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what's the point of the Apple Watch?

got a Series 7 as a gift over the holidays. not really sure what I'm supposed to do with it. was hoping people could give me so advice on useful apps or just general feedback re: it's purpose.

so far I'm using it as follows:
- I check my pulse with it throughout the day.
- I sleep with it to track my sleep, this is sorta cool, tells me pulse and breathing while I sleep. not sure what I'm supposed to do with this information? but cool none the less.
- I can snooze my alarm in the morning without having to reach for my phone.
- it lets me easily skip through ads on podcasts while I'm walking my dog, faster than taking out my phone.

these are really the only benefits I've noticed so far. I feel like I'm using it wrong. what's the point of the Apple Watch? what do most people use it for? I don't really work out anymore, just walk my dog twice a day, so the fitness aspect isn't really for me.

thanks in advance.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
I use their monthly fitness goals as a motivator to keep working out. The 3 rings also give me daily targets to aim for.
I use the workouts & another app called Work Outdoors to track activities & workouts.
I use Siri on my watch to log water consumption.
I monitor my sleep quality using the AutoSleep app.
I control music playing with it.
Occasionally I will make calls from my watch.
I read my text messages on it, rather than checking my phone. Especially useful when in work situations.
I use Apple Pay with it at the store.
I quick view any notifications that pop up, again avoiding picking up my phone.
I use the stop watch feature when doing my inversion table.
Occasionally my wife & I will use the walkie talkie feature if we're across the house.

Tons of things really.

e: I also really like the loud noise & environmental sound notifications, as somehow who deeply values their hearing.

I also use it to ping my iPhone when I forgot where I put it.
 
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T8SC

Member
This might come as a shocker but you can tell the time with a watch that doesn’t have a touch screen

uncool-not-cool.gif
 

eddie4

Genuinely Generous
some people use it to talk to other people in public and i just want to punch them in the face. stop using the speakerphone in public, jackass. i don't need to know where maria got her herpes from.
 
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I use their monthly fitness goals as a motivator to keep working out. The 3 rings also give me daily targets to aim for.
I use the workouts & another app called Work Outdoors to track activities & workouts.
I use Siri on my watch to log water consumption.
I monitor my sleep quality using the AutoSleep app.
I control music playing with it.
Occasionally I will make calls from my watch.
I read my text messages on it, rather than checking my phone. Especially useful when in work situations.
I use Apple Pay with it at the store.
I quick view any notifications that pop up, again avoiding picking up my phone.
I use the stop watch feature when doing my inversion table.
Occasionally my wife & I will use the walkie talkie feature if we're across the house.

Tons of things really.
Seems like most the value is related to health. Something I should care more about.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Seems like most the value is related to health. Something I should care more about.
Yes, you should. But yeah, if you're not into the health features then I don't know how you interface with your phone so it's hard to say how it can be useful for you.

Look on the positive side--at least you didn't spend your money on it.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
So someone gifted you a series 7 without you asking for it? How random.

Anyway, I use mine for reading apps/mails, daily fitness exercises, weather, time of course.

It's pretty much an extension of your iPhone in almost every way, but you get the most out of it if you maximize the health tracking it does.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
My wife loves her as she’s a occupational therapist and can’t take out her phone all the time.

For me it would be a very expensive Fitbit 🤷‍♂️
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
1) Fitness tracker
2) Keep your phone in your pocket when receiving a text or notification. This is an undervalued utility, since keeping your phone in your pocket prevents you from checking your email, your social media feeds, and whatever other distractions you have on your phone every time you use it.
 

Thaedolus

Gold Member
^this and
3) the speaker phone works if you’re on the other side of the house from your phone and get a call
4) adjusting AirPods volume without accidentally calling 911 (it’s happened)
5) works as an alarm clock while connected to your phone, so you can leave your phone away from your bedside to avoid scrolling bullshit keeping you up at night

I’ve had mine for about 2.5 years and don’t regret it at all, though it did take some time to see all the different uses for it
 

Dream-Knife

Banned
The only thing that appeals to me with smart watches is the ability to change watch faces all the time, which would be cool. I think having to charge the watch would be less convenient. When are you supposed to charge it if you wear it to bed?

I moved to mechanical watches about 7 years ago.
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
The point is to have lots of smart functionality on your wrist while also having a watch.

With my Apple Watch I can listen to Spotify, make payments, arm/disarm my home alarm system, arm/disarm my home surveillance as well as look at the camera footage, open/close my garage door, get notifications from all my apps, reply to messages, make and receive calls, and dozens of other things without even having my phone with me.

