Giving up on the Apple watch

I’ve given up on wearing the Apple Watch. I sat on the sofa last night when I got a phone call. The iPhone started making noise, the iPad started making noise and the Watch started making noise. I decided there and then that I’d had enough of the Watch.

The hardware

I have the Space Grey Sport version in 42mm. I think it is a beautiful piece of hardware. It came with the black silicone band and I bought a (heavily overpriced) black leather band for it some time ago.

It may be a bit bulky and it could use more sensors but let’s remember the first-gen iPad for a minute … yeah, the bulky one. And look at the iPad Air 2 now. There’s a massive difference and I’m sure the Watch will get sexier and sexier with new releases.

The only thing I don’t like is the rectangle screen. I’ve bought quite a few mechanical watches and they were always round. I don’t like rectangle watches that much. You can argue that a round lcd screen makes no sense but when I looked at the Samsung Gear S2 and Huawei Watch some weeks ago I really liked them.

A rectangle device on my wrist feels like a mini computer instead of a watch.

The software

I was hoping that watchOS 2 would bring improvements in speed but it fixed very little. I can’t really fault the software in doing things wrong, it’s just too slow. When I finish a workout recording more often than not I have to tap the “End” button a couple of times, often wondering if the software has crashed.

A lot of times when I arrive somewhere and pull up the Weather app it still thinks I’m at home and it will show what the weather is like at home.

From a developer perspective

I’ve spent a few afternoons thinking about how the Watch could improve the experience of my cycling and walking apps.

I couldn’t find a killer feature for the Watch. Users of my apps can receive instructions when they approach a node. I use this feature myself and I like how it works: the apps tell me the number of the node I’m approaching and they tell me the number of the next node to follow. It does this by voice, followed by a local notification.

When I configure the Watch to receive these notifications I never have to pull out the iPhone. I just leave it in my pocket and look at the Watch for instructions when I feel it vibrating. That works great and it always brings a smile to my face when I’m walking or riding.

I suppose I could do more on the Watch. Maybe show nearby pubs or places to rest but really, what’s the point? It’s not like my apps have tens of thousands of users so the effort would be for a very specific niche. In the end I won’t sell more apps because of that.

For me, the Watch (unlike the Apple TV) doesn’t create an extra eco-system to make money from.

From a user perspective

I can count the amount of 3rd party apps on my Watch on one hand. I have few apps which allow me to pull up my bank accounts with one tap. Actually, it’s more like “one tap and wait 15 seconds before the numbers appear.”

As soon as I need to look something up I’m happy to pull out my iPhone 6 where I have the screen real estate and I know I’ll get the results a lot faster.

So now what?

When I think of it the only reason I’ve been wearing the Apple Watch is for exercise, which is a bit of a waste. To be fair the Fitbit does a much better job for fitness. Fitbit has a really nice dashboard, unlike the Apple Health app.

I’ll keep the Watch on my desk in case a customer wants an app for it. I’ll keep installing watchOS upgrades and I’ll keep a close eye on the progress. I hope that one day the Watch will take big steps forward. I’ll re-evaluate the platform when that day comes.