Tired of Wearing Your Apple Watch? Turn It into an iPhone nano
Toggle Dark Mode
There was a time when the iPod nano was all the rage among music lovers. The tiny portable flash-based device provided nearly all the capabilities of the larger hard drive-laden iPods in a fun design that was a fraction of the size.
The iPod nano had so many variations that it was apparent the diminutive music player was a design playground for Apple to explore different ideas. It began with a very iPod-like style that evolved into aluminum casings, video cameras, and even a sixth-generation model that felt like an Apple Watch prototype.
That may have been a sign of things to come, but it was the seventh-generation iPod nano that really changed the game. It was the only traditional iPod ever to feature a Lightning port and had a design and user interface that led some to believe it was actually running iOS (it wasn’t, but it sure looked like it at first glance).
We also saw plenty of rumors of an iPhone nano back in those days. While that never came to fruition, in retrospect, the iPod nano may have been what we ended up with instead.
Enter tinyPod…
That was over a decade ago, but if you’ve been disappointed by never seeing an iPhone that would make an iPhone 12 mini look ginormous, a new accessory is here to help you live out that fantasy with your Apple Watch.
In May, a new teaser video showed up on X for something called the tinyPod. At first glance, it looked like a small, iPod-style music player, click wheel and all; however, as the video continued, it showed an Apple Watch being inserted into the device, ending with the tagline: “your phone away from phone.”
Now, it’s moved beyond a mere concept video into an actual product — or, more specifically, two slightly different products: a full tinyPod case with a scroll wheel and a tinyPod lite that omits the wheel.
When paired with a cellular Apple Watch, tinyPod effectively creates an iPhone nano, although perhaps not in the same way Apple would have done. Instead, it hearkens back to an era before the original iPhone was released when iPod forums were rife with concept illustrations of an “iPod Phone” that never envisioned the possibility of a touchscreen.
Of course, the Apple Watch does have a touchscreen, and tinyPod is simply leveraging what that wearable can already do. However, using it this way is so different from wearing it on your wrist that it’s easy to imagine how it will feel more like an iPhone nano than an Apple Watch.
There’s also nothing particularly magical about the scroll wheel other than the mechanical engineering used to create it. It’s not using Bluetooth or some other fancy electronic way of manipulating your Apple Watch; it’s just turning the Digital Crown.
How? Through carefully mechanized components inside, tinyPod’s wheel makes direct rotation contact with your Apple Watch crown, letting it naturally scroll anything across the OS.tinyPod
As the folks at tinyPod point out, the Apple Watch is a pretty limiting experience in its standard form. You can only tap on it with one hand, and it’s not really comfortable to use for interacting with more sophisticated apps. Using it as a standalone device has the potential to change that.
The company also points out how it could be a way to curb your social media addiction without unplugging entirely since you’re effectively carrying around a simplified phone that can still make and receive calls, send texts and iMessages, ensure that important notifications still show up, and play music through your AirPods.
It’s an interesting idea that’s not hard to buy into. The tinyPod lite lacks the scroll wheel but only costs $29 since it’s not much more than a case. The standard tinyPod ups that to $79, but it’s still not bad if you’ve been looking at ways to do more with your Apple Watch than just wear it on your wrist.
