Always on mode

[csal80]

One of my biggest complaints of the apple watch thus far, which I completely expected to have, is the fact that it doesn't wake when I want it to. It does pretty well on the traditional twist and raise motion but let's face it (no pun intended), there are a thousand other scenarios when you just want to steel a glance at your watch without motion. For example, you are sitting at your desk with your arm resting on it. You just want to glance down and look. Or you are holding a pole on the subway. Or you are taking a leak (for a guy). The latter is one of my biggest pet peeves. Anyway, I fully expected this issue to be my biggest gripe and I think I have a possible solution. Apple could implement an 'always on' mode which would dim the display by about half to conserve battery, but it will always be on. When you do the traditional wrist raise it will come on full, but otherwise remain dim. This would fix my problem for sure and always give me sight line to the current time. This would also solve the issue of the one second delay in the screen wake on the normal wrist raise, that I often find. Sometimes it is just not quick enough. Lastly this may solve a completely different gripe that the apple watch face looks too plain being it is just like a dead iPhone screen. I find myself looking in envy at others with really slick traditional watch faces. I feel you kinda have to sacrifice this aesthetic (for the moment) if you want an apple watch. At least if the screen was always on it would add some aesthetic flare to the watch face. From a battery perspective my watch barely gets under 30% on a full day, so I think I can spare some to keep it on all day. Plus the battery life is only going to get better and apple can make this feature optional for those that can't afford to sacrifice the juice. What does everyone think? Post your thoughts.

 

[Bigeric23]

I'm perfectly happy with the way the Apple Watch works with regards to the screen. I would rather have longer battery life and more performance--particularly with third-party apps.

 

[Just_Me_D]

You can always tap the screen to wake it.

 

[HankAZ]

I've had a very good experience with the "raise and twist" to get the watch face to light up. Often, I am able to wake it without the "raise" - by quickly rotating my wrist towards me in kind of a "snapping" motion, it lights up without having to raise my arm. It's quite effective and useful while sitting at my desk and wanting to steal a quick look.

I routinely get through the day with between 30% and 50% battery remaining, so battery life is not a huge factor for me, but I would prefer to not have an "always on" feature. For me, privacy is the determining factor in that decision.

 

[lackster2]

Use your nose while at the urinal...:rotfl:

 

[imtravis]

Use your nose while at the urinal...:rotfl:

That's one of the last places I wanna use my nose.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[RobtRoma]

I wish my Watch had an "always on" mode that just displays the time/date similar to my MS Band. Maybe dedicate the top 1/3 of the screen to display this info in white on a black background when the watch is not fully active. This mode is full screen on the Band and doesn't use that much power on its OLED display. I lose maybe an hour or two vs not having this mode active.

 

[melbsteve]

you'll be pleased to hear that the latest WatchOS beta appears to have a fix for that csal80. Or at least it's getting closer to what you're asking for. watchOS 2 will allow you to switch from 15 seconds illumination to something round about a minute. Sounds like a step in the right direction to me.

 

[kjparfekt]

I agree. Too many times the raise your wrist doesn't light up the watch. I'd like an always on or shake your wrist in addition to the tap the face option.

 

[HankAZ]

I agree. Too many times the raise your wrist doesn't light up the watch. I'd like an always on or shake your wrist in addition to the tap the face option.

Mine seems to work really well. I've developed a little motion when I raise my arm I sort of snap my wrist inward - seems to always cause the watch face to light up.

 

[csal80]

Mine seems to work really well. I've developed a little motion when I raise my arm I sort of snap my wrist inward - seems to always cause the watch face to light up.

The problem is it is not really the wrist raise that is the biggest issue for me, is it the glance at my wrist after no motion like when my hand is on my desk, holding a pole, in a meeting where I don't want to obnoxiously show I am checking my watch, hand on the wheel, at the urinal,etc. Also when it is not so much a raise like bringing my hand from behind my head to front to check the time. This never really registers.

 

[HankAZ]

The problem is it is not really the wrist raise that is the biggest issue for me, is it the glance at my wrist after no motion like when my hand is on my desk, holding a pole, in a meeting where I don't want to obnoxiously show I am checking my watch, hand on the wheel, at the urinal,etc. Also when it is not so much a raise like bringing my hand from behind my head to front to check the time. This never really registers.

Again, just do a gentle wrist snap. It works for me.

 

[bamf-hacker]

Use your nose while at the urinal...:rotfl:

You say this in jest, but I use my nose to dismiss notifications on the watch all the time