Time and time again, I’m disappointed by the state of tech journalism online. Not a day goes by when someone feels the need to write a false or sensational article about a technological consumer product. All tech companies, big and small, are targets for such articles; Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon all cop a huge amount of criticism. Apple, though, seems to have a special place reserved as the target for baseless, ‘journalistic’ drivel.
I understand that wearables aren’t for everyone, and even within this category of products, people have their perfectly justified preferences for Apple, Google Android, Pebble, Fitbit and others. Even as an Apple fan, I’m not so blindly entranced by the brand that I can’t see the advantages of other products and the shortcomings of Apple’s own.
Unfortunately, this piece is purely one of sensational opinion, designed to attack Apple, seemingly only because of some kind of tall poppy syndrome (I assume). The writer criticises the ‘slowness’ of Apple Watch, without so much of a reference to the fact that it is a first-generation product, or the fact that Apple has worked to achieve 7x faster app launch with the upcoming watchOS 3. Much of the ‘slowness’ up until now has been present mostly in third-party apps, and has been a result of Apple’s conservative use of memory in order to maximise battery life. It turns out that they over-shot and have plenty of memory to spare.
There’s also a lazy claim that Apple has “failed to capture the attention of the wider public”. This is baseless, because Apple hasn’t even released any official sales data to which the writer could refer. Furthermore, numerous analysts and statistical organisations have cited a huge jump in global smartwatch sales, spurred on by Apple Watch. Before Apple Watch, the wearable category was without a story or design standard. As some form of evidence, according to Strategy Analytics, smartwatch sales sky-rocketed 316 per cent between Q4 of 2014 and Q4 of 2015. Juniper also stated that Apple Watch accounted for over 50 per cent of smartwatch sales in all of 2015. Take this data as you will, but it’s certainly more evidence than what the clickbait article offers.
Disappointingly, the writer also inserts (without much of a subtle link or segue), a video with the caption: ‘Can Samsung beat the Apple Watch?’. What does this have to do with the quality of the watch? This article isn’t so much a fair critique of the product and where it can go in the future. It’s pure clickbait that attempts to perpetuate a meaningless dichotomy of Apple and Samsung in the tech space. Samsung is not Apple’s only competitor, and there are many companies doing interesting things out there than just these two companies.
I respect the opinion of this writer. If he doesn’t enjoy his Apple Watch, that’s totally fine. I just wish that tech journalists would lift their game in reporting on the strengths and weaknesses of products, regardless of who designs them, so that consumers can make informed decisions that will benefit their digital lives.
I’ve downloaded many, many apps since my first iPhone in 2008. At my most extreme, I had 245 apps installed and neatly organised in folders, fully alphabetised and categorised. In more recent times, I decided that things had become ridiculous; I had to let go of some apps to restore some sanity to my home screen. Nowadays, I have only around 75 apps on my iPhone, and I’m much more critical of every free and priced app download. For an app to make its way onto my home screen, it had better be good.
Well, an app came along that is most definitely worth it.
Hyper by Antihero, Inc. is a fantastic, new app, which I can only describe as the perfect synthesis of on-demand web video and curated, almost broadcast-style content. Every day, the app team trawls the Web, searching for what it believes are the ten best videos of the day. Once selected, they land on Hyper’s menu, each with a beautiful, bold title, the duration and easy sharing options linked to the share-sheets available in iOS.
The app made its first appearance on the new Apple TV, with an easy-to-use, swipeable interface that is optimised for the new Siri Remote.
Hyper icon on Apple TV Home screen
The iPad version followed soon afterwards, with the iPhone left until last. This is rather interesting, as the iPhone is often first on developers’ minds for apps, whether they are games, utilities or steaming libraries. The iPhone is where the cash is. In this case, it’s obvious that the team had nailed the interface for TV first, and decided to take the time to translate the experience in a considerate way for smaller displays.
Hyper running on Apple TV
Not only do they curate content for each day, they also group the best of the week into an easy weekend recap, so that you can catch up on what you might have missed.
Hyper on iPhone
It’s the synthesis, however, that makes this app so much fun to use. You choose the content that you want to watch (curated according to your interests upon first use), without having to search for it yourself. Yes, it’s a first-world problem, but who has the time to subscribe to 500 YouTube channels and check push notifications all day?
While I often start each morning scrolling through the feed in my Apple News app, I end each day with a visit to Hyper. Furthermore, if you’re the type to watch videos on your commute each morning, the videos actually download automatically over Wi-Fi early in the day, so you can watch it on-the-go without worrying about nasty data charges.
