So the Apple Watch seems pretty useless for third parties

Status
Not open for further replies.
Z

Zombie James

Banned
http://www.cultofmac.com/305778/everything-apple-watch-apps-cant/

tdlr; Third-party watch apps aren't allowed to do any of the following:

- Function without a paired iPhone
- Wake up/open companion iOS app
- Use finger scrolling or the Digital Crown
- Use “Force Touch” to control interface
- Use Taptic Engine for vibration feedback
- Access heart rate monitor
- Use NFC
- Use microphone for anything other than dictating text
- Play sounds
- Remotely access the iPhone’s camera
- Render animations/play video
- Display custom watch faces
- Offer in-app purchases
- Pair with more than one iPhone at a time
 
Frickin' joke of a product. And with prices going as high (potentially) as thousands of dollars, who the hell will buy one?
 
I held off on buying any kind of smart watch until I saw Apple's offering but it just didn't impress me. I ended up getting a Pebble Steel instead and I'm so glad I did it
 
Humidex said:
Frickin' joke of a product. And with prices going as high (potentially) as thousands of dollars, who the hell will buy one?
Click to expand...

Tons of people, if only for the prestige. You would not believe how high the demand for the crazy expensive gold one is in China
 
Honestly, I feel like they are doing everything wrong with this thing at the moment.
I had some interest in building a few apps for this after its reveal, not anymore though.
Maybe it will get better after the first few revisions.
 
Smart watches are just not a good idea beyond telling the time and being a fitness companion device.

These companies don't have a clue what to do with them and shoehorn the same stuff in at a terrible compromise and go, look that's amazing. No, stop. It's a pathetic attempt at trying to sell you something else as other product categories have plateaud.
 
Never buy a first generation Apple product. iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and basically anything that has moved to retina displays have all had limitations and kinks that get improved drastically in the second gen model.

Humidex said:
Frickin' joke of a product. And with prices going as high (potentially) as thousands of dollars, who the hell will buy one?
Click to expand...

lol, someone's never bought a designer watch.
 
It boggles my mind that third party apps can’t even use the key user interface mechanism on the watch - the digital crown.

that just seems... spiteful.

I mean, seriously. like saying a third party iphone app from 2008 couldn’t access “pinch to zoom” gestures.

I don’t care if this is “only” the first version of the SDK. get the basic interaction shit in order.

I mean… is it possible this is in error? someone misreported the limitations? it seems more like some april fools joke than a real list of restrictions. if this is accurate, it’s the most limited SDK I’ve heard of.
 
I've been saying this for a long time.

Unless you're a big third party like a Facebook or something there's no point in developing for Apple Watch.
 
Humidex said:
Frickin' joke of a product. And with prices going as high (potentially) as thousands of dollars, who the hell will buy one?
Click to expand...

It will become the best selling smart-watch by a ridiculous margin, and probably change the industry, regardless of what we think of it, just like the original iPhone and original iPad.
 
Just don't buy the first one unless you're a complete idiot. Though you'd have to be an idiot to buy such an ugly looking watch in the first place.
 
NekoFever said:
lol, someone's never bought a designer watch.
Click to expand...

At the very least with most designer watches, you can replace the battery. Or not even require a battery. This Apple Watch...good luck trying to replace the battery!

As a fitness device...it's kinda useless without the iPhone.

And yes...my watch, if needs be, has been a cheap ass Casio digital watch. :-)
 
lenovox1 said:
Yeah, but the iPhone was like that before the 3rd one. You go to build up an API based around what customers and developers want, I guess.
Click to expand...

Not really comparable. When iPhone came out there were no competitors and Apple pretty much paved the way. (Sorry guys, but Windows Phones don't count).

That and Apple Watch is built upon the foundation set by iPhone/iPad/Apple TV. They already know what APIs the developers want, they listed them (in the OP)! Those are also the things customers are going to be looking for in the product (because they'll compare it to Android watches, their own expectations coming from Apple's other products).
 
Interframe said:
It will become the best selling smart-watch by a ridiculous margin, and probably change the industry, regardless of what we think of it, just like the original iPhone and original iPad.
Click to expand...

Just because nobody is buying the current watches it doesn't mean that suddenly tons of people will be buying Apple's offering.

Oh wait, Apple fans can't help themselves.

You're probably right.
 
Buying the first iteration in a completely new segment is one hell of a mistake. There is a reason why it is the biggest cash cow.
 
Interframe said:
It will become the best selling smart-watch by a ridiculous margin, and probably change the industry, regardless of what we think of it, just like the original iPhone and original iPad.
Click to expand...

Contrary to popular belief, Apple is capable of making products that fail and has done so in the past.
 
The original iPhone didn't have an app store. As long as they build enough interesting functionality in the 1.0 software they'll be fine (the rest will be added later).
 
