The reluctant or maybe better put cautious and skeptic watch owner.

[imwjl]

I know the watch would be a great 50th b-day gift for my wife. After scouring a 500,000+ metro area the only 42 mm series 2 watch to bring home was a silver. She liked the gold and cocoa combo so I ordered one but decided to keep the silver for myself.

Confession: The packaging is all there in perfect shape for a return in case it's not for me.

So far: It's as impressive as it is mediocre. Lots of homework yielded there would be better solutions for sports measurement only. Two strengths are the the look is suitable for work and as an IT admin notifications, messages, and demands on time mean less looking at the phone. Short-term fitness might be good. I do exercise for an old guy but a lot is weighted on a few intense sessions per week - MTB rides. I already noticed it said my work - sitting at a computer - isn't good so I should stand up.

The silly: I an make an enterprise run but haven't yet found how to add my home town to World Clock, nor how I might want to graph or see heart rate through the day without always using my Abvio fitness app. Time will get me there. Back to work.

Here's what you could call the mediocre or great. It's a lot of money for a fitness tracker but less than getting my Swiss watch serviced. Silver should look better than grey for the bumps and bruises. Silver with a "cement" strap looks OK for work and play.

 

[pkcable]

For me, the notifications alone make it worth it. In particular, I have CNN, and other news apps installed and I always know whats happening at a glance. Another really useful feature for me is music controls, which are SO much more handy on my wrist than pulling out the phone. Weather at a glance or call out to siri is also a must! Another feature I love is navigation, while driving using the watch for navigation I get a tap at the wrist of turns, and/or I can glance at the watch for a visual of the upcoming turn or direction. And finally I DO take a rare call on it. While not the best experience, it DOES work, so if I'm shall we say indisposed (on the can) and can't get to my phone I can just grab the call on my wrist. It's also handy to just SEE who is calling and then decide if I need to pull out the phone or if I can just let vmail handle it.

 

[rangerdeyo]

For me, the notifications alone make it worth it. In particular, I have CNN, and other news apps installed and I always know whats happening at a glance. Another really useful feature for me is music controls, which are SO much more handy on my wrist than pulling out the phone. Weather at a glance or call out to siri is also a must! Another feature I love is navigation, while driving using the watch for navigation I get a tap at the wrist of turns, and/or I can glance at the watch for a visual of the upcoming turn or direction. And finally I DO take a rare call on it. While not the best experience, it DOES work, so if I'm shall we say indisposed (on the can) and can't get to my phone I can just grab the call on my wrist. It's also handy to just SEE who is calling and then decide if I need to pull out the phone or if I can just let vmail handle it.

A lot of what he said.

 

[StraightlineBoy]

I think I can help on your queries...

World time shows whatever cities you have set on your iPhone, so if you edit them there then they should be available on the watch.

You can see your heart rate across a day in the Apple health app on your phone.

As to the wider question of is the Apple Watch great or garbage, well I think the answer is somewhere in between. In my experience, Garmin does the health and fitness stuff better but the Apple Watch integrates with the phone better and it depends where your priorities lie. I've reverted to my Garmin when out running but wear my Apple Watch at all other times as I find the integration with the phone to make it worthwhile

 

[James Falconer]

@imwjl - I had the same issue with the world clock, but as StraightlineBoy noted, easy to fix via iPhone. Set up the city on your phone and you should be good to go.

On a side note, WELCOME to our forums (even though you've been here awhile!), great to have you with us!

 

[tcuprof]

Here's what you could call the mediocre or great. It's a lot of money for a fitness tracker but less than getting my Swiss watch serviced. Silver should look better than grey for the bumps and bruises. Silver with a "cement" strap looks OK for work and play.

It's not clear to me what you think is mediocre. What feature (or lack thereof) do you consider mediocre?

 

[Mac Guy]

The packaging is all there in perfect shape for a return in case it's not for me.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[imwjl]

It's not clear to me what you think is mediocre. What feature (or lack thereof) do you consider mediocre?

On mediocre: Some apps I hoped would be more useful are poor. I'm a notes junkie. Asking the watch to make one opens Notes on the phone. I can't do simple edits to OneNote or Evernote notes - just create new ones. A time, project and expense keeper program I depend on doesn't work in OS 3, the developer says it's not getting fixed soon, and replacements for it don't look so great whether that's the phone, computer or cloud parts. I'm not a gamer, much of a play with mobile. I see Microsoft has a cloud/365/Azure admin app that has major messages but nothing for my Cisco stuff or other alarms I want as an enterprise admin. It seems like Apple needs to motivate or poke developers. For sports I see why some associates choose other units.

