Take a few minutes to read Nilay Patel’s take on the Apple Watch.
His assessment is certainly accurate. Apps take a relatively long time to launch and there is too much lag when an app has to communicate with the iPhone.
I see this as a glass half full. I love my Apple Watch, wear it every day. These are the things I get from my watch at a glance, with no lag:
- Current time
- The day and date
- Current outside temperature
- Texts
- Other notifications
- Alarm settings
- Battery life
There is a ton of value here. All of this functionality is immediate. The only lag is the time it takes for my watch screen to light up.
Add to this list Siri interaction (Siri is its own glass half full), Apple Maps integration (mileage to next turn, wrist taps when a turn is close, all incredibly useful), and Calendar integration (I use Fantastical’s complication, works very well).
This is a glass half full, but a really big glass, with lots of capacity for improvement. This was first generation hardware and I have incorporated it into my day-to-day life.
I do see Nilay’s disappointment. But I would urge patience here. Point out the flaws, that helps Apple home in on what to change. But give Apple another generation to address the flaws (I suspect these issues are not software fixable, or they’d be fixed) and judge the change.
I can’t imagine that we won’t see significant changes with the next generation of Apple Watch.