All I’m missing is my gym card and my license for me to be able to essentially leave my phone at home.

The only thing that appeals to me with smart watches is the ability to change watch faces all the time, which would be cool. I think having to charge the watch would be less convenient. When are you supposed to charge it if you wear it to bed?

I moved to mechanical watches about 7 years ago.
Charge it when you shower and get ready for bed/work. They don’t take long to charge.
 
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20cent

Banned
So you can receive your life saving social media notifications during these combined 20 minutes of the day you didn't have your phone in your hand.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
The only thing that appeals to me with smart watches is the ability to change watch faces all the time, which would be cool. I think having to charge the watch would be less convenient. When are you supposed to charge it if you wear it to bed?

I moved to mechanical watches about 7 years ago.
I put mine on the charger when I shower & when perched at my desk. I wear it to sleep every night.
 

Qwell

Member
I got one (garmin, not apple) mostly for fitness motivation, but I found myself using it as a watch quite a lot. I also use the timer on it multiple times a day, set a timer for laundry, cooking, auctions, or other kinds of stuff all the time. I went with garmin as it has an SPO2 tracker as well, I know its not super accurate but just use it for watching historical ups / downs since I use a cpap. The fitness has kind of helped I think, its like a little game addiction almost, keeps me honest about doing my daily tasks, and so far it has worked. 551 days in a row I have done at least 10,000 steps, at least 10 flights of stairs, at least 12 cups of water and at least 150 "intensity minutes" a week. Its not much, but its better than nothing especially since I have been working from home for the past 4 or 5 years now.
 
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partime

Member
Love my 7, use it whenever I go jogging (strava) and HIIT classes. Patiently wanting until I can use cellular to stream Spotify so I can leave my phone behind.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It goes like this.

The need for social media and being wired to the net.

1. Are you near a PC or laptop? No? Go to step 2.

2. Are you near a tablet? No? Go to step 3.

3. Are you near a smartphone? No? Go to step 4.

4. Are you near a smartwatch? No? Go to step 5.

5. What's left?
 

Nobody_Important

“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion

What's the point of the Apple Watch?​

The same as every other Apple Product. To waste a shitload of money on overpriced electronics so that you can feel intellectually superior to others and make them jealous. But in reality its just you spending a shitload of money on stuff that is made either equally as good or better by other companies for a lower price so that the people around you can think you are a bit of an idiot and/or a douche.



Or maybe that is just me. 🤷‍♂️
 
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Rockondevil

Gold Member
Aside from telling the time it provides notifications easily without having to grab your phone.
Depending on your model you can even leave your phone at home, I know I do a lot.

But primarily, especially for me, the fitness side of it is great. It is commonly one of the best all round fitness smart watch out there. I'm a runner and it is great for that.

Only downside is the battery life when compared to say a Garmin, but they aren't on the same level of smart watch.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The same as every other Apple Product. To waste a shitload of money on overpriced electronics so that you can feel intellectually superior to others and make them jealous. But in reality its just you spending a shitload of money on stuff that is made either equally as good or better by other companies for a lower price so that the people around you can think you are a bit of an idiot and/or a douche.



Or maybe that is just me. 🤷‍♂️
I remember buying a laptop 10 years or so ago ad scoping things out at Future Shop (that brings back memories!). PC laptops were about $1200, the Macbook was $2500 even though the specs were basically the exact same.

Who knew Apple OS was worth $1300.
 

Great Hair

Banned
got a Series 7 as a gift over the holidays. not really sure what I'm supposed to do with it. was hoping people could give me so advice on useful apps or just general feedback re: it's purpose.

so far I'm using it as follows:
- I check my pulse with it throughout the day.
- I sleep with it to track my sleep, this is sorta cool, tells me pulse and breathing while I sleep. not sure what I'm supposed to do with this information? but cool none the less.
- I can snooze my alarm in the morning without having to reach for my phone.
- it lets me easily skip through ads on podcasts while I'm walking my dog, faster than taking out my phone.

these are really the only benefits I've noticed so far. I feel like I'm using it wrong. what's the point of the Apple Watch? what do most people use it for? I don't really work out anymore, just walk my dog twice a day, so the fitness aspect isn't really for me.

thanks in advance.

Every wristwatch with these features are crap. It´s like saying a tesla car with 10x 720p cameras can compete with a waymo setup for $50,000 [+ radar, lidar etc.].