Sharing, info and saving options on the playback/pause screen
I could go on about this app all day; I’ve learnt and laughed a lot using it. There have been awesome videos from social organisations, YouTubers and various other documentary, sport and comedy sites. The folk at Hyper have great taste.
Do yourself a favour and try the app. It’s well worth your time, and if anything, will bring a bit of focus to your digital life.
Finally, Apple Pay is in Australia. FINALLY. Since first purchasing the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, I had been itching to use it, but alas, no banks or credit unions in Australia would collaborate with Apple for some time.
Upon hearing of its exclusive availability through ANZ (other than with American Express, which technically had it first), I rushed immediately into ANZ in Martin Place to create an account. “Wow”, you may be thinking, “Why on Earth is it such a big deal? You must be some sort of ridiculous fanboy”. Well, yes, I am quite the Apple fanboy, but it’s not simply about having the latest Apple service or iThingy. I’m not the only one who has switched banks either; plenty of others have and now the other big banks are reconsidering their relationships with Apple. Everyone wants more customers.
Whilst mobile payment solutions using “near field communication” (NFC chip) technology have existed for some time, particularly in the Android world, Apple Pay delivers some serious benefits and the sort of refinement that comes only from deep consideration and observing the market first. Apple is often accused of never ‘inventing’ anything (which is false, but whatever), but instead it often sits back, observes the market, then swoops in with a more elegant solution that smooths the rough edges of earlier digital technology. Apple Pay is another great example of this, as it goes further in convenience, security and overall customer experience.
Apple Pay, first of all, can be added to the Wallet app on iPhones and Apple Watches. Particularly in the case of the watch, it is super-convenient to simply wave your wrist over a payment terminal after double-tapping the side button. A reassuring tap on the wrist (and beep if not set to silent) lets you know that your payment has been successful. Let me tell you, this morning I encountered quite a shocked staff member at Thrive in Australia Square as I purchased a smoothie. His jaw dropped as the payment was approved from my wrist. Naturally, I had to explain the magic.
Apple Pay on Apple Watch
The next great part of the Apple Pay story is security when paying for goods in a bricks-and-mortar shop. Whereas signatures, pins, magnetic strips and card chips all have their security flaws and are susceptible to scanners, Apple Pay deals with these issues in two key ways. First, when you add your card, your numbers are not sent to the cloud, instead stored in what’s called a “secure element” on the phone’s processor. If your phone is stolen or goes missing, there’s no need to replace the original card provided by your financial institution, as no private details are displayed on-screen or associated with your online accounts (e.g. iCloud). Second, when you purchase goods using Apple Pay, no card numbers are sent to the merchant. Instead, a process called “tokenisation” sends a randomly generated number, which is recognised and approved at the other end.
Last but certainly not least, Apple Pay can be used online (web and mobile apps). When you go to purchase an item online, Apple Pay springs to life, requesting your fingerprint through the iPhone’s Touch ID system, which is built into the Home button. Some of the popular apps that already support Apple Pay online, for example, include of course the Apple online store, Airbnb, Houzz, Groupon and Fancy. The number of supported apps and services will only grow.
I, for one, have been very impressed with Apple’s execution of Apple Pay. It’s quick, easy and leaves a lot of retail staff gobsmacked, and it’s fun to watch people fumble change after you’re already walking away with your smoothie. In Australia, as opposed to in the U.S., we’re also very fortunate to have had such a widespread adoption of tap-payment terminals. It’s now accepted here, and the big banks’ combined effort and investment in rolling out this technology ultimately explains why they were so unwilling to negotiate with Apple — they have to pay Apple a small fee to facilitate the service, which luckily does not carry over to the customer. The one concerning fact, I find, is that so many people are unfamiliar with Apple Pay and similar tap payment solutions. Quite simply, Apple could still do a lot more to educate people about the benefits of this great service and how readily available it is for use. It’s convenient and it’s secure, which is great for everyone.
I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Apple Pay. With talk about using credit and debit cards on public transport readers, it would be exceptionally cool to simply wave your wrist as you walk onto a bus or through railway turnstiles.
It can only get better from here. If you’re with ANZ and you’re not using Apple Pay with your iPhone or Apple Watch, I ask you, “Why?!”.