The mediocre is just not a wow across the board the way my Apple phone and laptops are, and I can't keep the price out of my mind for what it does. I'm digging in with an open mind but might be critical and demanding because I've been in IT admin for decades and got to nearly age 60 without a smart watch.

In it's defense: In a previous life I was an Apple Newton beta tester. It's way more prime time than a Newton!

 

[StraightlineBoy]

I just don't think some of the stuff that you describe is what an Apple Watch (or any smart watch) is for...even if you could edit notes on one, I reckon it would be an awful experience, almost certainly faster to get out your phone to do it. It's like trying to carry a wardrobe on a bicycle; sure in theory it can be done but there's more appropriate tools for the job.

I guess some of the other applications that you describe I might at least hope to be able to quickly view some info but that's about all.

It may be as simple as you say in that a smart watch doesn't address your needs which is fair enough. I see my Apple Watch as nice to have rather than essential in any way and it's at the bottom of the list of devices that I'd upgrade if I had to choose one upgrade to do.

 

[JJ from Ottawa]

To more easily display your heart rate (HR): a free app called 'Cardiogram' will give you a graph to see your HR, & a complication to see your most recent HR. Another app, "Health Face" will give you more Apple Health-related complications, which for me makes the watch more interesting.

Not sure if it'll help your enterprise requirements, but "Numerics" lets you configure a lot of different data sources to appear as info on your watch (& phone). It's one-way -- you can display data, but not interact with it -- but could be good for system updates.

I don't update notes from the watch, but an app called "Just Press Record" which Rene recommended lets you record a verbal note. It'll transcribe it and upload to iCloud, so it's on your phone. I use it while I'm on the run, then copy the transcriptions to the proper notes at the end of the day. (I used it for about half of this post while sitting with a sick baby.)

I find the Watch is decent for displaying data -- quick hits of news, hockey scores as they happen, notifications -- and good for data entry in only the most limited of ways. As an example, I use it to log my water consumption & when I take my medications. I use it to send about half my text messages, and for adding half of my reminders to my shopping lists.

I'll never tell anyone they need to use an Apple Watch, but for me, it's a big part of my daily routine. Cheers.

 

[tcuprof]

On mediocre: Some apps I hoped would be more useful are poor.

I understand. I'm with StraightlineBoy on this, I never even considered using my watch for those apps. I want notifications and a fitness watch and Apple does that great.

 

[imwjl]

I understand. I'm with StraightlineBoy on this, I never even considered using my watch for those apps. I want notifications and a fitness watch and Apple does that great.

I'm sure my mind is at some of this because of the way I use the mobile tech in business. It would be a great thing if I could make some simple edits with OneNote or the app I use for billing time to projects was not in a broken for watch state.

I hope it's also understood that so many rant when something's not right or their being a tech industry arm chair director isn't working. I meant mediocre as not being trash or junk is so popular for many to say. Meant it as "it's there but could be better".

Some of thinking the word mediocre is also thinking about how cost effective the product is. Forums are full of angry posts where a minor problem is spoken as the thing = trash. My intent was to not call what some of my associates think of as junk that.

This might be my finally spending on a watch but I'm also always trying out version 1 stuff whether or not I like it. I have to do that just from my roll of taking care of the c suite. I can say this for sure. The watch is now where I hoped version 1 would be. The utility is not as obvious as what I have with other premium products such as my 12" MacBook or 7 Plus phone.

 

[Mac Guy]

I reckon it would be an awful experience, almost certainly faster to get out your phone to do it.

I think a lot of the 'I wish/I wants' end up falling into the 'seemed like a good idea at the time' category.

While I understand that someone's use case might be perfectly valid however arcane I see it, it's far more likely to end up in the 'I tried it for awhile but ended up going back to..." pile.

 

[imwjl]

I think a lot of the 'I wish/I wants' end up falling into the 'seemed like a good idea at the time' category.

While I understand that someone's use case might be perfectly valid however arcane I see it, it's far more likely to end up in the 'I tried it for awhile but ended up going back to..." pile.

If I'm wearing a keeper I'm sure it will be mostly for the core of what the product is.

Back to enterprise thought, we have 650+ employees. Pricing and logistics people use OneNote for things that fall outside of enterprise apps or for little problems. Being able to do a check box, type yes, or type no is not that silly. People that used to carry laptops, then phones or tablets cold maybe use phones now. It will probably be the case in the future.

