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Apple Watch |OT| Apple invents the watch!

Namikaze

Member
So, I got my 42MM SG Sport yesterday. Impressions:

-The box is..long. Long enough to be a weapon. I'm using it as a stand for the watch charger and keeping the charger in place with a glue dot. It'll have to do till I get a nomad dock.

-The Sport band feels premium, I'm really impressed and will be buying another one soon.

-it's weird not hearing Siri speak, at first I thought my watch was broken, lol.

-I love the fitness achievements. They seemed kinda lame in previews but I look forward to working out some more so I can get more badges (I nearly tripled my fitness goal for the day--felt really good).

-Watch Quest is pretty cool for a watch game.

A couple people at work asked about it and most were impressed--I think I sold a couple of them on it, too. I'm really satisfied with the watch so far, it does everything I wanted it to do and more. Can't wait to mess with it some more later on today.
 

HoTHiTTeR

Member
For home around 2130 and plugged my watch into the iPad 10w charger.... From 12% to 98% in 90 minutes. Either, wow awesome, or, wow I just killed this poor battery.
 
What's the theft deterrence for the watch? I know the changes Apple has made to phone activation and Find My Phone has really cut down on muggings and stolen phones, but is there any such thing for the watch?
 

Liquid_015

Gold Member
Hey Gaf!

I know this might be a long shot, but I'm looking to purchase a 38mm apple sport watch in Space Grey or Aluminum. I was wondering if anyone is interested in selling it for a reasonable price. I'm trying to acquire one as a graduation gift to the gf, but the shipping dates from Apple are just insanely long. Thanks a lot and please message me!
 

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
Wow, the 38mm Stainless Steel Milanese loop is PERFECT for me. It's exactly what I wanted. I heard so many people say it's very small, even 'feminine'...I was a little fearful - I'm 6'1, and my wrists aren't dainty. Really thought the loop may not fit around my hand...but it is all good. I wanted something discreet and out of the way but still looking great. It is awesome.
 

jts

...hate me...
I use SoundHoud, any chance of that getting a Watch-native app?
SoundHound is on the watch already, just tried it and works pretty well.

qO7M9Mx.jpg


From what I can tell it uses your iPhone's microphone to pick up the song. So if you're in the kitchen listening to the radio and your phone is charging in the bedroom, it's probably not gonna pick up the song.
You can already use that function natively, it's built into Siri.

"Hey Siri what song is playing?". And it uses the Watch mic for sure.
 

jts

...hate me...
So has anyone taken the watch for a run?

Do you need your iphone with you to track distance/steps? I assume you don't.
You don't but when you go with your iPhone it will use that more precise GPS data to learn your speed and calibrate the Watch, so it will get more precise when you take it on its own.
 

Jimrpg

Member
You don't but when you go with your iPhone it will use that more precise GPS data to learn your speed and calibrate the Watch, so it will get more precise when you take it on its own.

Ah ok cool, the fitbit was already accurate enough for me anyway, so this is a bonus I suppose.
 
Hey Gaf!

I know this might be a long shot, but I'm looking to purchase a 38mm apple sport watch in Space Grey or Aluminum. I was wondering if anyone is interested in selling it for a reasonable price. I'm trying to acquire one as a graduation gift to the gf, but the shipping dates from Apple are just insanely long. Thanks a lot and please message me!

Good luck with that.
 

jts

...hate me...
I just tried this - it doesn't work from the watch. It suggests handoff to the phone to complete the task.
Damn, sorry for misleading then. Really thought that functionality was built into Siri as a service (on the server side of Siri) and work just as well as other Siri stuff without the phone.
 

rezuth

Member
I tried out Shazam on Apple Watch. It's clearly a more usable function to have on my wrist versus struggling for my phone before the song or commercial ends.

Siri has built-in Shazam now doesn't it? Just say "Siri, What song is this?" or something to that effect. I guess using the app gives a bit more discretion though :D
 
Damn, sorry for misleading then. Really thought that functionality was built into Siri as a service (on the server side of Siri) and work just as well as other Siri stuff without the phone.
I don't see why it can't work on the watch - it's got everything it needs to do it. Hopefully it comes later.
 
Got my 38mm white Sport Aluminum today. Finally starting to figure out the interface. This model is probably the lightest, but as I haven't worn a watch regularly in a long long time, it's hard to get used to. Also, I'm a lefty but have always worn a watch on my left hand. But now that I have to tap on it with some amount of precision using my right hand, it's a bit awkward. So I have to decide whether wearing it on my right hand is more awkward than tapping imprecisely.

Battery life seems great. Wish the tapic engine was modifiable per notification. Leaving the sounds on for now, but I can see me setting it to silent before too long. My favorite face is the Astronomy face, though it can't be modified. But it looks great, and if you tap on it, you can drag the world with your finger. It's the little things.
 

jts

...hate me...
jts did you get yours? You were using that freight forwarding process, right?

Thanks for asking, but no, not yet. Even if I got lucky enough to get it shipped by Apple on time for the launch date, it would be in the forwarder warehouses by now and I'd get it next week.

