Apple Watch wearers check their smartwatch 60 to 80 times a day

“Much has been said over the last few years about how smartphones have disrupted the PC,” Bernard Desarnauts reports for Wristly.

“When one looks at it through the job to be done filter, we understand that the PC is defined by activities and tasks that are measured in hours such as writing an article, building a financial model, playing an online game, etc.,” Desarnauts reports. “The smartphone on the other hand, has been defined by many interruptions throughout the day and the concept of ‘snackable’ moments, each lasting only a few minutes at a time. Now with Apple Watch, usage interactions are measured in a few seconds and we have the data to show it.”

Wristly: Apple Watch use per day

“Checking the watch face either to check the time or to glance at a complication is by far the most frequent interaction reported by our panel,” Desarnauts reports. “This confirms the findings of an in-depth and in-vivo Apple Watch study conducted by Professor Barry Brown, from Mobile Life, a research center based at University of Stockholm. Professor Brown calculated time/complication glances represented half of all Apple Watch interactions and had an average length of 3.9 seconds.”

“When looking at the specific usage question we asked our panelists, the feedback is very clear and consistent. Apple Watch shines at convenience and productivity type applications,” Desarnauts reports. “For now, the Watch is not used for gaming. Regarding Apple Pay, if we filter out the responses from the members of the research project who live in markets where Apple Pay is not yet available, the percentage of respondents who state using it ‘Less often, or Never’ falls below 10%. [Also], we can state that the new watchOS 2.0 has failed thus far to improve the usage of third party apps with Apple Watch. Close to 80% of the panel reports not using any on a daily basis.”

“Another panelist asked us to begin assessing if/when an Apple Watch owner might feel uncomfortable tilting their Watch while in the presence of others,” Desarnauts reports. “While 72% of respondents said it didn’t create a particular problem for them, 9% stated they didn’t do it because they thought it was rude, and the balance of 19% has some level of anxiety about it.”

Much more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: 60-80 times per day seems a bit light to us, so we much be heavy Apple Watch users. As far as “tilting” in a social setting, that’s the beauty of Apple Watch! Keeping up-to-date can be done far more discretely versus those who are still fishing out, unlocking, and poking at their iPhones or, far worse, wannabe iPhones.

17 Comments

  1. MDN can’t take eyes off custom complication with Limbaugh and Trump boudoir pics… But seriously, while I now may glance or briefly interact with watch, it has radically reduced phone interaction and saved me time each and every day to do more in the analog world.

  2. 80 times sounds about right. Need more complications though, more red dots. There are times a day that I’m not allowed to handle iPhone (about 4h total), so it’s nice to see the VIP mail pop up and WeChat scroll

  3. Eighty times per day sounds about right for me, as well. I especially enjoy using Siri to control lights around the house, and I’m starting to get comfortable asking Siri to query the Internet for info, vice typing into the I
    Phone.

    Oh, and I too check the Activity app throughout the day until I meet my daily goals.

        1. It’s obvious that the “average” AppleWatch wearer is incessantly and continuously harassed and interrupted by the AppleWatch, and, most importantly, loves, approves, or accepts it. This is a perfect description of servitude to a device. The Stockholm Syndrome mass produced.

  4. 80 sounds about right. On the downside for app developers, the only 3rd party app interaction I have is incoming FB messages, everything else I use are Apple apps. I have 0 interest in seeing any advertising and can’t think of a 3rd party app I’d want on my Watch.

      1. Oh, and Watch Keypad for making non-favorite calls or when I need a keypad to get through a call tree, and banking apps for quick check of balances, etrade for checking stock balances, Withings Home for checking Home camera and air quality, Hue for controlling lights, Home for controlling multiple HomeKit apps from my watch, Up Next for checking my groceries list on my watch, and a few news apps.

  5. I mostly use the exercise/activity monitoring, things like the timer , rarely use Apple Pay as I use an isolated (not connected to my main accounts) AmEx Serve card for casual payments ( drive through, convenience stores, etc) that AmEx has chosen not to allow Apple Pay for.
    When I am away from my Macs and not in the car, I have a Plantronics headset that has voice recognition and can interface with the iPhone, if I do not have it on I occasionally use the watch for phone calls- very rarely.

    The best thing about the watch so far is to track physical activity and nag us to stand at least a little each hour when we are sedentary. The news alerts can sometimes be helpful, but not mNy other 3rd party apps.

Reader Feedback

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.