 

[scruffypig]

I'm sure my mind is at some of this because of the way I use the mobile tech in business. It would be a great thing if I could make some simple edits with OneNote or the app I use for billing time to projects was not in a broken for watch state.

I hope it's also understood that so many rant when something's not right or their being a tech industry arm chair director isn't working. I meant mediocre as not being trash or junk is so popular for many to say. Meant it as "it's there but could be better".

Some of thinking the word mediocre is also thinking about how cost effective the product is. Forums are full of angry posts where a minor problem is spoken as the thing = trash. My intent was to not call what some of my associates think of as junk that.

This might be my finally spending on a watch but I'm also always trying out version 1 stuff whether or not I like it. I have to do that just from my roll of taking care of the c suite. I can say this for sure. The watch is now where I hoped version 1 would be. The utility is not as obvious as what I have with other premium products such as my 12" MacBook or 7 Plus phone.

I just wish Microsoft OneNote wasn't such a space hog on any of my devices. I store too much stuff in OneNote. I can't even begin to imagine OneNote on my Apple Watch.

 

[Mac Guy]

Being able to do a check box, type yes, or type no is not that silly.

I don't think it silly. I just don't see how it could be practical to use OneNote on a Watch and even less practical to make it a Watch app. Even it were on a Watch, I wonder how may of those 650 people would use a Watch and not a phone.

People that used to carry laptops, then phones or tablets cold maybe use phones now.

Phones sure, but Watches— I just don't see it.

 

[imwjl]

I just wish Microsoft OneNote wasn't such a space hog on any of my devices. I store too much stuff in OneNote. I can't even begin to imagine OneNote on my Apple Watch.

As one who uses OneNote, Evernote, Keep and Apple's Notes.....

The OneNote app just gives a few of past few notes used, and if you make one it goes to your default or original notebook.

The Microsoft apps are large themselves. I hated it at first but also did good evaluations of the Google and Microsoft platforms for professional use. They might be large but they're good. If you have Business Premium and enterprise tier accounts your support is absolutely fast and world class.

A larger phone has given me (for now) lots of space but overall for mobile I have only used synched notebooks I really need.

An observation from supporting many users.... You can copy a whole bunch of stuff in a OneNote notebook but might want to separate some things as files on their own in your OneDrive. If your account is upper tier (school, business, enterprise) remember the specific type of group called 365 Group. For each one you have notebook, shared calendar, mini SharePoint site and email list. That's an ideal way to collaborate with others and have a lot of data in most usable and accessible ways.

Much closer to the topic. What started this - my wife's watch - should arrive soon. My watch is growing on me. Maybe that saying "mediocre" trying not to do a typical flame or rant is really the watch like your sports toys, musical instruments and other things. You do get something when you buy the premium item but also diminishing returns.

I'm really interested in my wife's reaction when her watch arrives. She is almost always at extremes regarding what she likes and how she spends.

 

[pkcable]

What the watch may lend itself to and what it probably SHOULD have is voice notes. It can do speech to text too so transcription is also possible. It would not surprise me to find out that there IS such an app available. Perhaps Evernote has a watch app? Anyways certainly this would be a useful feature and Apple could/should consider native support within the Notes app on our phones.

You can leave Apple Feedback about features you would like to see on their products here....

Product Feedback - Apple

 

[imwjl]

What the watch may lend itself to and what it probably SHOULD have is voice notes. It can do speech to text too so transcription is also possible. It would not surprise me to find out that there IS such an app available. Perhaps Evernote has a watch app? Anyways certainly this would be a useful feature and Apple could/should consider native support within the Notes app on our phones.

You can leave Apple Feedback about features you would like to see on their products here....

Product Feedback - Apple

That is how OneNote works on the watch. The + for a new note is dictation and the note ends up in your default or personal notebook. Asking the watch to make a note outside of an app takes you to the Apple Notes that are on your phone and across iCloud.

 

[pkcable]

That is how OneNote works on the watch. The + for a new note is dictation and the note ends up in your default or personal notebook. Asking the watch to make a note outside of an app takes you to the Apple Notes that are on your phone and across iCloud.

Ah I gotcha so the functionality is just not up to what you would expect. Again, try that feedback link. Apple has already made MASSIVE changes to how the watch works. For example they had a funky contact system on a button that no one was using, so in the latest watch OS they changed the function of that button to a task switcher.