Okay, I have been wearing my new Apple Watch for about a week and I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical that I would like wearing a watch after 50-years of not wearing a watch. I do pride myself on being able to figure out the time without a timepiece. Well, so far I am really enjoying learning about the Apple Watch and seeing how it integrates into my lifestyle.
Apple is doing something pretty cool with the Apple Watch. They are offering free set-up sessions with one of their “specialists” to go over the features and functions of the watch. I have my appointment set for Sunday morning but Grace had hers already and thought it was very valuable. They are taking customer satisfaction to a new level with these sessions.
Okay, so onto some first impressions:
Battery life:
Double okay! Not only does the Apple Watch battery easily last all day with frequent usage but it also has an impact upon the battery life of my iPhone. That is because the “glances” I would take on my iPhone all through the day are now easily done with a flip of my wrist, so I am not taking my iPhone out of my pocket much.
Cool Things it Does:
- Let’s see, paying for my Starbucks drink on the road to Maine was cool; I just launched Passport on the Apple Watch and held it up the the Starbucks terminal and my Venti Iced Black Eye was paid for to the amazement of the people in line.
- Using the Remote App to control my Apple TV is also very cool. No more searching for that remote; I can put it in the drawer.
- Smarter texting was something I discovered yesterday. I have gotten texts before on the Apple Watch and there were some canned responses that you can customize or you can reply via dictation and send the reply as an audio or text file. ll that was not too surprising but when my health care provider texted me a question on a medication dosage – i.e. “1.5mg or 0.75mg?” I was surprised to see that my Apple Watch realized I was being given a choice and the canned responses now included 1.5mg and 0.75mg as clickable responses.
Watch Apps:
I am liking the Score app which gives me updates on the Cubs games. While the Activity app is a little annoying when it taps my wrist and tells me to stand up, I am finding that I am motivated to meet my daily goals for standing, moving, and exercising. I used the Maps app and soon got used to the taps to alert me to turns. I don’t think I will use that on my motorcycle but I can clearly see the use while navigating on foot in a city. Grace and I tried out the camera remote function while on our trip but never could quite get the iPhone in a stable place so helpful people always offered to take our picture.
I think I’m gonna keep it!