The Apple Watch promises to be as intuitive of an experience and as easy to use as the iPhone, but in practice this little device worn on your wrist has proven to be far less than intuitive and at times frustrating to use.
Sure the Apple Watch is sleek and stylish and right now is one great conversation piece with your friends. But be careful. If you decide to take your watch off and let your friends get a good look, you will find that you have to enter your passcode over and over again. Only when worn do you not receive the nagging passcode requests, and you have to be careful, if it is too loose on your wrist you will see them then as well.
The company has always been known for creating devices that you didn't need help using. However, the Apple Watch is completely different. Already, Apple has released 11 different videos about how to use the Apple Watch to help its confused users, and they will need them. Perhaps this is why you can't simply pick up an Apple Watch and take it home with you. You will want the help of an Apple associate before you are set loose with your new wrist tech.
For example, lets look at how to send a text message. For users comfortable with a phone, logic dictates that you would swipe on your Apple watch and go to the messages app. But, in reality, Apple wants you to "Raise your wrist to see who your message is from and to read the full message. Lower your arm to dismiss it." If you want to compose a new message you must "Force Touch in the Messages inbox to compose a new message."
After giving the Apple Watch a full charge and using it for a day, battery life remains to be one of my top concerns. The first day, I got about 7 hours out of the battery before there was nothing left. This could have been because it came out of the box and was placed directly on my wrist. However, after a full charge, the battery life dropped to under 40% in about four hours.
Admittedly I was testing apps and features, but even still the value of these devices comes when you use them, and at $350 and up, you expect to be able to use them for a day without losing your time keeper.
Where the watch really runs into problem is the apps. Quite simply, the apps just aren't there yet. Many apps only offer a partial user experience on the watch prompting you to switch to the iPhone for a more complete experience. If I must do that, why not just use my iPhone. Wouldn't that be much easier in the long run?
Will the user experience with the Apple Watch improve over time? I believe it is safe to say yes based on Apple's reputation. Is it worth its hefty price tag? I'm not convinced. With awkward controls and an incomplete app ecosystem, the Apple Watch feels more like a fashion statement than a legitimate piece of technology that can make our lives easier. However, like any first release, expect Apple to begin heavily tweaking the experience based on feedback from early adopters, myself included. However, at least for today, I would wait and see how Apple begins to evolve their new watch line before making such a large investment.