Of course it's going to be very restrictive at the start. Apple wants the release of this thing to go as smoothly as possible, so they don't want a bunch of 3rd party apps doing all sorts of stuff and potentially breaking the user experience. I'm not defending this, but given Apple's history, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
 
Humidex said:
At the very least with most designer watches, you can replace the battery. Or not even require a battery. This Apple Watch...good luck trying to replace the battery!

As a fitness device...it's kinda useless without the iPhone.

And yes...my watch, if needs be, has been a cheap ass Casio digital watch. :-)
Click to expand...

I just think it's going to be funny when the pricing expectations of tech fans and designer watches meet. I think it was John Gruber on Daring Fireball pointing out a prominent tech journalist calling $70 (or thereabouts; I can't remember) for a leather strap for the Apple Watch ridiculously expensive when Tag Heuer charges $400 for a rubber one.
 
Zombie James said:
http://www.cultofmac.com/305778/everything-apple-watch-apps-cant/

tdlr; Third-party watch apps aren't allowed to do any of the following:

- Function without a paired iPhone
- Wake up/open companion iOS app
- Use finger scrolling or the Digital Crown
- Use “Force Touch” to control interface
- Use Taptic Engine for vibration feedback
- Access heart rate monitor
- Use NFC
- Use microphone for anything other than dictating text
- Play sounds
- Remotely access the iPhone’s camera
- Render animations/play video
- Display custom watch faces
- Offer in-app purchases
- Pair with more than one iPhone at a time
Click to expand...

Pretty sure it has been known that function for thirdparty is going to be extremely limited at launch
 
Humidex said:
At the very least with most designer watches, you can replace the battery. Or not even require a battery. This Apple Watch...good luck trying to replace the battery!

As a fitness device...it's kinda useless without the iPhone.

And yes...my watch, if needs be, has been a cheap ass Casio digital watch. :-)
Click to expand...

The job to be done by a Casio watch is very different than that of a luxury watch. Check out some of the recent episodes of The Critical Path podcast. Horace Dediu has done some very interesting work around breaking down what the market for Apple Watch might be.
 
rezuth said:
Pretty sure it has been known that function for thirdparty is going to be extremely limited at launch
Click to expand...

yeah… but no digital crown access? no tactic feedback? no custom watch faces? no heart rate monitor access? there’s limited and then there’s limited.

like, wtf can third party apps do aside from give you a notification that you tap away? it’s another shit sandwich, imo. doesn’t seem like it’s even ready for use.

it’d be better to wait 6 months or whatever and at least give third party apps access to some of the key elements of the watch.
 
LCfiner said:
yeah… but no digital crown access? no tactic feedback? no custom watch faces? no heart rate monitor access? there’s limited and then there’s limited.

like, wtf can third party apps do aside from give you a notification that you tap away? it’s another shit sandwich, imo. doesn’t seem like it’s even ready for use.

it’d be better to wait 6 months or whatever and at least give third party apps access to some of the key elements of the watch.
Click to expand...

Considering the fact that the Apps wont even run on the actual Watch I'm not surprised that they don't have access to hardware features of the watch.
 
Shit like this really makes me want to switch from my iPhone to Android. Just stupid decision after stupid decision. I know, it's the watch and not the phone, but it just rubs me wrong how closed they are.
 
Zombie James said:
What's the fucking point then?
Click to expand...

They can still format for the watch. So for example Google Maps can format directions for the watch and allow voice input. A music player can format a display for the watch. Gmail can show alerts but not have them actionable with the watch controls.

It seems any watch->iphone->app interactions are off limits but the other direction seems fine.
 
rezuth said:
Considering the fact that the Apps wont even run on the actual Watch I'm not surprised that they don't have access to hardware features of the watch.
Click to expand...

this limitation is saying google could make a maps app that ties into their iphone app but if you want to zoom in or out of the app on the map on the watch, you can’t.

regardless of the known limitation of the apps not running directly on the watch, the extreme lack of user interface options here is ridiculous.
 
AlexMogil said:
Apple Watch 2, though. Man, that's going to be great.
Click to expand...

Yeah second revision was always going to be the first good one. This sort of fast moving tech the first iteration is basically just a beta.

Developer options will open up. Slower than they should.
 
LCfiner said:
yeah… but no digital crown access? no tactic feedback? no custom watch faces? no heart rate monitor access? there’s limited and then there’s limited.

like, wtf can third party apps do aside from give you a notification that you tap away? it’s another shit sandwich, imo. doesn’t seem like it’s even ready for use.

it’d be better to wait 6 months or whatever and at least give third party apps access to some of the key elements of the watch.
Click to expand...

Notifications and glances.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Recommended Smart Watches (not Apple)
5
332
N0S replied
So apparently, upcoming ''The Monkey'' movie is pretty good
16
1K
DeafTourette replied
Apple WWDC live watch party
2
57
3K
ForAcademicPurposes replied
Cremation seems so wrong
2
77
3K
GeorgioCostanzaX replied
Youtube rolled out another useless, needless, terrible UI update
35
1K
DaciaJC replied
Top Bottom