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I'm surprised that hardly anyone is mentioning the activity wheel. That's the killer feature as far as I'm concerned. I don't know much about the science behind

I'm surprised that hardly anyone is mentioning the activity wheel. That's the killer feature as far as I'm concerned. I don't know much about the science behind it, like if filling your activity wheel actually means you are doing a somewhat good job at being healthy, but I know that my settings are definitely keeping me more consistently active than I would by default otherwise. It's a key part of my life now, and I've filled that damned wheel about 95% of the days that I've owned the watch. Given that I'm not sure I would have improved my habits without it, I feel like it has definitely improved my life. Other things that the watch has been a nice addition for - checking the weather over the next few hours by spinning the dial is very convenient. Receiving/reading messages while the phone isn't out. The rest of it, not so much. The watch could be better at showing the time when you want to see it; I often have to tap the face. I rarely use Siri. I ignore calendar/mail entirely, phone works better. I dislike Apple Maps and use Google Maps instead. I could theoretically be in the market for a smaller/slimmer Apple fitness device.

eric_h 10y ago
> checking the weather over the next few hours by spinning the dial is very convenient Holy shit I have no idea why I never thought to do that, that's a great feature. I agree that the watch is not a life changing tech upgrade like the iPhone was, but personally, I find the features on the watch that I do use to be convenient and compelling enough that I still put the watch on every morning. Really, the killer feature I want is disable the god damn screenshot feature on the watch, or at least give me a button in the photos app to "purge all watch screenshots" because fully half of my photo library is accidental watch screenshots, and I haven't had the time to come up with a way to script it. Oh yes, and apple pay when a vendor accepts it is just down right awesome.
mikestew 10y ago
I'm surprised that hardly anyone is mentioning the activity wheel. That's the killer feature as far as I'm concerned. If it does what I think it does, Garmin, Suunto and others have the same "killer feature" (in which case one should wonder, what is that feature killing? Not Apple's competitors.) Pebble doesn't, last time I fired my up a few weeks ago. Other things that the watch has been a nice addition for - checking the weather over the next few hours by spinning the dial is very convenient. A button push on my Garmin. One long push on Pebble, if you've set it up for that. Pebble has watch faces that show weather all the time. Haven't looked, but I'd be surprised if someone didn't do the same for Garmins. The watch could be better at showing the time when you want to see it; I often have to tap the face. This is where I think that Apple failed miserably. It's the main reason that I, as an iOS/Mac developer and all-around fanboy, didn't even consider the Apple Watch when it came out. Wanna know the time with a Garmin or a Pebble (or a Suunto, or just about any other smartwatch out there)? Want it to work every...single...time? Turn your wrist until the watch is in your line of sight. You'll see the time, guaranteed. (Caveat: if it's dark, might have to hit the backlight button. Though the Garmin on my wrist will light up at night when I turn my wrist with about 95% success.)

eric_h 10y ago

> checking the weather over the next few hours by spinning the dial is very convenient Holy shit I have no idea why I never thought to do that, that's a great feature. I agree that the watch is not a life changing tech upgrade like the iPhone was, but personally, I find the features on the watch that I do use to be convenient and compelling enough that I still put the watch on every morning. Really, the killer feature I want is disable the god damn screenshot feature on the watch, or at least give me a button in the photos app to "purge all watch screenshots" because fully half of my photo library is accidental watch screenshots, and I haven't had the time to come up with a way to script it. Oh yes, and apple pay when a vendor accepts it is just down right awesome.

mikestew 10y ago

I'm surprised that hardly anyone is mentioning the activity wheel. That's the killer feature as far as I'm concerned. If it does what I think it does, Garmin, Suunto and others have the same "killer feature" (in which case one should wonder, what is that feature killing? Not Apple's competitors.) Pebble doesn't, last time I fired my up a few weeks ago. Other things that the watch has been a nice addition for - checking the weather over the next few hours by spinning the dial is very convenient. A button push on my Garmin. One long push on Pebble, if you've set it up for that. Pebble has watch faces that show weather all the time. Haven't looked, but I'd be surprised if someone didn't do the same for Garmins. The watch could be better at showing the time when you want to see it; I often have to tap the face. This is where I think that Apple failed miserably. It's the main reason that I, as an iOS/Mac developer and all-around fanboy, didn't even consider the Apple Watch when it came out. Wanna know the time with a Garmin or a Pebble (or a Suunto, or just about any other smartwatch out there)? Want it to work every...single...time? Turn your wrist until the watch is in your line of sight. You'll see the time, guaranteed. (Caveat: if it's dark, might have to hit the backlight button. Though the Garmin on my wrist will light up at night when I turn my wrist with about 95% success.)