There are a lot of things having an Apple Watch has improved with me. I started with Series 0 and upgraded last year with Series 3. I now have fewer notifications since then. If it’s a notification that bothers me a lot or unimportant, I have it turn off and only engage essential stuff on my watch. I also used my phone less since then. I’ve become much healthier since the Watch push me to become active (which is not a bad thing). I don’t see any benefit from having an always on display if I’m not even interacting with the watch. There is confidential stuff that my Watch can display that I don’t want other people to see (heart rate, activities, notifications, calendar appointments, etc.) with an always on display.
I primarily use Siri on my watch to run timers when I’m cooking or making tea. I use it as an alarm, so I don’t need to have my phone on my bedside. I use it to track my sleep too. I check my list, reminders, take down notes.
For me, the Apple Watch is the most personal device that I own. Knowing that it tracks everything about me and with features that focus on my well-being.
I’ve been thinking about the Apple Watch and I’ve come to some conclusions and a decision.
First, I think the the AW does 3 things.
It allows for you to INPUT information
It DISPLAYS information
It MONITORS/RECORDS information
(I guess you can say the LTE watches can make calls but I doubt I’ll ever buy that version and it’s not the version I have)
When I realized that I prioritized what I wanted most in my AW. 1) DISPLAY information
I want to look down at my watch and get my most important and relevant information.
2) MONITOR/RECORD information
I really want my watch to record my steps and exercise as well as monitor my hearth and heart.
3) INPUT information
At any given time I have another apple device by me other than my watch. My phone and my iPad especially. Trying to input information like texts or todos are just cumbersome for me.
After thinking about this I switched my watch face from MODULAR to SIRI and I must say it’s done wonders for me because I’m now ACTUALLY looking at my watch now for information. I’m hoping it will get more robust in the future but as of right now I’m very pleased how the Siri watch face works and displays the information I need.
Two weeks in with the Siri watch face and I’m hooked on the Apple Watch all over again. While the watch is a great device I think Apple really needs to look at the type of watch faces they design to help people get the most out of their watch and have it meet their individual needs and personalities. I think this is where it would behoove Apple to allow 3rd party developers to design new faces and come up with solutions to problems that Apple might not recognize or realize.
Obviously, as aardy said, a patent doesn’t mean much. That said, I think I’d like a bezel-less design, though! I also wouldn’t mind a rounder watch if the current screen size could entirely fit in it. A wrap-around watch also suggests support for a larger variety of sensors beyond what’s possible underneath the current 40-44mm watches. I know the rumor is that some sensors, like blood sugar, would require a specialized band, and something like this theoretically could contain that within every watch.
It seems to me bizarre that the rumors about an Apple Watch glucose sensor keep floating around. There is no technology that can detect your blood glucose levels without some level of penetration into your skin. It does not exist.
So there cannot be a non-invasive glucose monitor in a watch just by shining lights or whatever.
The best that could be done is that you wear a device that places a micro sensing wire under your skin where it has access to the interstitial fluid space of the skin and it can measure the glucose there. That wire is attached to a small device that sends out a signal that can be detected by a smartphone, smartwatch and the like. Such things exist. Apple could work on making software and reading hardware to communicate with such a device and make it “better” I assume.
There is experimental work with patches that are essentially glued to the skin and use electrical currents or the like to induce some interstitial fluid to come to the surface where the glucose can be measured. These are not commercial products currently. They are not “bands” around the forearm.
But there is nothing that a “simple” watch just strapped loosely to your wrist can do in terms of measuring glucose on its own. It is not something that the casual watch user is going to have access to.
The devices and applicators that associated with putting a micro-reader wire under the skin are expensive and need to be replaced regularly. This makes sense in the world of diabetics who have important reasons to know their sugar levels. For such people, insurance companies will help with the expense. But this is in no way realistic for the general public.
If Apple had discovered a new technology to accurately detect blood glucose level in a watch-like device indefinitely, they would have a product that they could sell into the medical industry for many thousands of dollars per unit.
I’ve always considered the rest of the wrist band wasted “real estate”.
Actually something that had a bigger screen and stuck to the back of my hand would suit me better. Think 2" diagonally. Would probably have to flex. And be held on by rubber fluorelastomer bands.
All good points. I think the desire isn’t so much to replace Dexcom, Medtronic, et al, as it is for smartwatches to provide a low resolution read through spectroscopy that, through machine learning, provides reliable trends and delta good enough to catch elevated fasting a lot earlier. It would be similar to how the heart sensor has been approved for more applications and alerts over time as it’s proven itself on larger and larger data sets.
In the meantime, it would be great to at least have Dexcom send data directly to the watch so to not require carrying a phone! Supposedly the bluetooth support is there.
Funny enough is I’ve had an Apple Watch S4 for 1.5 years now and I love it. Turns out my issues of stress were not from the watch, but general overwhelm and overstimulation.
bands. 