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Apple Watch |OT| Apple invents the watch!

New WatchOS 2 beta has colorful complications, not sure how I feel about it yet. Seems like it'll be easier to get the information at a glance, but also kinda makes it a bit more messy/inconsistent imo.

img_0529.png

They really should make the colors optional.
 

LCfiner

Member
New WatchOS 2 beta has colorful complications, not sure how I feel about it yet. Seems like it'll be easier to get the information at a glance, but also kinda makes it a bit more messy/inconsistent imo.

img_0529.png

*sucks air through teeth*

not feeling it...
 

SuperPac

Member
Yeah, colored complications need to be optional.

They are. It's basically a new color choice in the faces that have color choices. At least in the modular face shown above. It's the last color in the list. Otherwise if you've selected another color they match that color.
 
They are. It's basically a new color choice in the faces that have color choices. At least in the modular face shown above. It's the last color in the list. Otherwise if you've selected another color they match that color.

That's good to know, how stable is watchOS 2 beta 4?
 
They are. It's basically a new color choice in the faces that have color choices. At least in the modular face shown above. It's the last color in the list. Otherwise if you've selected another color they match that color.

As far as I can tell the activity complication is colorful no matter what choice you pick.
 
D

Deleted member 22576

Unconfirmed Member
Yikes. Yeah its a nice option but I'm not sure how I'd react to only color complications.
I use the simple watchface and I'm so damn used to look at it.

Went for a 25 mile bikeride with the watch yesterday and it was really cool using it for navigation and fitness but it did tax tthe battery heavily.
 

japtor

Member
I think I'd go Space Grey but I bet the Silver with a black band doesn't look bad either. The only problem is I have really bony wrists so I'd think I'd have to go with the 38mm. I measured them and I seem around 165mm ish.

I'll definitely try them both on before making a decision but I'm wondering how a big of a difference the screen size and battery life will make. Will the 38mm look feminine? I've never even worn a watch before so I'm not at all knowledgeable what's fashionable about them.
It's whatever you're comfortable with really...and a lot of watches are pretty huge these days so either Apple one is kinda considered small by comparison. In any case, one trick I saw was to stick a credit card on top of your wrist where it feels kinda flat (where the watch would rest), if your wrist is about the same width either size should be fine, if smaller you'd probably want 38, 42 if larger. Mine is about the same, and both sizes looked fine to me. I ultimately went 42 cause the look of the wider Milanese loop.
Also noticed there's no option to buy a separate Space Black link bracelet. Is that coming? I'd love a Space Grey Stainless Steel but there's no way I'm dropping £800-£900.

Edit: Another question. I know the Watch relies on the iPhone for mostly everything. How close do I have to keep them?
Space black watch and bracelet are only sold together. There's (much much much) cheaper third party black metal bracelets though if you ultimately want something like that. I have the black and have contrasting bands (Milanese and white sport), I'd probably go the same route if I went space gray since they looked alright in other pictures I've seen.

It's got a decent range to the phone, but what can make it really long is if it likes your wifi network setup, then the range is as far as your whole network, iirc it communicates over the LAN rather than directly between watch-phone.
If I am listening to Apple Music, how do I change radio stations from my watch? Can I do this?
I was gonna say Siri but annoying it looks like it asks for Handoff to iPhone for that for whatever reason, hell it does it for Beats 1 even. You can do "play [whatever artist/album/etc]" and it'll search and play from the Apple Music catalog, but not radio.

I'd hope that's fixed in watchOS 2 cause that seems like a really obvious shortcoming that should be addressed.
 

SuperPac

Member
As far as I can tell the activity complication is colorful no matter what choice you pick.

Appears to be that way only on some faces. You're right, on Utility it's always colorful. But Modular you can set it. Just flipped through a bunch of the faces I have and it's not colorful on the Simple, Colorful, Chronograph or Mickey Mouse face.
 

cjp

Junior Member
I've also got very small wrists. But I opted for the 42mm simply cos of the bigger screen and supposedly better battery. With the Sport Bands you get a Small/Medium attachment and a Medium/Large attachment. I need to use the Small/Medium.

If you're in a room then they can be quite far apart. The Watch has its own wifi so it will automatically log into the same wifi that your iPhone is on and use that. If that happens then you can be even on different floors (providing the wifi extends across different floors). Otherwise the Bluetooth range is still fairly generous.

It's whatever you're comfortable with really...and a lot of watches are pretty huge these days so either Apple one is kinda considered small by comparison. In any case, one trick I saw was to stick a credit card on top of your wrist where it feels kinda flat (where the watch would rest), if your wrist is about the same width either size should be fine, if smaller you'd probably want 38, 42 if larger. Mine is about the same, and both sizes looked fine to me. I ultimately went 42 cause the look of the wider Milanese loop.