Every so often, where I work (at the German-Australian Chamber) I’m asked to write something that’s a little tongue-in-cheek for the office’s cultural WordPress blog. This time, it was about some missing forks in the office kitchen. It starts as follows:
Without a doubt, one of the most important things in any home or business is the kitchen. It is a place for culinary pursuits, conversation and sharing in general. Many memorable conversations, lunches, farewells and mid-work small-talk sessions have taken place in the chamber’s beloved kitchen. Most importantly, perhaps, there is a Nespresso machine accompanied by a range of flavours to suit every taste in the office. When Roma (flavour no. 8) runs out, however, all hell breaks loose and the chamber descends into near madness until the supply has been replenished.
Last year, I was one of those people who rushed to pre-order the Apple Watch, keenly anticipating its arrival on launch day. Luckily, I received it without a delay and like a child with a new toy, I excitedly set up and customised the thing to my liking. Now that I’ve had it for just over a year, I’ve been reflecting on how I use it on a day-to-day basis. There hasn’t been a single day that I haven’t worn it since first setting it up, and I can honestly say that I use a large number of features often.
Every day, I use the Activity and Workout apps to track my movement and exercise; I can say honestly that I have become more aware of my general health and have been motivated to integrate more exercise into my day. Messages and Twitter are also fantastic to have on the wrist, and it’s really cool and convenient to select music in the car simply by saying “Hey, Siri”. While dismissed as somewhat of a gimmick, I also use Digital Touch (sketches) every day with my girlfriend and family members, whether it be in the form of colour-coordinated tap codes (e.g. three white taps left to right = “I’m on my way”), or little sketches just for fun.
Aside from all of these features, however, I’ve also thought about how the watch contributes to my productivity each day. I was surprised to discover just how much use the device for work.
Below, I expand on some of the apps and functions that I use the most for work and commuting.
Watch face and Home screen
Well, this goes without saying, really. The watch face is central to the Apple Watch experience and is the first thing that you see when you raise your wrist and the display illuminates. Whilst I do swap faces every so often, sometimes to match a different band, the Modular face is (to my mind) the most useful one for linking to various apps. On my Modular setup, I link to the app Streaks (for encouraging new habits), Activity, Weather and most importantly for work, Calendar, which is integrated into the day/date display in the centre. Having your day’s events and appointments a tap away is a fantastic thing.
While I’ve heard that a number of Apple Watch users don’t go to the Home screen much to navigate between apps, I do this often. Rather than litter my Glances section with a lot of apps, I prefer to click the Digital Crown on the side of the watch to reach the Home screen and swap between my apps. It’s easy to re-organise the apps and get to the one you want quickly. Alternatively, you can just ask Siri to open the desired app.
Calendar
Flowing on from the watch face, Calendar is an indispensable app. Some may prefer to use an alternative calendar app such as Fantastical or Sunrise, but the default calendar on iPhone, iPad, Mac and so on has always worked well for me. The app is great for viewing what’s coming up in the week ahead and keeping track of meetings and appointments.
Something I would love, however, would be the ability to browse different months with a year, rather than just one, even if it were just for checking days and dates. It is understandable that Apple would limit the range of events that one can view in a stream, as it would quickly become ridiculous to scroll endlessly through future appointments with the Digital. That’s where the iPhone comes into play.
Notifications
Many tech commentators emphasise the need for a “killer app” on any given device; notifications on Apple Watch may be that killer app.
In a productivity context, notifications on Apple Watch are powerful and reliable. With a simple tap on the wrist using the Taptic Engine (and my watch always set to silent), I can receive subtle notifications on my wrist as I work, whether from Messages, Mail, Messenger, Slack, Calendar, Twitter or any other myriad apps installed on my watch or purely on my iPhone.
This is particularly useful for meetings, when I can monitor new notifications coming in with a simple turn of the wrist, rather than pulling out my phone, which can come across as even more impolite.
Mail
The beauty of Mail on the Apple Watch is its simplicity. All e-mails from multiple accounts are showed in the unified inbox and it’s super-easy to flag, reply, mark or trash individual e-mails. Like all apps, it’s easy to navigate by scrolling with your finger or the Digital Crown, or tapping the top of the screen to fly to the top.
Replying via e-mail can be done with quick phrases or dictation, the latter of which isn’t necessarily advisable in a quiet office environment, but it’s great to have on the go. It’s fantastic to be able to manage things like this when away from the desktop or rushing down the street.
