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My Dumb Apple Watch: A Pet Peeve

By jmacofearth On 07/01/2021 · 1 Comment

While the charging system is sort of cool on the Apple Watch, the practical matter is, you have yet one more charging system to keep track of. I’m pretty sure adding a lightning port would’ve worked and not killed the integrity of the watch. (It’s only water-resistant as it is.) Instead Apple went all cool and invented this magnetic disc that charges the watch as if my magic. The only problem is, when you for get your charging disc…

You quickly have an Apple Dumb Watch circa 1980.

The usage stats said I would have about 15 hours in standby mode, and 5 hours in active mode. But > 2 days in power reserve mode. So I put my watch in PR mode so I would at least have a watch for my 3 days at the beach. I should’ve brought my Nike Fuelband so I had a backup watch. That’s one of the things you have to think about with an apple watch, what to do if it runs out of power. And in its current mode, it’s really more of a status symbol, or geek badge, rather than an innovative mobile device.

And this is one of the other odd things about the Apple Watch, sometimes it is hard to know if you put the watch in a mode using the watch, or if you have to use the Apple Watch app on your phone. And when your watch is in dumb mode you’re usage screen looks like this.

Nothing. The watch is no longer communicating with the phone. And the problem with this is I have no idea how to get the watch out of dumb mode. I’d consider buying another charging system in town if I were really dependant on the watch, but I’ve not quite integrated it into my lifestyle. I do love the texting responses and the alerts about email and notifications. But over all, today, the Apple Watch is a nice to have, not a must have. It *IS* however much more of a utility device than my iPad. The watch is certainly a THIRD DEVICE, but there are a few kinks that need to be worked out in the Watch OS. And we still need a KILLER WATCH APP.

Apple’s insistence on being innovative over practical is a Apple Watch Killer. I am surrounded by iPhones and lightning chargers with no way to charge my Apple Watch.