Every Apple Watch Owner Raves About These 7 Things
Credit: iJustine
If you’ve never owned an Apple Watch, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about. Sure, Apple’s flagship wearable seems pretty nifty. But with smartphones, tablets, computers and smart speakers at our disposal, is it really necessary?
That’s a hard question to answer. But one thing is for sure: the Apple Watch makes a plethora of everyday tasks a lot easier and more accessible. For anyone on the fence about the Apple Watch, here are just seven ways the wearable can make your life easier. Continue reading to learn seven things every Apple Watch owner raves about.
You Can Unlock Your Mac Automatically
For those of us who work on a Mac, logging into our machines is something we do quite a few times a day. For desktop Macs or older MacBooks, we’re probably used to typing in our passcodes. Newer MacBooks are a bit more convenient with built-in Touch ID, but it’s still an additional step to get back to work.
If you own both a Mac and an Apple Watch, you can cut this step out completely. As long as you have compatible devices and the feature is enabled, all you need to do is open the lid on your MacBook or tap a key. As long as your Apple Watch is nearby (and it should be since it’s on your wrist), your Mac will automatically unlock and you can get to your workflow that much quicker.
You Can Control Your Music and TV Remotely
Between voice commands, Siri remotes and our iPhones, there are plenty of ways to control music playback on a smart speaker or video playback on an Apple TV. None of those options are quite as convenient as using your Apple Watch.
Being able to control music or Apple TV from your wrist is a game changer. Want to change the song on your Amazon Echo? Even if you use Spotify, you can quickly pause or skip to the next track. Open up the Remote app on your Apple Watch and you can play, pause, scroll and return to the menu right from your wrist.
Find Your iPhone with a Tap
Even though our smartphones are typically our constant companions, there are obviously times when we misplace them. Whether it’s buried underneath a pile of clothes or it simply fell between the couch cushions, losing your iPhone is an annoyance.
A misplaced iPhone is trickier to find when it’s on silent, too. And while you can log in to Find My iPhone on another device, that’s a fairly time-consuming and clunky method of pinging it. But with an Apple Watch, all you need to do is tap on the Ping iPhone feature within Control Center to quickly and easily locate your device.
You Can Communicate More Ways Than Ever
By this point, we’re all used to communicating with our smartphones. But the Apple Watch takes communication to another level of convenience. That isn’t to say that the Apple Watch is a replacement for an iPhone (yet), but it makes communicating much more seamless in certain situations.
Being able to send a pre-composed message or dictate a text makes responding to texts a lot easier when your smartphone isn’t within easy reach. That’s not even taking into account answering phone calls on your Apple Watch or using Walkie-Talkie, which feels just as futuristic as it sounds.
Add Reminders and Set Timers with Siri (Anywhere)
Apple’s digital assistant isn’t the best one out there, but Siri still comes in handy for a wide variety of tasks. There’s still an issue with using any digital assistant, and it’s accessibility. Even if you have Hey Siri activated on your iPhone, you probably still have to pull your device out of your pocket to do anything meaningful. That’s where Siri on the Apple Watch comes in. You don’t know how convenient it is until you try it.
The next time you need to set a quick reminder or have Siri start a timer, just raise your Apple Watch and invoke the digital assistant. It may only save a few seconds, but those seconds can add up quickly. You can also start tracking your workouts with just your voice.
It Coaches You to Improve Your Health
We all should be taking care of our personal health and wellness — and the Apple Watch makes this a whole lot easier. The device is even arguably better than many of the basic fitness trackers out there, simply because it’s incredibly powerful and sophisticated yet intuitive and easy to use.
The Apple Watch has a slew of health-related features but there are some notable standouts. Being able to see your heart rate over time is fascinating, and the Apple Watch’s Activity and Workout apps are both much more motivating and feature-rich than you may imagine. Even the Breathe app, which is really simple, works better than expected.
Navigate without Looking at the Map
One of the surest ways to look like a tourist is to stare at your smartphone as you’re navigating a city. Not only that, but having to glance down at walking or driving directions when moving through unfamiliar territory comes with its own downsides — including missing out on awesome scenery, depending on where you are.
That’s where Apple Maps on the Watch comes in. The wearable can actually give you directions by using its Taptic Engine. A series of two taps means turn left, a steady beat of 12 taps means a right turn. It takes a little