There’s still room to grow.
The Apple Watch has been around for a good long while now. It was unveiled almost exactly two years ago, and has been on sale since April 2015. Since then it’s been finding its way onto a lot of wrists and frustrating a lot of people at the same time.
Those frustrations — and declining shipments — haven’t fallen on deaf ears.
Back at WWDC in June, Apple already showed the world the next version of the Watch’s operating system, WatchOS 3. It’s about as close to a complete reboot as you could imagine. The function of the side button totally changes (it’s now an app dock) and apps will now totally live on the Watch (instead of “streaming” from a tethered iPhone). There are also new social fitness features, better watch faces…and it’s faster.
By itself, WatchOS 3 will give existing Apple Watch owners a good reason to pull their watches out of the drawer and give them a second chance.
But with strong signs (price cuts on current models, plus published reports pointing to the announcement of an Apple Watch sequel on September 7) it’s time to look at what Apple could bring to the table with new hardware.
There’s a lot of room to grow. The current model is an imperfect product, in a landscape of imperfect watches and fitness trackers. It’s still not a must-have. And it lacks a few key features that are already in other smartwatches and fitness trackers. (One of those missing features is built-in cellular connectivity that would allow you to go iPhone-free, but it’s apparently not on the docket for 2016.)
I don’t know what’s coming, but here’s what I would like to see.
Better battery life. Even if it means a few more hours, or hopefully an extra day, the Apple Watch could use a battery boost. Mine lasts a day and a half, roughly. But many fitness trackers last a week or more (Fitbit Blaze and Charge 2 last around five days), and some smartwatches like those from Pebble go for up to seven solid days or more. Samsung’s upcoming Gear S3 is bigger but offers more battery, too. The new Apple Watch could go a similar route with a battery-boosted model. Apple’s history suggests that the sequel would also be slimmer.
More serious water resistance. Being swim-friendly would be great. The Apple Watch is water-resistant enough to run it under water or dunk it in a tub, but it’s not recommended for showering and definitely not for swimming. Bumping water resistance at least up to IP68 (the same as the new Samsung Gear S3) would be welcome. Even better, go for 3ATM or better, which would allow swimming and swim-tracking. Pebble, Misfit and Withings, among others, already can do it.
Smarter automatic fitness. Fitness trackers now tend to engage in automatic activity recognition. Fitbit, Pebble, Samsung and others can track exercises and even sleep automatically. The Apple Watch should be able to recognize and record exercise modes automatically, too. Some of WatchOS 3’s Fitness features, like a new meditative Breathe mode and socially-connected fitness options, help a bit. Most people buy wrist-tech to track fitness. The Apple Watch — for a lot of people — is a essentially a fitness tracker, but it needs to be even better at what those dedicated trackers do. And, maybe, Apple can apply machine learning to offer up better fitness insights; it’s an area that some fitness trackers and apps have dabbled in, but few have mastered.
GPS and barometer. Speaking of fitness, the Apple Watch could use GPS to track runs away from the iPhone. Many other fitness watches already do this, and so does the Gear S3. Rumors also report that the next Apple Watch will have a barometer, which could allow stair-climbing data like the Fitbit does.
Sleep-tracking. A better battery could mean doing things the Apple Watch hasn’t touched yet. Sleep is an obvious omission. Most fitness trackers now log sleep. Apple Watch should, too. Another bonus to tracking sleep is the ability to gather a more accurate resting heart-rate measurement, something Apple Watch also doesn’t do yet.
Lots of new watch faces. More specifically, a watch-face store. Sure, that’s not a Watch 2-specific feature, but the Apple Watch has had a glaring lack of third-party watch faces compared to the Android Wear, Samsung Gear or even Pebble platforms. Watch faces are fun. Apple can obviously marshal big-name designers and brands to make watch faces, so where are they?
Improved touch control. On the iPhone, I don’t often use 3D Touch, the pressure-sensitive technology that allows gentle presses on the screen to activate different functions. But I could see it being useful on the Apple Watch. The original Apple Watch has Force Touch, not 3D Touch. The difference is that the Apple Watch’s entire surface is less pressure sensitive: you can’t gently press on certain parts and expect the level of fine control which 3D Touch allows. The Watch could use expanded pressure-sensitive design for a more elegant way to look at and launch apps, for instance, or act as a smart-home remote.
Price cut. Apple Watch has already been heavily discounted at many retailers for as low as $250 in the US, but an even lower official price for the Sport model (say, $200) would be a lot easier to justify for many people, and would be a better competitor versus the Fitbit, Pebble and Withings devices of the world — many of which now cost $150 or less. Or Apple could simply drop the price of the first-gen Apple Watch models and keep them around, like Apple does with previous-year iPhones.
