watch in these situations, the exact situation I initially thought I would make the most of my iPhone. In these situations, the Apple Watch is more than 10x better than what the iPhone can accomplish:
Let’s take running with the Apple Watch: you have readable, easy to access, running pace with the Apple Watch. You can easily navigate between songs and log your events. What’s more, you’ll be able to monitor your training with your heart beats.
Checking a grocery list also works like a charm. Navigating through the check-in process of the airport is way easier than with the iPhone. Citymapper turn by turns walking navigation works perfectly, it’s their main value proposition on the watch. On smartphone, Citymapper core value proposition was choosing the best way to go to place by having precise travel time estimates.
Last, payment in a store with a watch will be big (no unlocking necessary with Apple Watch & Apple Pay), I completely agree with Benedict Evans on this one.
Apple Watch Mobility := speed >0
The Apple Watch creates a new definition for mobility. It creates better ways of doing things poorly solved by smartphones. No doubt, the Watch will surely also create new ways of doing new things, especially in this new context of mobility.