My order got cancelled by Apple and then reinstated but it's still set to get delivered by May 12 to 26. It's being processed right now, but I'm actually thinking of cancelling it. I'm waiting for Monday's earnings call to see if they say anything regarding 2nd wave countries.

The thing is I'm concerned to get a defective Watch or something, so probably it would be for the best to just ignore my device lust for now and wait a couple of more weeks or even months. I'll be perfectly fine with it as long is it doesn't only get released here by fall/christmas.
 

jts

...hate me...
That's unexpected. Wonder why it only works there...
Probably a battery-saving measure. Raising your wrist reveals the watch face for some seconds so it's not so taxing to have the mic open during that - also it's the most useful opportunity for you to use Siri completely handsfree (let's say you're cooking, or your hands are sweaty or dirty or whatnot). On every other occasion you're already interacting with the watch with your hands so a long press of the digital crown is just a small step from there.
 

Terrell

Member
What's the theft deterrence for the watch? I know the changes Apple has made to phone activation and Find My Phone has really cut down on muggings and stolen phones, but is there any such thing for the watch?
It can be passcode locked just like the iPhone, which it will ask for every time it is removed from the wrist and in the presence of the iPhone it's paired with.
Since Apple Watch cannot be factory reset without the iPhone it was originally paired with, it would essentially be permanently paired to the iPhone, making it useless without it. And if you take the iPhone along with it, Find My iPhone would essentially permanently brick the watch without entering the iCloud account info associated to the phone.
So an activated Apple Watch is even more useless to thieves.
 

Ambitious

Member
Amazon-Apple-Watch-main.png


Yes, Amazon, I will totally use voice input on my fucking watch with its <2in screen to conduct searches, evaluate products and order them. Not gonna use my phone for that, because that's way to cumbersome.
 

jts

...hate me...
cn1gd07.png


I really thought there was a more complete equivalence between bluetooth and same wi-fi network features. No SMS relay or phone calls relay? Notifications? Damn if so. Macs and iOS devices do it.


Btw, what about FaceTime calls, video or audio? (with video I mean I know it should fall back to audio only if you're actually allowed to answer on the Watch).
 

rezuth

Member
Amazon-Apple-Watch-main.png


Yes, Amazon, I will totally use voice input on my fucking watch with its <2in screen to conduct searches, evaluate products and order them. Not gonna use my phone for that, because that's way to cumbersome.

A list of essential home products would be great on it. Like a list with toilett paper or something to quick order.
 

Majine

Banned
I really hope they double down on voice recognition tech in the coming years. It's still not that great, and this device basically begs for it.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
It can be passcode locked just like the iPhone, which it will ask for every time it is removed from the wrist and in the presence of the iPhone it's paired with.
Since Apple Watch cannot be factory reset without the iPhone it was originally paired with, it would essentially be permanently paired to the iPhone, making it useless without it. And if you take the iPhone along with it, Find My iPhone would essentially permanently brick the watch without entering the iCloud account info associated to the phone.
So an activated Apple Watch is even more useless to thieves.
I saw the original theft deference question and just wanted to reiterate this... And it needs to get out I. The wild to (hopefully) prevent a ton (all) of useless robberies.

Yes, a stolen apple watch is basically useless. If the watch is not locked they might be able to get some info (notifications, possibly friends, native glances, etc) but really not much.

Also I recommend everyone lock their watch and then enable the setting "unlock with iPhone". Especially on a Touch ID iPhone the whole thing becomes trivial and transparent. Put the watch on, touch the home button, everything is unlocked.

You can really tell that security was considered early on, not tacked on as an afterthought.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
What is it exactly did you want it to do for you?
I know your were asking him, but it's kind of funny. As I am going through the apps that are eligible to be installed on the phone, the vast majority of them I basically said "meh" to. Honestly 95% of what I want it to do it does out of the box (notifications, quicker response, etc)

I am deciding on a Twitter client. And sure there are things here and there that I might install. But yeah most of what I want it for is everything apple already advertised it as.

Added benefit from 3rd party apps, as they arrive, is a pure bonus.
 

Mohonky

Member
Amazon-Apple-Watch-main.png


Yes, Amazon, I will totally use voice input on my fucking watch with its <2in screen to conduct searches, evaluate products and order them. Not gonna use my phone for that, because that's way to cumbersome.


Well to be fair this seems to sum up the Apple Watch entirely. Isn't it basically just pushing all compatible app notifications from an iphone to the watch itself?

Why not just use your phone to begin with?

It's Apple so it's going to sell but the whole thing seems stupid to me.
 

jts

...hate me...
Well to be fair this seems to sum up the Apple Watch entirely. Isn't it basically just pushing all compatible app notifications from an iphone to the watch itself?

Why not just use your phone to begin with?

It's Apple so it's going to sell but the whole thing seems stupid to me.

Don't apps just reflect information on websites and on the computer? Why not just use the computer?

Because there are opportunities where using the phone is more practical, easier to reach and closer to you at all times.

