8 ms·

My Apple Watch After 5 Days

224 points by hboon 11y ago

andygates 11y ago
That's an interesting use-case for small-group tap messaging that I hadn't even considered. Time to write something for Wear!
skywhopper 11y ago
This was a fascinating read for a view into a world I know all too little about. But an equally big takeaway for me is the idea that haptic feedback may end up being the biggest change that successful wearable products bring to our lives. The potential is there for nearly everyone. Great post.
SlashmanX 11y ago
Nice to see that accessibility is still being thought of, a lot of developers and designers take this type of stuff for granted. However, I found this to be quite a "jarring" read, with "Apple Watch" being constantly written as such, seemed like an advertisement or at the very least just some SEO trickery. Disrupted my reading flow quite a bit
- rsynnott 11y ago
  That's the trouble with having a name like that. She does actually write "watch" in some places; she could possibly get away with changing a couple of the occurrences of "Apple Watch" to "watch", but changing some of them would lead to ambiguity with the other watch she was talking about.
- serve_yay 11y ago
  Why are people on HN so obsessed with this? People buy things and talk about them. Get over it.
MDCore 11y ago
I am impressed and pleased that what a few years ago would have been a highly specialized disability support tool seems to now be a case of changing a few settings in a mass-produced product.
- octo_t 11y ago
  Apple have always been known for excellent accessibility in their products. There was a story that came out when Jobs died about how he'd personally intervened when a bluetooth update(?) broke the software a kid in a wheelchair was using.
  - feld 11y ago
    Hmm, I missed this story. I'll have to look for it. It's a great testament to his vision and integrity, no matter what others may have perceived of him.
  - microtherion 11y ago
    It probably would be more accurate to say "for the last 10 years" than "always". In the early 2000s, Apple realized that some of their most prominent school deals were in danger of falling apart due to OS X's insufficient section 508 compliance. Since OS X marketshare was too small to ensure a sufficient ecosystem of third party accessibility solution providers (as existed for Windows), Apple formed an in-house accessibility team. Over time, Apple realized that doing accessibility in-house and treating it as a full stack responsibility fit in well with the company philosophy, so today accessibility is indeed treated as a very important aspect of products. Coincidentally, this week marks the 10th anniversary of the official release of VoiceOver, Apple's OS X screen reader.
- skywhopper 11y ago
  It's fantastic. Good accessibility support can make products better for everyone, even people with no particular disability can make use of them in certain situations.
Osmium 11y ago
I'm a big fan of 'accessibility first' design. Beyond the obvious benefits to those who need them, it also creates affordances for people without disabilities too. An aside, but the Bradley watch[1] mentioned looks great. Shame it's so big. [1] http://www.dezeenwatchstore.com/shop/the-bradley-stainless-steel/ http://www.dezeenwatchstore.com/shop/the-bradley-stainless-s...
- omegaforever 11y ago
  > Shame it's so big. You're so entitled. There's nothing wrong with 'big' watches and the people for whom the watch is designed appreciate the size.
  - Raed667 11y ago
    This is the issue with smart-watches ... When I buy a watch I really care for the size and not only the model. I didn't buy watches I fell in love with because they were too small/too big ... The 2 standard size format will leave many people out..
  - Osmium 11y ago
    I think you read more into my statement than I intended. I have no problem with big watches, and I'm happy for people who can enjoy them! It's only a shame because I have small wrists, so it's not suitable for me :)
    - omegaforever 11y ago
      You still don't get it. It's NOT a 'shame'; it's not about you. The watch is too 'big' or you have 'small' wrists, doesn't matter. What's the size of your wrist? What do you think is the size of Molly's wrist? Have you even seen the Bradley watch in the wild or tried one on? I've seen it thrice and the second time was on the wrist of a very short blind lady, a lady I presume is smaller than you. She didn't care that the watch might look too big because it was still comfortable on her wrist and the size enabled her to quickly tell the time. I apologize if I'm coming across too harsh but think about what wrote for a second: you are complaining about how a tool for the blind might look on your wrist! The 'suitable' size of a watch changes with the times, and by the way 'big' watches are in fashion right now (1), but that's not the prerogative of the blind... (1)https://medium.com/@flyosity/inconvenient-truths-about-the-apple-watch-11bafa44551b https://medium.com/@flyosity/inconvenient-truths-about-the-a...
pandatigox 11y ago
Expected a very negative response, which to my surprise, was actually positive. Also very impressed with how even gadgets like the Apple Watch aimed at "high-class" citizens are still very consumer-friendly. Also TIL about Usher Disease!
chaghalibaghali 11y ago
I'd be really interested to hear from someone close to the Apple Watch, or who understands UX better than me on how much this accessibility was by design and how much it just naturally follows from good UX design.
tolien 11y ago
Interesting reading about the haptic notifications for navigation (different vibration patterns to turn left/right). Was something I worked on as a research project 4 years ago so it's neat to see being used for real.
hoare 11y ago
am i the only one getting a malware-warning when hitting the page? Might be avast though
Jonovono 11y ago
Can someone tell me why when you pair you take a photo of the watch face? I'm guessing it just connects over bluetooth, so how does the photo help?
- psykovsky 11y ago
  To read a QR Code with configuration in it?
- jhugg 11y ago
  1) Slightly faster than requesting to pair with a BT device and entering a passcode. 2) Security benefits. Nobody can pair without being pretty obvious. 3) It’s a slick user experience. Feels like sci-fi when you do it. They could have used a QR code, but it’s like a swirling dots animation thing…
- falcolas 11y ago
  Bluetooth pairing involves a four digit code (though many accessories just use 0000), so this eliminates the need for user interaction.
- eddieroger 11y ago
  It's actually a video. The Watch plays a graphic that the iPhone parses (somehow) and pulls out pairing information. Once they've synced up, they play the same video before continuing on in the process. It was pretty slick.
  - Jonovono 11y ago
    Ah, cool! Thanks :)
thisjepisje 11y ago
Is the error page cached somewhere? I get Error displaying the error page [..] hehe
Raphmedia 11y ago
Cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.mollywatt.com/blog/entry/my-apple-watch-after-5-days http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...
serve_yay 11y ago
Naah, it can't be true that Apple makes things that help people live their lives. They just make fancy baubles for rich assholes. Right?
jpalomaki 11y ago
One interesting point in review is that she is finding the function for sending heartbeat of small sketches useful. I think these were dismissed as more or less useless demo stuff right after the launch by some journalists. Now when I think more, the sketches could be actually quite nice quick and discreet way of communicating with close friends. Quite quickly you would probably come up with simple symbols for various things. Here could be a network effect that would help Apple sell more watches. Get an Apple Watch or you are excluded from the communications.
noonespecial 11y ago
I haven't thought much of the apple watch yet but I may have severely underestimated the utility of a device that's always with me and able to gently give my arm a tap or a buzz. The apple watch's kill app may be haptic.
- mercer 11y ago
  I think Apple is counting much more on the 'novel' input/output stuff like the little drawings, different buzzes, etc. And it makes sense, considering that, in my opinion, this has been one of the biggest reasons for success. The iPod? clickwheel. The iPhone/iPad? properly done touch interface. Or for that matter where it started: mouse + keyboard! I think many of us, especially in the tech world, underestimate how crucial these kinds of innovation are for mainstream success. I recall people shrugging when the iPhone came out because 'we had touch devices before', for example, not realizing that there's a world of difference between the PDA-generation interfaces that required a stylus and the finger-touch interface of the iPhone. Whether Apple's 'interface innovations' with the Watch are enough to make it a success remains to be seen, of course. But I strongly suspect that Apple is relying much more on these things to be a core part of the Watch' success than anything else.

