Apple watch: a digital twist

by Abhishek Singh, staff reporter

With the world deeply invested in smartphones that mainly lie between hands or pockets, people wonder what the next big thing might be. Apple, a company driven to innovate and change the world, has brought another answer that seems to raise many questions on the future of wearables. Of course I am talking about the Apple Watch.

Over the course of one week, I devoted my wrist to wearing the watch Apple is pushing to sell. When the week was over, I realized that Apple didn’t design the watch to replace the phone, it was designed to be a watch that added abilities from the phone for quick glances and fitness goals. It’s sad what technology can do to the human mind, because I am totally immersed in the brilliant device that I am happy to wear every morning.

Three main features of the watch that Apple seems to push are quite noticeable. A precise timepiece, new ways to socialize, and a health and fitness tracker. These features helped my daily life, with the biggest being the health and fitness tracker.

Apple Watch is first designed to be a personal watch, with customizable watch faces and small details that make the watch truly personal. As an example, I changed my face depending on my mood and style. I usually rock the Mickey Mouse face because I like being happy and have details such as the weather, the date, and battery life. A great feature that seem to impress people is the ability to raise the watch to wake it up, and put it back to sleep when the wrist is put down. Needless to say, the watch succeeds as a personal timepiece.

A feature called “Glances” allows people to check information quickly for things people check frequently by swiping up from the watch app. I like the idea, except the watch doesn’t allow people to really customize it. An example, I use messages a lot, and would like to check if I have any messages quickly. I would like to add Messages to my glances hub. In all honesty, I would rather prefer Google Maps in my glance hub rather than Apple Maps. This matters because the watch only allows a couple apps like Weather and Heart Rate and Maps, etc (Apple Native Apps). Apple should open it up to third party and first party apps rather than keeping it limited.

A feature that seems quite unimpressive is Digital Touch. Digital Touch is a new way of communicating with people that have an Apple Watch. People are able to draw and send truly personal messages, such as a heartbeat or a simple tap to get a friend’s attention. Sure, it’s a fun thing to play around with, but it doesn’t replace the natural communication between two people. I couldn’t use the feature since I don’t know anyone with an Apple Watch at this time. Instead, I stuck to the classic message dication which seems to get my point across way better than sending over a heartbeat.

“I don’t see myself wearing one, but I do think it is very cool. I personally like classy regular watches, but this is something (Apple Watch) new,” junior Angelo Poulos said.

Technology companies have created a market that seems to push health as an important way of checking and keeping up with exercises to stay healthy. Apple Watch has two apps designed for the situation: the workout app and the activity app. The workout app has many workouts that one can see at a local gym, and the activity app shows the daily progress of a person’s workout. While I walk, I see a very understanding fitness unit that recorded my move goal of 200 calories. The watch understands my exercise habits and gives a suggested workout after various activities.

A personal favorite of mine is the interchangeable bands. I ordered an additional band (the sport band white– 38MM) and received the Apple Watch with Milanese Loop. The milanese loop is my personal favorite, it creates a comfortable yet easy to wear experience without feeling too heavy like regular/normal metal.

38MM version of the watch seemed really small at first glance, but it feels perfect on a small wrist. The stainless steel watch has the perfect balance of not being too heavy but having a beautiful look and comfortable weight. Apple definitely put a lot of thought into the materials of the watch, because it feels so elegant and unique.

Apps. Apps seem the be the main focus of the watch. However, Apple seems to be marketing the watch by relying on developers to create more apps to personalize the entire experience. Unfortunately as of now, it sucks. While some apps have a native experience, others just shrink the size of the app from the iPhone to someone’s wrist.

For example, Apps like Twitter can become irritating because of the slow performance and constant loading of tweets from the iPhone which makes it not worthy of using. On a positive note, apps like Uber have a perfect relation on the watch, a simple tap for a taxi.

By the end of the day, the battery can be a make or break feature. My experience seemed positive, as my day would start at 7:45 AM, and would have enough juice until 11 PM. This consists of constant notifications, time checks, and app usage (Instagram, Messages, and Music). The battery depends upon an individual. The watch was never designed for extreme heavy use (constant text replies, daily mail check, etc). In a nutshell, Apple Watch is meant to be lightly used, while the iPhone does the heavy work.

“It’s a device for the future, Apple is thinking ahead. I don’t see myself wearing one right now (2015) but I see myself wearing it in the next five years. Smartwatches are going to be the next big thing,” junior Joshua Cantero said.

Apple has created an ambitious project with more iterations to come. It is extremely interesting to see how technology becomes a fashion wearable device. Apple seemed to nail most of its thoughts, but fails to express some of them. The watch can be a learning curve for most, and easy to pick up for some.

At the end of the day, Apple Watch wants to do so much with my life and wants to manage and change the way I live. It just falls short of every promise. That is something that time will change overall. I highly recommend the watch for any tech enthusiasts or any busy person for that matter. Otherwise, just wait for round two.

Final Verdict: 8.2/10 (Great)

A promising pack of punches that get weak as the experience progresses.