Space black watch and bracelet are only sold together. There's (much much much) cheaper third party black metal bracelets though if you ultimately want something like that. I have the black and have contrasting bands (Milanese and white sport), I'd probably go the same route if I went space gray since they looked alright in other pictures I've seen.

It's got a decent range to the phone, but what can make it really long is if it likes your wifi network setup, then the range is as far as your whole network, iirc it communicates over the LAN rather than directly between watch-phone.

Great, thanks guys. Much appreciated. I'm going to schedule a try on appointment in the next couple of days so I'll be sure to give them both a work over. I've been doing quite a bit of research on them over the past couple of days now, really looking forward to picking one up.
 
Great, thanks guys. Much appreciated. I'm going to schedule a try on appointment in the next couple of days so I'll be sure to give them both a work over. I've been doing quite a bit of research on them over the past couple of days now, really looking forward to picking one up.

I'd honestly spring for the stainless steel because you will have more diversity in bands and it's something you'll be wearing everyday anyway. Yes, you can switch to different bands on the sport model but IMO I think every band besides the sport band looks pretty band when paired with the aluminum sport watch.
 

border

Member
I'd hope that's fixed in watchOS 2 cause that seems like a really obvious shortcoming that should be addressed.

I swear I actually think I got to a Radio Station Selection screen once on my watch, but have no idea how I did it. Maybe it was a dream?
 

Ninja Dom

Member
I'd honestly spring for the stainless steel because you will have more diversity in bands and it's something you'll be wearing everyday anyway. Yes, you can switch to different bands on the sport model but IMO I think every band besides the sport band looks pretty band when paired with the aluminum sport watch.

What do you think? Space Grey Sport with a Milanese Loop.

 

cjp

Junior Member
I'd honestly spring for the stainless steel because you will have more diversity in bands and it's something you'll be wearing everyday anyway. Yes, you can switch to different bands on the sport model but IMO I think every band besides the sport band looks pretty band when paired with the aluminum sport watch.

Honestly, the only SS one I'd consider is the Space Black and that's way out of the range of what I'd consider spending. The SS just doesn't really appeal to me all that much. I think I'd be content with the Space Grey Sport and maybe both a black and white band.

Or maybe the Silver sport. I haven't made my mind up there, but I'm leaning towards the Space Grey.
 

DOWN

Banned
Why would Apple make one watch have the stronger case but the other have a stronger screen? How am I supposed to choose between risking scratches on the case vs screen?
 

sc0la

Unconfirmed Member
Why would Apple make one watch have the stronger case but the other have a stronger screen? How am I supposed to choose between risking scratches on the case vs screen?
Unless you are talking about gold the stainless steel has both a "stronger" case and screen (read: harder)


Edit: Stainless steel has sapphire, sport has aluminum case and gorilla glass (equivalent)
 

japtor

Member
Unless you are talking about gold the stainless steel has both a "stronger" case and screen (read: harder)


Edit: Stainless steel has sapphire, sport has aluminum case and gorilla glass (equivalent)
Steel scratches easier than the aluminum.

But DLC coated steel is the most scratch resistant of them all!
 

sc0la

Unconfirmed Member
Steel scratches easier than the aluminum.

But DLC coated steel is the most scratch resistant of them all!
I don't know that steel scratches easier than aluminum so much as an anodized matte finish hides it better than a polished finish.

Steel is harder than aluminum otherwise.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
Something I just thought of is that a lot of people seem to think a billion dollar addition to their "other" category in the earnings call means the Apple Watch brought in that much, but the big difference is they also own Beats now. That was around a billion dollar a year company on its own, was it not? So how much the Watch brought in is still a big question.

Steel scratches easier than the aluminum.

But DLC coated steel is the most scratch resistant of them all!


Nah, it's in the polish. The matte finish on the steel moto 360, using the exact same 316L steel as the aWatch, is much better at rejecting scuffs.
 

sc0la

Unconfirmed Member
Something I just thought of is that a lot of people seem to think a billion dollar addition to their "other" category in the earnings call means the Apple Watch brought in that much, but the big difference is they also own Beats now. That was around a billion dollar a year company on its own, was it not? So how much the Watch brought in is still a big question.
This was a billion extra for just one quarter (year over year). The category also contains iPods and other accessories which have had shrinking sales.

They hinted but did not explicitly say the watch revenue might actually be higher than that YoY difference.
 

Phreaker

Member
Something I just thought of is that a lot of people seem to think a billion dollar addition to their "other" category in the earnings call means the Apple Watch brought in that much, but the big difference is they also own Beats now. That was around a billion dollar a year company on its own, was it not? So how much the Watch brought in is still a big question.