224 points by hboon 11y ago

That's an interesting use-case for small-group tap messaging that I hadn't even considered. Time to write something for Wear!

skywhopper 11y ago

This was a fascinating read for a view into a world I know all too little about. But an equally big takeaway for me is the idea that haptic feedback may end up being the biggest change that successful wearable products bring to our lives. The potential is there for nearly everyone. Great post.

SlashmanX 11y ago

Nice to see that accessibility is still being thought of, a lot of developers and designers take this type of stuff for granted. However, I found this to be quite a "jarring" read, with "Apple Watch" being constantly written as such, seemed like an advertisement or at the very least just some SEO trickery. Disrupted my reading flow quite a bit

rsynnott 11y ago
That's the trouble with having a name like that. She does actually write "watch" in some places; she could possibly get away with changing a couple of the occurrences of "Apple Watch" to "watch", but changing some of them would lead to ambiguity with the other watch she was talking about.
serve_yay 11y ago
Why are people on HN so obsessed with this? People buy things and talk about them. Get over it.

MDCore 11y ago

I am impressed and pleased that what a few years ago would have been a highly specialized disability support tool seems to now be a case of changing a few settings in a mass-produced product.

octo_t 11y ago
Apple have always been known for excellent accessibility in their products. There was a story that came out when Jobs died about how he'd personally intervened when a bluetooth update(?) broke the software a kid in a wheelchair was using.
- feld 11y ago
  Hmm, I missed this story. I'll have to look for it. It's a great testament to his vision and integrity, no matter what others may have perceived of him.
- microtherion 11y ago
  It probably would be more accurate to say "for the last 10 years" than "always". In the early 2000s, Apple realized that some of their most prominent school deals were in danger of falling apart due to OS X's insufficient section 508 compliance. Since OS X marketshare was too small to ensure a sufficient ecosystem of third party accessibility solution providers (as existed for Windows), Apple formed an in-house accessibility team. Over time, Apple realized that doing accessibility in-house and treating it as a full stack responsibility fit in well with the company philosophy, so today accessibility is indeed treated as a very important aspect of products. Coincidentally, this week marks the 10th anniversary of the official release of VoiceOver, Apple's OS X screen reader.
skywhopper 11y ago
It's fantastic. Good accessibility support can make products better for everyone, even people with no particular disability can make use of them in certain situations.