Slack
Slack is big enterprise favourite for messaging and for certain organisations it is an entire replacement for e-mails. Slack works like the default Messages app with dictation features, also giving you access to both group and direct/private message streams. Again, accessibility and simplicity on the wrist coupled with the instant tap notification system means you’re not going to miss important work messages.
1Password
I worship this app. For those who may be unfamiliar with it, 1Password is a fantastic password vault and generator that syncs beautifully between versions designed specifically for the Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac. All you have to do is remember one password to unlock all the others.
In order to keep things tidy, the Apple Watch version will only display passwords that you have saved on your iPhone and marked with “Add to Apple Watch”. Upon entering the code in the app, you are then granted access to your favourite or most used logins and passwords.
Whilst I personally use Apple’s iCloud Keychain on my Mac at home to accelerate login (passwords are entered automatically in fields), I prefer not to save all of my passwords on my Windows desktop at work. Using 1Password means that if I want to log into an app or service that I use less frequently, I can easily check my watch instead. For added security, Apple has programmed the watch to lock itself when removed from your wrist at all times. If someone were to steal your watch, they would need to know the code to unlock your watch and the one for 1Password as well.
World Clock
Here’s an app with a very simple use case. As I work at the German-Australian Chamber, I sometimes need to know what time it is in Germany (surprise!). Having the time in Berlin only a tap away (or even in the Glances section or as a watch face complication) is really useful. Naturally, one can add more cities to the list and it reflects whatever is set on your iPhone for consistency.
Maps
Maps has improved by leaps and bounds ever since its rocky release back with iOS 6 back into 2012. It has gained public transit information, many more 3D Flyover locations and is much more detailed and reliable than ever before.
On top of this, it now includes even more information from popular sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp. I used to keep Google Maps on my iPhone just in case something went wrong with Apple Maps, however now there is absolutely no need for that.
Maps on the watch is executed extremely well. For meetings in Sydney CBD we’re I’ve had to go by foot, or even in situations driving by GoGet, Maps has been a significant aid in getting me to the right place at the right time, using either the on-screen map display or taps that tell you when to turn.
TripView
Much like Maps, Australian transport app TripView is absolutely brilliant (as the full app and in Glance mode). I use it every day for train times to and from work, as well as in situations when I’ve had to catch buses and trains during work hours.
iTranslate and WordBook
As I work in a German- (and English-) speaking office, German words tend to come up quite often. When not using the dict.cc German-English dictionary on my desktop computer, iTranslate has proven to be really useful for translating words on the fly. Simply say the word that you want to translate and the app will do it for you. A light Force Touch on the display will also allow you to change languages.
The same principles apply to English dictionary app WordBook, except there is also the expanded functionality of definition history, bookmarks and new words to learn day-to-day.
LinkedIn and Xing
While LinkedIn doesn’t have its own Apple Watch app, there is still compatibility with notifications to stay current with new connections and received messages. Xing, Germany’s equivalent to LinkedIn, does have its own dedicated watch app, which allows users to keep track of message history and recent profile visitors.
Calcbot
One of the iOS community’s favourite third-party calculator apps is Calcbot (made by Tapbots, developers of the beloved Twitter client Tweetbot). Tapbots has done a fantastic job of compressing a decent calculator into a tiny space. Tapping the buttons is easy with a low error rate, plus a Force Touch on the display reveals mathematical functions. It’s fantastic for performing quick mathematical operations that exceed the power of my own measly brain.
Siri
Last, but certainly not least, Siri is a great productivity tool. As much criticism as Siri and other digital voice assistants such as Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana often receive, in my experience, Siri is always improving in its accuracy and responsiveness. Each day, I use Siri to add new reminders, calendar events/appointments, start a navigational route in Maps, check the weather forecast, open apps on the watch and more.
To conclude…
Contrary to some of the criticism of this first-generation product, once personalised properly, it really is a powerful assistant. The true power of Apple Watch, aside from its customisation and personalisation, is its ‘glanceability’; it’s always there on your wrist, delivering the most important notifications and saving time that you would otherwise spend periodically checking your iPhone. I can recommend it highly as a productivity tool and can’t wait to see where Apple will take the device in the future.
Many tech commentators emphasise the need for a “killer app” on any given device; notifications on Apple Watch may be that killer app.
Maps has improved by leaps and bounds ever since its rocky release back with iOS 6 back into 2012. It has gained public transit information, many more 3D Flyover locations and is much more detailed and reliable than ever before.