Source: cnet.com
I can’t understand how sleep monitoring will ever be a functional requirement. It may be a “nice to have” thing for some folks, but most people would find it not a “must have” function. At some point, you have to charge the damn thing…the most likely time to do that, is while you are sleeping.
I am still looking for these devices running loose in the wild. So far, I have seen exactly one iWatch and no Gear or other brands. I just don’t want something the size of Big Ben, with minimal functionality, hanging on my wrist. Maybe, once these gadgets are mature, I will consider one.
Has anyone ever rated the impact resistance of any of these watches? I’m thinking of the impact the watch would receive from hitting a golf ball or softball. Would the watch go nuts, when you made your swing follow-through? Some people might suggest that one should remove the watch for athletic endeavors but, if you are using it as a fitness tracker, you would want to leave it on.
What I’d like to see is a screen that is always on, so you don’t have to raise it to your face or touch it to read the time. Pebble has this, as does the Sony Smartwatch 3. Not many others do, but this is essential in my opinion.
Apple Watch’s biggest flaw is the fact that when you raise your wrist, there is only a 50% chance the screen will turn on. This is especially frustrating when you’re riding a bike, or you have something in your other hand. And when it does turn on, it will turn off just before you’re done reading it. Inexplicably, there are no Settings to control the sensitivity or the duration of this feature. It’s as if Apple is so worried about battery life, they don’t want you to ever see the screen lit up.
Being an apple watch user, I can tell you it does what it’s supposed to very well. The notifications works just as it should, The essential quick view of weather, stocks, time, etc all work well. I love the fact that just picking up my wrist automatically opens the watch and the ability to make/take calls like dick tracy. Some new features through watchOS 3 is a welcome and hopefully will make it even better.
I don’t have an apple watch but agree with the need for all of the items in the writers wish list being necessary before I purchase one. In addition I would like the Apple watch to be fully functional and work as a cell phone/text messaging/email device via wifi without the need for iPhone tethering. Secondly I would like to have the option of a fatter watch with cellular connectivity. Ideally I would want to be able to have a virtual sim card which could be transferred between my iPhone and watch so I wouldn’t need to pay for two accounts If I had cellular functionality. Also I imagine a native Apple version of something like Swype on the watch would be essential if they don’t have this already. If all of those features were baked into an Apple watch in the next version I imagine they would have a very successful product on their hands;)
Apple Watch already has IPx7 rating. I’ve taking mine to the water park and pool, still working without issue.
I would like to see a small projector added to the watch. This would project a message onto the forehead of the wearer. The message would say ” Dork”.
@mayor2013 You could achieve the same effect by just strapping a small mirror to your wrist.
@mayor2013 I used to be called a dork way back in the day for owning a smartphone when everyone else had Motorola Razrs. My how times have changed. Now i’m called stupid because my phone doesn’t have enough resolution or RAM. Its hysterical.
I know I’m prop not going to get these but here’s what I want (in addition to whats been noted above)
1) redesign. Honestly, I think Apple Watch’s aesthetics pale in comparison to offerings from Samsung and others. Even if its not all that practical I like the idea of a circular screen and not a boring square one.
2) cellular connectivity. I’m not saying I want to ditch my iphone and make calls from the watch. But I need the watch to be independent of the phone for places I go where my phone can’t. Whether it be the shower or swimming or even using it as a “find my iphone” device.
Cellular connectivity would probably lead to making the watch more bulky like the gear s3. I don’t think most people want to pay another monthly fee to have the watch on cellular network. There will be very few instances when you need that since you will have your phone on you most of the time
@tech_talker well Apple is powerful enough to work out a deal with the carriers about data plans where maybe the watch and the phone can share a data plan. Also, if you are only really using the watch for notifications and email and not Netflix or YouTube you would only be using a very tiny amt of data.
regarding the bulk I agree that would be an issue. Thats why I wish apple would embrace the idea of smart straps. There is so much wasted real estate in the dumb straps we have now. A cellular chip could fit in a strap link IMO
You are unlikely to get your demands… yet you will acquire a watch anyway. See the problem?
Yes, I see a problem, but it’s not with the other poster. The problem is your logic, or lack thereof. First of all, you don’t know this person so you have no way of knowing if he / she will even buy a watch. Secondly, he’s (or she) is not demanding anything. These are his requests. And many people buy things even though they wish the item was different in some ways.
