My First Apple Watch

While I'm usually awake at 3AM EST ordering the latest Apple iThingy on release day, on April 10th, the start of pre-orders for the Apple Watch, I completely forgot. This was clearly indicative of my skepticism about the watch and the value it would bring to my life. I placed the order around 9:30 that morning. My expected ship date for the Sport version with lime green band was June. Bummer.

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I received a text from Apple alerting me that my Apple Watch had shipped! I read somewhere that the Sport with green band was one of the least popular models. Perhaps this created a supply surplus that allowed Apple to ship this particular version of the watch sooner than expected.

Packaging was done with Apple's usual care and attention to the customer un-boxing experience. The watch and band were laid out flat, in a white plastic case sitting at the top of the box, with accessories and an extra band for smaller wrists nestled below.

The watch is very cool looking and, well, sporty. I now see why the shinier stainless steel of the Apple Watch version may be higher-end looking than the brushed aluminum of the Sport. What I had thought was Apple splitting hairs to create three watch categories was clearly a well-thought-out distinction between materials and looks. The band, I'll call it "rubber," is soft and comfortable on my wrist, which hasn't sported a watch in years.

Setup was fairly easy and intuitive. My iPhone was already updated with iOS 8.3 (8.2 is required for the Apple Watch), so the Watch app was already installed. I turned on the watch and set the phone app to pairing mode, which prompted me to position the watch in the camera's view. After pairing, apps began downloading to the watch. There was definitely a period of time when I could use the watch but there was clearly some additional syncing going on. The app on my phone was acting quirky, with icons missing. This cleared up within 20 minutes.

So far I have customized the main watch screen (where you actually see the time), and I've tweaked some apps and notifications. There are options for which apps show in "glances" mode, which is a minimal-function view that allows you to flip through snapshots of news, weather, calendar, heart rate, and other things by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. You can also control your podcast here--pause and change volume.

There are also options for allowing notifications to be on the watch as they are onthe phone, or to customize what notifications you get on the watch. Notifications can be seen as they happen, by tilting the watch to view it, or by swiping down from the top of the screen.

Now for the cool part: I love the watch. My phone has been in my pocket all day (one time I walked away without it, which sucked). The taps, which have three intensity options, are great. They notify me when meetings are coming up and when I receive an email or text message. There is an option for an accompanying sound for notifications, but I muted the watch and the taps were sufficient.

I had already kept notifications on my phone pretty sparse, so I am not overwhelmed by taps. I glance at the watch, acknowledge what's happening, and go back to what I'm doing or take action if needed. The lack of a keyboard means that responses to texts must be canned text responses, emoji, or dictation. The dictation worked great for me, even when I rambled or stuttered a bit. Email is currently read-only. I thought this would be frustrating, but in reality most emails don't require an immediate response. If they do, then I pull out my phone.

This is the highlight of the watch, and what people have been disagreeing over for some time: it is an extension of the phone, not a replacement. Is that enough for a rather pricey addition to your rather pricey iPhone? I think so. I find it's the perfect companion to my phone, moving to my wrist the things that most often cause me to pick up my phone.

Furthermore, functionality that is limited right now will improve as more apps are introduced and updated to take advantage of the watch. I would love a fully functional podcast app, for example, that would allow me to peruse my list of podcasts rather than simply pause and change volume. I'm sure this will happen.

In the meantime, at least for this day-one review, I'm thoroughly enjoying the functionality that is available at my fingertips through the Apple Watch Sport.

Day 3 Update

On Saturday I wore the watch for the first full day. Battery life is great. Even though I am still tinkering with it a lot and wore it for about 16 hours, I put it back on the charger Saturday night with 60% battery still remaining.

I was surprised to see that I enjoy the fitness app. The watch taps me when I've been sitting too long, and tracks progress toward my daily calorie goal. I've never worn any of the fitness bands, like the Fitbit or UP, and did not expect to make use of this functionality. Now I'm hooked. This does not bode well for the future of other fitness products, at least for iPhone customers who now have a whole lot to gain by moving to the Watch.