Osmium 11y ago

I'm a big fan of 'accessibility first' design. Beyond the obvious benefits to those who need them, it also creates affordances for people without disabilities too. An aside, but the Bradley watch[1] mentioned looks great. Shame it's so big. [1] http://www.dezeenwatchstore.com/shop/the-bradley-stainless-steel/ http://www.dezeenwatchstore.com/shop/the-bradley-stainless-s...

omegaforever 11y ago
> Shame it's so big. You're so entitled. There's nothing wrong with 'big' watches and the people for whom the watch is designed appreciate the size.
- Raed667 11y ago
  This is the issue with smart-watches ... When I buy a watch I really care for the size and not only the model. I didn't buy watches I fell in love with because they were too small/too big ... The 2 standard size format will leave many people out..
- Osmium 11y ago
  I think you read more into my statement than I intended. I have no problem with big watches, and I'm happy for people who can enjoy them! It's only a shame because I have small wrists, so it's not suitable for me :)
  - omegaforever 11y ago
    You still don't get it. It's NOT a 'shame'; it's not about you. The watch is too 'big' or you have 'small' wrists, doesn't matter. What's the size of your wrist? What do you think is the size of Molly's wrist? Have you even seen the Bradley watch in the wild or tried one on? I've seen it thrice and the second time was on the wrist of a very short blind lady, a lady I presume is smaller than you. She didn't care that the watch might look too big because it was still comfortable on her wrist and the size enabled her to quickly tell the time. I apologize if I'm coming across too harsh but think about what wrote for a second: you are complaining about how a tool for the blind might look on your wrist! The 'suitable' size of a watch changes with the times, and by the way 'big' watches are in fashion right now (1), but that's not the prerogative of the blind... (1)https://medium.com/@flyosity/inconvenient-truths-about-the-apple-watch-11bafa44551b https://medium.com/@flyosity/inconvenient-truths-about-the-a...

pandatigox 11y ago

Expected a very negative response, which to my surprise, was actually positive. Also very impressed with how even gadgets like the Apple Watch aimed at "high-class" citizens are still very consumer-friendly. Also TIL about Usher Disease!

chaghalibaghali 11y ago

I'd be really interested to hear from someone close to the Apple Watch, or who understands UX better than me on how much this accessibility was by design and how much it just naturally follows from good UX design.

tolien 11y ago

Interesting reading about the haptic notifications for navigation (different vibration patterns to turn left/right). Was something I worked on as a research project 4 years ago so it's neat to see being used for real.

hoare 11y ago

am i the only one getting a malware-warning when hitting the page? Might be avast though

Jonovono 11y ago

Can someone tell me why when you pair you take a photo of the watch face? I'm guessing it just connects over bluetooth, so how does the photo help?

psykovsky 11y ago
To read a QR Code with configuration in it?
jhugg 11y ago
1) Slightly faster than requesting to pair with a BT device and entering a passcode. 2) Security benefits. Nobody can pair without being pretty obvious. 3) It’s a slick user experience. Feels like sci-fi when you do it. They could have used a QR code, but it’s like a swirling dots animation thing…
falcolas 11y ago
Bluetooth pairing involves a four digit code (though many accessories just use 0000), so this eliminates the need for user interaction.
eddieroger 11y ago
It's actually a video. The Watch plays a graphic that the iPhone parses (somehow) and pulls out pairing information. Once they've synced up, they play the same video before continuing on in the process. It was pretty slick.
- Jonovono 11y ago
  Ah, cool! Thanks :)

thisjepisje 11y ago

Is the error page cached somewhere? I get Error displaying the error page [..] hehe

Raphmedia 11y ago

Cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.mollywatt.com/blog/entry/my-apple-watch-after-5-days http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...

serve_yay 11y ago

Naah, it can't be true that Apple makes things that help people live their lives. They just make fancy baubles for rich assholes. Right?

jpalomaki 11y ago

One interesting point in review is that she is finding the function for sending heartbeat of small sketches useful. I think these were dismissed as more or less useless demo stuff right after the launch by some journalists. Now when I think more, the sketches could be actually quite nice quick and discreet way of communicating with close friends. Quite quickly you would probably come up with simple symbols for various things. Here could be a network effect that would help Apple sell more watches. Get an Apple Watch or you are excluded from the communications.

noonespecial 11y ago

I haven't thought much of the apple watch yet but I may have severely underestimated the utility of a device that's always with me and able to gently give my arm a tap or a buzz. The apple watch's kill app may be haptic.

mercer 11y ago
I think Apple is counting much more on the 'novel' input/output stuff like the little drawings, different buzzes, etc. And it makes sense, considering that, in my opinion, this has been one of the biggest reasons for success. The iPod? clickwheel. The iPhone/iPad? properly done touch interface. Or for that matter where it started: mouse + keyboard! I think many of us, especially in the tech world, underestimate how crucial these kinds of innovation are for mainstream success. I recall people shrugging when the iPhone came out because 'we had touch devices before', for example, not realizing that there's a world of difference between the PDA-generation interfaces that required a stylus and the finger-touch interface of the iPhone. Whether Apple's 'interface innovations' with the Watch are enough to make it a success remains to be seen, of course. But I strongly suspect that Apple is relying much more on these things to be a core part of the Watch' success than anything else.