So I’ve been a bit disillusioned of my 38mm Apple Watch lately. (I’d Sell My Apple Watch, But… I’m Still Dreaming of a Killer App)

This morning after writing the scathing review of the LINK I had a slight epiphany. I loved playing with the Apple Watch faces. And while the palette is somewhat limited, you can get a wide range of look and feels from the templates Apple provides. And there’s something missing from my experience with my Nike Fuelband. It seems the mono-purpose fitness manager is a bit boring as well. (Apple Watch Sport Edition vs Nike Fuelband)

Today I customized a simple watch face and added a few things to my liking. My goal: see if I can fall in love with my Apple Watch again. Here’s what I did.

• I set the Activity monitor for the day in the upper left-hand corner
• I set the outside temperature on the upper right corner
• I changed the second-hand and date to purple
• I used the bottom user-configurable space to show my next appt from my calendar
• And I customized the number ring to be fairly minimal

So it’s not rocket science and I wouldn’t call myself a watch face designer, it is more functional and to my taste. This is what the Apple Watch does out of the box: configure a watch face to your heart’s content, within the given templates.

Here’s what the Apple Watch does not do: let me really build a new “innovative” watch face. I can see the next killer Apple Watch app being a well integrated UX/UI version of the current fitness app. Today’s fitness app is too rigid. It’s too hard to customize your sports or goals.

My advice to Apple, outside of the V2 product, release a real developer toolkit for designing watch faces and integration data points. Let me sell my cool creations on the Apple store, just like a ringtone, for .99 cents.

Today’s Apple watch is an extension of the iPhone. Everything about it screams Joni Ive. Let’s give some other designers a shot at making this liquid palette into something great.

Dear Apple: FREE THE FACE of the APPLE WATCH.

@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)

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All the things I’ve learned about the Apple Watch.

• My Little Apple Watch
• I’d Sell My Apple Watch, But… I’m Still Dreaming of a Killer App
• Apple Watch Sport Edition vs Nike Fuelband
• The 7-Month Review of the Apple Watch
• Apple Watch as Fitness Tracker: How Does It Stack Up?
• Watch Watch We Love Our Apple Watch (Day 60)
• Apple Watch Review: My 30-days as Dick Tracy
• My Dumb Apple Watch: A Pet Peeve
• Apple Watch: Finding Glances and Crashing Apps
• Starting Over with the Apple Watch: Reboot Day One
• Apple Watch: Finding Glances and Crashing Apps
• Watchlandia App: The “Siri, WTF Is Wrong w My Apple Watch?” App Announced
• Day 5 with Apple Watch: DEAD! Now What Do I Do?
• My First 36-hours with The Apple Watch
• A Watch from Apple that Looks like a Watch: Apple Watch