Apple Watch - Can someone tell me briefly what it does?

[Liz CA]

This is for a work report so I don't need the pros and cons for various versions of the Apple Watch.

Just trying to figure out what the reason is to buy one.

From my quick googling it looks a lot like Fitbit but I may be way off.

 

Thank you!

[Guest]

My ds says he is getting one because he likes to keep up to date with his business and friends but getting out the whole dang phone is distracting to himself and others.  

 

Me, I think it would send me nuts.  However, the fitness app is getting appealing.  A FitBit would do this part.  But a Fitbit will not tell you when you have an incoming call, an appointment, a text, a ping from some app or other, and it won't take dictation like the Watch does.  My doctor uses one for non-charting stuff, "Hey Siri, remind me to send Patty the contact number for the dentist."  And the Watch writes that onto her computer's reminder list.

 

[Liz CA]

Wow  - so it is a lot more than a Fitbit. Like a mini-computer. Thank you, Patty!

[ElizabethB]

if you travel a lot and walk around in new cities, you don’t have to look like a lost tourist, the directions appear on the watch, and it buzzes you when there is a turn coming up, so you can leave your phone in your purse and just glance at your watch for directions.

[magnificent_baby]

I really like mine for work. I can glance at it when I'm getting a text or call without major interruptions. I can also quickly respond back without it looking like I'm on my phone instead of doing work. It's not a must have for me, but it is very handy. 

[Carol in Cal.]

Fitbits do have call and text and reminder notifications.

[Butter]

It's a $400 accessory for an $800 phone.

 

And I love mine.

 

I had a FitBit and it died (my second one to die).  It's nothing like a FitBit.  You can respond to texts and emails right on it.  Many iPhone apps have AppleWatch apps.  So like MyFitnessPal, I can enter water I've drunk right from the watch very quickly.  I never bothered to get out the phone, open the app, find the place to add water, and put it in so it was never right.  My to do list app is on the watch so I can cross stuff off as I do it.  A lot of taekwondo instructors around here use an Apple Watch to control music during class from anywhere on the mat rather than having to go over to their phone (that feature is important enough that my son is considering making the jump from Android to Apple just so he can get a watch and control the music as he teaches).  Really, it just makes things much more convenient.

 

Oh, and I can open the Pokemon Go app on my phone, start the Apple Watch app, close the Pokemon Go app on my phone, and then every step I take counts toward hatching eggs.  It also tells me when there is a Pokemon nearby (have to use the phone to catch, though) and I can spin PokeStops from the watch.  Totally frivolous use of the Apple Watch, but, really, it's a pretty frivolous and non-necessary device.  I still like it a whole lot.

[Katy]

DH seems to think the main reason to have one is for the timer - used primarily for timeouts for little kids.

 

Most of the apps I use on my iphone have a watch app too, and they work together, which makes my life a little easier.  Directions?  It will vibrate when you're at the street you need to turn on.  15 million text messages?  It will vibrate for every one.  Get an important phone call when you're changing a diaper? You can answer using your watch and your (clean) pinky finger and not get your phone dirty.  Lose your phone frequently because you're absent minded or your 6 year old has figured out how to unlock the camera and has gone a little selfie crazy?  Swipe up, hit the icon for the phone to alarm and your phone beeps repeatedly until you find it in between the couch cushions.

 

Right now we have a medically fragile kiddo staying here who needs things (medicine, food, etc) on a very specific schedule.  The watch vibrates and reminds me 10 minutes before I need to give the heart medicine and the seizure medicine, etc. This is true for any appointment in iCal with a reminder set.  That helps me stay organized.

 

It also helps me keep track of things - get mint alerts when your teen's bank balance gets lower than your preset low balance alert (keeping a tab on their savings and avoiding overdraft fees when someone gets a little debit card happy).

 

I like that the app tracks your heart rate when you exercise so I have a more accurate guess of how many calories I burned than the machines at the gym say.

[Joules]

Dh just got the brand new series 3 and you can make and take phone calls on it. He's just like Dick Tracy!

[ElizabethB]

Dh just got the brand new series 3 and you can make and take phone calls on it. He's just like Dick Tracy!

 

The young kids don't know who Dick Tracy is!!  I've tried to explain the whole Dick Tracy thing and why we think it's funny to my kids and their friends to no avail.