Listening to the news the last while you'd think it's a flop, but then you read about how it has sold better than the first gen iPhone or iPad in the first 3 months I start to wonder what "they" expected.

"Cook also pointed out that Apple Watch sales during its first nine weeks of availability were higher than sales of the original iPad and iPhone when those devices first became available for sale. June sales, he said, were higher than those in April or May, suggesting reports of falling demand in June were inaccurate." from MacRumors
 

Hero

Member
Listening to the news the last while you'd think it's a flop, but then you read about how it has sold better than the first gen iPhone or iPad in the first 3 months I start to wonder what "they" expected.

"Cook also pointed out that Apple Watch sales during its first nine weeks of availability were higher than sales of the original iPad and iPhone when those devices first became available for sale. June sales, he said, were higher than those in April or May, suggesting reports of falling demand in June were inaccurate." from MacRumors

The first iPhone was a flop. They had to price cut it and give people Apple Store vouchers.
 

japtor

Member
Something I just thought of is that a lot of people seem to think a billion dollar addition to their "other" category in the earnings call means the Apple Watch brought in that much, but the big difference is they also own Beats now. That was around a billion dollar a year company on its own, was it not? So how much the Watch brought in is still a big question.
Kinda mentioned already, but here's what Apple's people said (from that MacRumors link):
Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told The Associated Press that revenue from the watch was "well over" that $952 million increase. He said the category also includes revenue from iPods and accessories, whose sales fell in the quarter.

"We beat our internal expectations" for the watch, Maestri said, adding that the number of watches sold in the first nine weeks was greater than the number of iPhones or iPads that the company sold in a comparable period after those products launched.
iPhone number doesn't mean much anymore, but (at least at the time) the iPad was considered the fastest selling consumer electronics device. I looked up some press releases recently and I think the iPhone did around a million in 70 something days while the iPad did 3M in 80 days. They also said something like sales were accelerating since they're able to fill demand and more points of sale by the end of June, course that's going from one (the online store) to all the retail locations.

Course that's just the first 3 2.25 months, next quarter will be interesting just to see if sales keep up, but I'm more interested in the holiday quarter...but that's still not much to go off of since that'll be a lot of gifts vs an established product with actual usage at that point.
Nah, it's in the polish. The matte finish on the steel moto 360, using the exact same 316L steel as the aWatch, is much better at rejecting scuffs.
Or at least better at hiding. Kinda wonder if anyone has tried brushing/sanding the whole case, course it might end up looking like the aluminum model if done evenly. Or if they've let it just get scratched up, it should get better with time, and requires no work! (vs re polishing it now and then)
 
The first iPhone was a flop. They had to price cut it and give people Apple Store vouchers.

I don't think that's correct. The first iPhone was released unsubsidized and reflected the true cost of the phone. Once they had AT&T as the carrier, the phone+plan was a couple hundred bucks cheaper and that's why Apple "returned" $200 back to existing customers.
 

japtor

Member
I don't think that's correct. The first iPhone was released unsubsidized and reflected the true cost of the phone. Once they had AT&T as the carrier, the phone+plan was a couple hundred bucks cheaper and that's why Apple "returned" $200 back to existing customers.
ATT was always the carrier (well Cingular when it was announced, but ATT bought them back up by the time the iPhone launched iirc). It might've been unsubsidized but it was still a weird arrangement since it still had a two year contract, cause from what I've read Apple had a revenue sharing agreement on the contracts.

Whatever they case they lowered the price (but I think they might've kept the contract revenue sharing on the first gen) then switched to the standard subsidized model when the 3G came out.
 

LCfiner

Member
I don't think that's correct. The first iPhone was released unsubsidized and reflected the true cost of the phone. Once they had AT&T as the carrier, the phone+plan was a couple hundred bucks cheaper and that's why Apple "returned" $200 back to existing customers.

you’re misremembering. they lowered the cost of the phone - while still with the same AT&T terms - to $400 within that first year.

the 3G was the first iPhone sold with a subsidy.

Also, I’m pretty sure the return to customers was a $100 gift card, not $200.
 
ATT was always the carrier (well Cingular when it was announced, but ATT bought them back up by the time the iPhone launched iirc). It might've been unsubsidized but it was still a weird arrangement since it still had a two year contract, cause from what I've read Apple had a revenue sharing agreement on the contracts.

Whatever they case they lowered the price (but I think they might've kept the contract revenue sharing on the first gen) then switched to the standard subsidized model when the 3G came out.

you’re misremembering. they lowered the cost of the phone - while still with the same AT&T terms - to $400 within that first year.

the 3G was the first iPhone sold with a subsidy.