Lost my charger for one of those landfill products out of **ina. Thinking that it was tracking my sleep pattern, pulse, breath, farts etc.... it was shit. According to this youtuber testinng these exclusively on his channel, for sleeping he suggests using:


And something from fitbit for pulse, oxygen and so on. Among tested, the apple watch seems to do a decent job.

 

Nobody_Important

“Aww, it’s so...average,” she said to him in a cold brick of passion
I remember buying a laptop 10 years or so ago ad scoping things out at Future Shop (that brings back memories!). PC laptops were about $1200, the Macbook was $2500 even though the specs were basically the exact same.

Who knew Apple OS was worth $1300.
And that's just the brand upcharge. That's not counting their laughable repair costs and their views towards third party repairs.
 
time, notifications of texts and emails, podcasts and music while working out, tracking working out, check weather, and to a lesser degree navigation

The most important feature is the ability to keep your phone in your pocket
 
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lethial

Reeeeeeee
time, notifications of texts and emails, podcasts and music while working out, tracking working out, check weather, and to a lesser degree navigation

The most important feature is the ability to keep your phone in your pocket
I have a couple different Galaxy Watch models and this is how I use them too. I was a total skeptic before.
 
I use mine (SE) basically for notifications, music controls and Health related stuff. The sleep tracking is shit though, doesn't give much information and sometimes can't differentiate between me laying on the sofa or sleeping. But I got some warnings regarding my heart (it was beating too fast without any physical reason) but it did make me reach for some breathing exercises.

Battery is also trash.
 
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fitness and health is the biggest thing it has going for it.

otherwise it's just an accessory to your iPhone to save you pulling out your phone to check notifications or control media. you can send messages or make calls through the watch.

i had the SE but sold it after a few months. i had a skin reaction wearing it. i had the silicone sports band and it fucked my skin up. even the watch itself was irritating me. the sensor underneath because it's curved kept "digging" into my skin. it's glass but would leave my skin red and itchy. after i sold the watch it took my skin a couple weeks to recover. if i ever get another watch it'll only be once they slim down the sensor and i'll get a strap with different material.

that aside i felt the watch OS is still quite clunky. i don't know what the latest version is like so maybe it has improved but there were syncing issues. i remember notifications pissing me off. for example i could clear them on my phone and they'd still show up on the watch. same with emails. i could delete an email on the phone but it would need to be deleted on the watch. and same with the reminders app. it all felt lazy and hit or miss. i use the notes app on my phone a lot but there isn't a notes app on the watch.

again maybe it has improved but i felt Apple needs to spend more time refining the OS. great little device but still has a way to go. maybe it's just me and the watch is working exactly as apple intends it to.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Another baller feature is it unlocks your iPhone when you're wearing a face mask.

Kinda amazing and extremely handy when buying groceries and having to check the list on your phone every time.
 

Thaedolus

Gold Member
Oh one cool feature I haven’t seen mentioned: you can take remote photos from your phone, so you can perch it someone for a big group shot and check the video stream to your watch to make sure everyone’s in frame, then tap it to take the pic. Kinda handy, I’ve used it several times and it floors people that had no idea they could do that
 

Jsisto

Member
The health features I'm sure can be of some benefit, but I think overall they're just another distraction from the real world. I don't need to get text messages on my watch. Good god, can you imagine even saying that 20 years ago. I have a phone. A watch is for telling time. Also my phone is a blackberry keyone with a badass physical keyboard, so take that information for what you will!
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Check messages, emails, weather, control your music if you're listening to any and those other stuff people have mentioned.
And most other watch functions.
I still have SM3 by Sony from 2014 which is old now and those new ones are far more advanced but it does the job.
Sony_SmartWatch_3_Steel_1000_0001.jpg
 
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sinnergy

Member
A watch , shows you the current time .

Besides this , I pay everything with my watch. And it tracks my health , sporting .
 
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JCK75

Member
There is a strange group of people that for some reason still want the time on their wrist rather than their pocket.
 

Billbofet

Member
I think it's to make people think they need shit they don't really need. It's a watch that does shit your phone already does and if you use it for fitness, you are most likely already health-conscious enough to not really need it anyway.
My mom is on her third apple watch and has yet to convince me it does anything other than make her look like an idiot when she is talking to her wrist in public.

I had a smartwatch for several months and it felt like more of a distraction than helping me in any way.
Just my opinion, but similar to a ring doorbell, it's solving for a problem that doesn't really exist. Just one more screen to pull you away from everything around you.
 
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