“One of the proposed benefits of wearable technology is the notion of having a health-and-fitness tracker attached to your body 24/7 — or at least for a good portion of the day. This is the case with activity-tracking wristbands, like Fitbit and Jawbone Up, and also the appeal of some smartwatches, such as Apple Watch,” Lauren Goode writes for Re/code.
“To test these features of Apple Watch, which starts shipping this Friday, I have gone on a workout spree over the past few weeks,” Goode writes. “I’ve gone running indoors and outdoors, finished a 5K road race, sweated through a few spin classes, practiced yoga, lifted weights and hiked a particularly hilly area in my neighborhood. I had my iPhone nearby most of the time, but I intentionally left it behind on a few occasions.”
“As I wrote in my earlier review, I’ve found Apple Watch to be a capable health-and-fitness tracker — especially for a smartwatch. I think it will appeal to people who either want to get up and move around more during the day and need reminders to do so, or who work out regularly and want a way to record these activities,” Goode writes. “While its health-and-fitness features could be a big enough draw to convince people to buy the watch — maybe even more so than the promise of notifications — the watch is not yet at its full health-and-fitness potential.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Give the developers some time and the Apple Watch will only get better and better at health-and-fitness tracking.
Saw the watch this weekend. I’m sad to say it looked pretty ugly on my wrist in my opinion. Won’t be wearing one this time around, but I look forward to future versions and the apps that are to come.
Maybe you have an ugly wrist? 😉
Yeah, they only look good on people who are not from the trailer park.
I spoke with your mother and she apologized for giving you a bad case of the uglies.
It has gotten to the point that a person cannot say anything negative about an Apple product on this forum without getting insulted (except, perhaps, software products).
Nerd tried on an Apple Watch and gave his opinion. He is also a registered user, which earns him a bit of respect IMO. So he didn’t like it? What does that have to do with trailer parks and other elitist BS?
these are the asswipes that give Apple users the snobbish/cultist reputation.
total lack of civility on the part of those schmucks above is inexcusable no matter what. if MDN moderated it’s long overdue should block those dicks who make personal attacks. seems like all some of these condescending pricks ever do.
Yup. He even said “on my wrist” and “in my opinion”, not some blanket troll statement.
Personally, I don’t think the hardware will change very much in the very near future. I do think the “Complications” will do a lot to allow the WATCH to appeal to various personal tastes, this will be demonstrated(or Not), by the “hundreds of apps” to be released on Friday… can’t wait! Perhaps then you’ll find just the right combo to make the WATCH aesthetically appealing on your wrist.
Basing predictions of sakes on the idea that the Apple watch is good only for health and fitness is like assuming that the iPhone is good only for making phone calls.
Sales, not sakes….fscking spell check.
I’ll wait. I’m sure eventually all the 3rd party stuff will appear to make the Apple Watch important, but out of the gate there’s nothing that I want on the Apple Watch that I don’t already have. OR — more the the point — because I’m notoriously hard on watches, there’s no point in getting an Apple Watch that i can’t wear while running, swimming, camping, etc. This seems like a watch for a computer geek who needs a reminder to get off his duff once in a while, not an indispensible tool for active people.
“If you already planned on getting an Apple Watch, you’ll likely be satisfied with its built-in health-and-fitness features — unless you’re a hardcore runner, a water-sport enthusiast or you’re really sold on the idea of sleep tracking.
If you’re basing your purchase decision on how your favorite third-party health-and-fitness apps work on the watch, unfortunately, it’s too soon to tell. But we’ll be sure to follow up with more app experiences once we’ve tried them.”
I won’t be so quick to judge. The first iteration of the third party apps are just now rolling out, like the Apple Watch itself. Both Apple and third party developers will learn a lot in the first year of use as customer data rolls in. They will see what they did wrong, learn from feedback and experience, and just as important, sensors that did not show up in the first version of the Apple Watch will likely be introduced in future versions.
For all the hype, noise and criticism doled out, the fact is that putting so much in this first version had to be a tremendous challenge. Apple’s engineers will figure out how to make the watch more efficient, reduce the size and counts of components, find room to add new sensors (some of which have been a challenge to make practical) and make the software at its heart more efficient.
I don’t see any of this as a negative. In fact, I’m impressed with its start and optimistic about how the Apple Watch and its related apps will evolve in the next few years. Having tried one on last week, I was deeply impressed. So it’s easy for me to imagine what will be.
Plus, there’s still a lot that we don’t know. I’m a cyclist, and am still trying to get full details from both Apple, third parties like Strava and cyclist reviewers who have tried out the Watch in the real world. This will take time. And I’m okay with that.
So boys and girls, be patient. This is only the start. A tree does not grow to its full size overnight. But grow it will. And watching it grow is a beautiful thing.
Pfft…
Like so many, the author confuses ‘being fit’ (which is a hobby) with ‘health’ (which is life). The former does not produce the latter – quite often the opposite. Punishing your body unnecessarily – as the author describes – can often lead to complications later in life, and a shortened life-span. Then again, ‘being fit’ is not done to ‘be healthy,’ but for another reason entirely!
I respectfully disagree with some of your stated observations. While I agree with your assessment regarding fit vs. health, I take a little exception with your belief that there is no health benefit currently offered within the current “health app”. I personally use it in conjunction with the “my fitness pal” app to record, monitor & track my carbs, fat, protein and other intake over daily as well as extended periods, and then adjust my diet accordingly, also being diabetic, there are several app which pass daily glucose input to the health app, to be used in the same manner, other apps tie into the health app to permit regulating diet for losing weight. The health app allows for a single point of reference to monitor all these variables, it also allows one to transmit the resulting information to a specified recipient/doctor if desired. I am currently considering the purchase of a device which will allow me to introduce blood pressure and glucose info automatically to the health app. It works well once set-up, and has proven to be a real boon to my health awareness.
And back to my point…if the improvements require major hardware redesign the $10k Apple Watch owners have an instant paper weight.
I disagree. The 1st generation Apple Watch Edition will have a FAR higher resell value than the 2nd gen and beyond, simply because it’s a 1st gen product. Collectors item.