@evilpinklolita what kind of crazy society would this be if people bought well made products which suited their needs
I can’t understand how sleep monitoring will ever be a functional requirement. It may be a “nice to have” thing for some folks, but most people would find it not a “must have” function. At some point, you have to charge the damn thing…the most likely time to do that, is while you are sleeping.
I am still looking for these devices running loose in the wild. So far, I have seen exactly one iWatch and no Gear or other brands. I just don’t want something the size of Big Ben, with minimal functionality, hanging on my wrist. Maybe, once these gadgets are mature, I will consider one.
Has anyone ever rated the impact resistance of any of these watches? I’m thinking of the impact the watch would receive from hitting a golf ball or softball. Would the watch go nuts, when you made your swing follow-through? Some people might suggest that one should remove the watch for athletic endeavors but, if you are using it as a fitness tracker, you would want to leave it on.
What I’d like to see is a screen that is always on, so you don’t have to raise it to your face or touch it to read the time. Pebble has this, as does the Sony Smartwatch 3. Not many others do, but this is essential in my opinion.
Apple Watch’s biggest flaw is the fact that when you raise your wrist, there is only a 50% chance the screen will turn on. This is especially frustrating when you’re riding a bike, or you have something in your other hand. And when it does turn on, it will turn off just before you’re done reading it. Inexplicably, there are no Settings to control the sensitivity or the duration of this feature. It’s as if Apple is so worried about battery life, they don’t want you to ever see the screen lit up.
Being an apple watch user, I can tell you it does what it’s supposed to very well. The notifications works just as it should, The essential quick view of weather, stocks, time, etc all work well. I love the fact that just picking up my wrist automatically opens the watch and the ability to make/take calls like dick tracy. Some new features through watchOS 3 is a welcome and hopefully will make it even better.
I don’t have an apple watch but agree with the need for all of the items in the writers wish list being necessary before I purchase one. In addition I would like the Apple watch to be fully functional and work as a cell phone/text messaging/email device via wifi without the need for iPhone tethering. Secondly I would like to have the option of a fatter watch with cellular connectivity. Ideally I would want to be able to have a virtual sim card which could be transferred between my iPhone and watch so I wouldn’t need to pay for two accounts If I had cellular functionality. Also I imagine a native Apple version of something like Swype on the watch would be essential if they don’t have this already. If all of those features were baked into an Apple watch in the next version I imagine they would have a very successful product on their hands;)
Apple Watch already has IPx7 rating. I’ve taking mine to the water park and pool, still working without issue.
I would like to see a small projector added to the watch. This would project a message onto the forehead of the wearer. The message would say ” Dork”.
@mayor2013 You could achieve the same effect by just strapping a small mirror to your wrist.
@mayor2013 I used to be called a dork way back in the day for owning a smartphone when everyone else had Motorola Razrs. My how times have changed. Now i’m called stupid because my phone doesn’t have enough resolution or RAM. Its hysterical.
I know I’m prop not going to get these but here’s what I want (in addition to whats been noted above)
1) redesign. Honestly, I think Apple Watch’s aesthetics pale in comparison to offerings from Samsung and others. Even if its not all that practical I like the idea of a circular screen and not a boring square one.
2) cellular connectivity. I’m not saying I want to ditch my iphone and make calls from the watch. But I need the watch to be independent of the phone for places I go where my phone can’t. Whether it be the shower or swimming or even using it as a “find my iphone” device.
Cellular connectivity would probably lead to making the watch more bulky like the gear s3. I don’t think most people want to pay another monthly fee to have the watch on cellular network. There will be very few instances when you need that since you will have your phone on you most of the time
@tech_talker well Apple is powerful enough to work out a deal with the carriers about data plans where maybe the watch and the phone can share a data plan. Also, if you are only really using the watch for notifications and email and not Netflix or YouTube you would only be using a very tiny amt of data.
regarding the bulk I agree that would be an issue. Thats why I wish apple would embrace the idea of smart straps. There is so much wasted real estate in the dumb straps we have now. A cellular chip could fit in a strap link IMO
You are unlikely to get your demands… yet you will acquire a watch anyway. See the problem?
Yes, I see a problem, but it’s not with the other poster. The problem is your logic, or lack thereof. First of all, you don’t know this person so you have no way of knowing if he / she will even buy a watch. Secondly, he’s (or she) is not demanding anything. These are his requests. And many people buy things even though they wish the item was different in some ways.
@evilpinklolita what kind of crazy society would this be if people bought well made products which suited their needs