pyrmont
pyrmont

It’s kind of a relief to see people start criticising the Apple Watch. Admittedly, it’s not for precisely the things that bugged me but the immediate love-in after the announcement blew my mind and seeing that pulled back a little at least reassures me that I’m not crazy.

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martinfeld
martinfeld

@pyrmont I bought Series 4 and the hardware is excellent. 🙂 Enhancements in watchOS 5 have made it even more useful but I agree that watch face design should be open to developers. Apple is missing out on a lot of creative input here. If the company is concerned about damage to its fashion angle, then it could put certain interface and type restrictions in place to ensure some general consistency. What do you think?

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pyrmont
pyrmont

@martinfeld I don't dislike the device (I'm still wearing my Series 2 everyday) but I think we should be dissatisfied with where it's at after four revisions. Indeed, the fact I can still be wearing my Series 2 is the most damning fact in my mind. Let's call the Series 2 the equivalent of the iPhone 3GS. Would anyone have been caught dead using the 3GS after the 4S had been released? (Assuming cost is not an option.)

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martinfeld
martinfeld

@pyrmont I agree that it could be further along. I think all of this really comes down to what developers are able to do with it. Apple seems to have tidied up a lot of the early interface mess (e.g. favourites under the side button and honeycomb-only app screen) and also improved hardware quality and performance. It just needs a better direction for apps and third-party watch face design. That would reinvigorate things.

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In reply to
pyrmont
pyrmont

@martinfeld I honestly think apps were a mistake. I think Apple got too focused on replicating what worked with the iPhone that they didn't think about whether apps made sense for the device (the Apple TV is an analogous situation). Maybe this is too long a bow but I don't think it's a coincidence that Apple's best hardware product in years (AirPods) don't run apps.

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numericcitizen
numericcitizen

@martinfeld I bought the Series 4, coming from the original watch. What a change! I’m in love with this device... only missing piece? User created watch faces.

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martinfeld
martinfeld

@pyrmont I totally agree about the app situation. There are certain apps on the Apple Watch that I love (e.g. Overcast, V for Wiki and Carrot Weather) but others have been too clunky and suffered early on in the piece. Not every device necessarily needs apps and AirPods are indeed a perfect example.

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martinfeld
martinfeld

@numericcitizen I’m glad that you’re enjoying it too! I reckon that Apple will warm to the idea soon enough...

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EddieHinkle
EddieHinkle

@pyrmont While I don’t think it’s an app platform to have TONs of apps, there are some apps that make my life a lot easier and I would be incredibly sad if the watch DIDN’T allow any apps. For example: Omnifocus, YNAB, Focus, and having apps be able to supply tiles for the Siri Watch Face is something I’ve been wanting forever. But I agree the main story shouldn’t be apps in the way that it is in iPhone

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pyrmont
pyrmont

@EddieHinkle I think I should write this up as a blog post because my feelings are nuanced but for what it's worth, I'd say this in reply.

Personally, I have particular apps that I would be sad to lose. The same is true for the Apple TV (moreso for the Apple TV where I practically never use the TV app and dread all functionality disappearing into it). However, I'm a nerd. I want the supercomputer on my wrist to run arbitrary software, no matter how poor the experience.

However, if I think about how to put these devices in a position where they can both appeal to a mass market and evolve rapidly, I can't escape the conclusion that apps1️⃣ get in the way. They calcify design decisions. They risk alienating users/developers who try them, see how shit they are and decide never to go back.

One of the best decisions Apple ever made in the evolution of the iPhone was not shipping cut/copy/paste until they knew they'd nailed it. That's akin to what I want to see with apps. I think apps might have a place eventually, but Apple should have waited.

1️⃣ To be clear, by 'apps' I mean 'apps running locally on the device'. Smart notifications, complications, etc—those are fine. And perhaps they'd be even more capable if Apple knew that that's all they'd have for developers.

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