Same for the watch. Which is better/faster to check the time, set a timer, check the weather, check texts, mails, tweets, use Siri, get silent notifications from any app and perform quick interactions, relegating phone usage to longer interactions, which aren't always necessary.

And it doubles as a fitness device in a way that the phone cannot.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Well to be fair this seems to sum up the Apple Watch entirely. Isn't it basically just pushing all compatible app notifications from an iphone to the watch itself?

Why not just use your phone to begin with?

It's Apple so it's going to sell but the whole thing seems stupid to me.
This mostly comes down to how you use your phone. A coworker of mine agrees with you. He keeps his phone out as his desk all day, glances as it as needed, and even at home says he has his phone next to him the majority of time, always within glancing distance. For him, having that on your wrist would make no difference and might even be more cumbersome.

Now take me. My phone is in my pocket probably 99% of the time that it's not being used. Any time a notification comes through it means taking it out of my pocket to see what just happened. More to the point it means INTERRUPTING whatever it is I am doing to reach into my pocket to pull out my phone to see what the alert was. My phone and its alerts are not normally withing glancing distance, and reacting to an alert means literally dropping what I am doing just to SEE the alert, let alone respond (or not).

Now taking his post into context, my watch is for me to be able to see (and possibly respond to) alerts quickly and unobtrusively. Amazon however isn't alerting, or generating anything that I need to know now. Same thing with Target, etc. to your very point, there is no good reason for me to NOT use my phone for that.

So your point is valid in many ways, but for a lot of us the watch gives us access to alerts from our phone, and the ability to respond to them, in a much more convenient and unobtrusive manner.

On a completely different note, after seeing all of the unboxing vids of Sport watches, when I finally got my SS last night I was pretty blown away by the different packaging. Apple really is selling the SS as a premium product. The custom shipping box and packing inserts, everything covered by folded plastic wrapping, the inset hard plastic case, etc. the whole setup was actually nicer than both ACTUAL watches that I paid over $400 each for. Could not be happier with my purchase and the whole experience. Now just need to grab either the classic buckle or steel link band for it. Or hopefully some licensed 3rd party options start hitting shelves soon.
 

border

Member
What is different about the packaging of the stainless steel watches? The packing on the Sport model already seemed pretty fancy and extravagant to me.
 

TxdoHawk

Member
I won't lie, having seen all the unboxings and shots now, it would've been tempting to blow another $200+ on the Stainless Steel. Apple seems to have pushed hard to make that jump compelling, between the sapphire and the slightly nicer charger, etc. Maybe next go-round.
 
It's plain to see who hasn't worn a watch in years if not ever when watching a few of these videos.
Most seem to wear the watch too high up the wrist!
A lot of people seem to have it on the wrist bone, which surely would restrict your hand movement...? Plus wouldn't that effect the accuracy of heart rate readings?

The watch looks very cool though, regretting not pre-ordering now...
 

SuperPac

Member
When I went to pick up my wife's watch at UPS the guy there joked "How many watches you got in there?" - the box on the SS is pretty big and heavy considering the size/weight of the item inside. Definitely feels premium, it's very nice. My wife was super impressed with it too.

One thing I did not realize - I sent my wife a video of our daughter, and she was able to play it on her Watch. I figured you'd only be able to look at pictures there but video too. Doesn't look/sound that great on the watch but it'll do it!
 

TKR92

Member
Yesterday I tried to verify Apple Pay for my credit card.
During the process, a service person asked that I got Apple Watch. LOL
 
Because of this thread I ended up ordering the 42mm space grey sport, will arrive in June. I think I'm most excited to use it for fitness. Hopefully WWDC has some exciting software updates, like 3rd party native apps and them actually being able to use the microphone on watch, crazy that only apple had access to it now


Also, will 3rd party developers be allowed to make watch faces? Would love a MGS theme
 

Namikaze

Member
What is it exactly did you want it to do for you?

I wanted the fitness tracking and notifications on my wrist. There are some other cool features though, like being able to control my Apple TV from my wrist, syncing playlists between iPhone and Apple watch, etc. I knew about the general features of the watch but never looked into the little stuff.
 
This is pretty nice when you have everything set up the way you want. I have notifications strictly for text messages and VIP emails. I have 'glances' set up for just the apps/info I want to see. 'Glances' is very busy at first.

The watch is a more social device as you don't pull your phone out as much. When I pull the phone out, I tend to check many things and with the watch, I just don't. All it takes is a text to pull that phone out. With the watch, you read the text and that's it.

Was out with my wife and her friends from out of town last night and was able to be 'nice' and hang with them but was also able to keep tabs on the Rockets/Mavericks game with the ESPN app. For the last 2 minutes of the game, I had to go to the bar and watch, but it was nice to be able to follow the game a bit without being so obvious.

Shazam app works perfectly. Far more convenient than using the phone. Yelp app is incredible, especially if you're in a part of town you're not extremely familiar with.

Definitely digging the new watch. Want to put the Strava app through its paces with a nice bike ride.
 
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