Also, I’m pretty sure the return to customers was a $100 gift card, not $200.

Ah, thanks for the info. Is Hero correct in calling it a "flop," though? I recall finding it too expensive for me, but realizing that it made every other phone available into a relic. I think I had a Blackjack at the time.
 

LCfiner

Member
Flop might be harsh because I think it still outsold other smartphones at that time - sales volume was way lower.

But obviously since Apple dropped the prices by so much and so soon after launch, they had concerns with those sales so I'd say disappointing sales might be fair.
 
I recently came across the Fitbit Surge after noticing in photos of President Obama wearing it. I began to realise what the issue (in terms of design) of the iWatch is for me: it is too bulky. Right now, I have a Skagen which I adore.

We probably won't see an iWatch this thin with reasonable battery life for at least a few years (if that at all).
 
I recently came across the Fitbit Surge after noticing in photos of President Obama wearing it. I began to realise what the issue (in terms of design) of the iWatch is for me: it is too bulky. Right now, I have a Skagen which I adore.

We probably won't see an iWatch this thin with reasonable battery life for at least a few years (if that at all).

its a very personal thing... loads of people like it and loads dont. It would be difficult to make a watch that works and fit all kinds of likes. I fitted on the Moto360 and that is massive and very high. I am again a liker of a watch with a bit of weight but not too heavy.

Hope you enjoy your fitbit
 

cjp

Junior Member
Well, I went for the 38mm. 42mm felt fine on, but it just didn't look right. Really happy with the fit of the 38mm.

OOGD2cX.jpg


ZCN65Mt.jpg


Prepared to be deluged with questions over the next few days.
 

jts

...hate me...
So, a few months in, anyone experiencing any significant wear out? Especially the sport models, I guess.
 
So, a few months in, anyone experiencing any significant wear out? Especially the sport models, I guess.

no wear or tear on my Stainless Steel, I've banged it against a few things pretty hard and it's held up. I got Apple Care for it so I don't baby it in the slightest

Well, I went for the 38mm. 42mm felt fine on, but it just didn't look right. Really happy with the fit of the 38mm.

Prepared to be deluged with questions over the next few days.

38mm looks good on you
 
Thanks mm. Really pleased with it so far looking forward to taking it out on its first run tomorrow.

I use Runtastic though. Any point in using the built in workout tracker? Will using both cause any problems?

I've only used the built in workout app, haven't had any problems with it
 

mojiimbo

Member
Thanks mm. Really pleased with it so far looking forward to taking it out on its first run tomorrow.

I use Runtastic though. Any point in using the built in workout tracker? Will using both cause any problems?
I launch Runkeeper on my phone and have it running and launch the native Workout app on my watch and run them simultaneously because I like the more open, accessible stat tracking of RunKeeper(it uploads my stats to the website and I don't have to worry about them being wiped if I format my phone) but I also like the Workout app for contributing to my Activity stats and being able to track my progress on the actual run through the Workout app just by lifting my wrist. When I tried using the RunKeeper app on my watch it would revert to showing me the default watch face and I'd have to launch back into it while the Workout app replaces the default watchface on wake when it's actively running.
 

Bumhead

Banned
The 38MM looks really nice there.

I had a demo with the Watch instore last week and intended to try on the 38MM, but ended up forgetting about it and only tried the 42. Thinking I might have to revisit that and check out the 38.

Regarding the Space Grey and Millanese Loop, I asked to see that specific combo myself at my try on session. There absolutely is a difference in colour finishes. I guess it just depends on the individual as to how much that bothers you. I thought it looked fine, although I tried on some of the other bands that offered a much less obvious contrast and generally looked better.

Is anyone here using a third party strap yet? I've not got my Watch yet, but I want a "nice" strap to swap for the sport one when I'm out and about or on occassions. Don't fancy paying £120+ though.
 

cjp

Junior Member
I've only used the built in workout app, haven't had any problems with it

I launch Runkeeper on my phone and have it running and launch the native Workout app on my watch and run them simultaneously because I like the more open, accessible stat tracking of RunKeeper(it uploads my stats to the website and I don't have to worry about them being wiped if I format my phone) but I also like the Workout app for contributing to my Activity stats and being able to track my progress on the actual run through the Workout app just by lifting my wrist. When I tried using the RunKeeper app on my watch it would revert to showing me the default watch face and I'd have to launch back into it while the Workout app replaces the default watchface on wake when it's actively running.

Thanks guys. I ran both this morning and they worked without any problems.

Only slight problem I noticed so far is that it took an awful long time for the Weather location to update on the watch face. I'll keep an eye on that.

Also can't see a way to get the current location's sunrise/sunset times out of having them displayed on the watch face itself. Can't see them listed in the Weather app at all.
 
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