What I love about my Apple Watch and my favorite features!
I have had my Apple watch for quite some time – and I love it. I started using a Pebble that my dad had laying around to see if I even would wear any sort of smart watch. Before that, I used to always wear some sort of watch. For some reason, I started wearing any bracelets or watches that I had on my right wrist although I am right-handed but it feels more comfortable there. Luckily, the Apple watch gives the option to switch the orientation so it’s no problem, except when having to use my left-hand to do things.
Anyone that knows me (and my dad) know that we both are tech nerds and love all sorts of technology. Realistically I didn’t think I needed an Apple watch as I couldn’t really see the benefits. However, since I’ve gotten it, I couldn’t imagine not having it. Here are a few reasons why I love my Apple watch:
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It’s Convenient
If you’re like me – you lose your phone in your purse about 4 times a day. Or you forget it in another room and miss a call or text. The nice thing about the watch is that you can both text back AND answer calls. You technically wouldn’t need to even use your phone anymore if you were okay with small teeny screens and speakerphone – but the option is so helpful. You can either send a default reply (which can be customized, see below,) speak to text, or use the ‘Scribble’ feature to literally draw out the letters and words. You can even connect your ‘Wallet’ from your phone to pay for things like Starbucks, or use Apple Pay right on it.
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It’s Customizable
You can truly change everything about the watch to make it your own. You can get watch faces like this one that I’m currently using, and get all sorts of bands. I went the athletic plastic band route for a while, and then decided I wanted some metal bands. Luckily, Amazon has so many options. I just type in ‘Apple Watch Band’ and the supply is endless. Honestly, I would stray away from spending the big bucks on the name brand Apple bands. I’ve purchased $15 rose gold metal bands on Amazon and never had an issue – plus this one comes with a tool kit to take out links!
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It’s Discrete
One of the best features of the Apple Watch is simply the fact that you can easily scroll through an Instagram feed, answer a quick text, or check your heart rate without having your phone front and center. It allows me to stay connected and respond when needed when pulling my phone out would be considered rude or unprofessional. Obviously, with all things there is a limit. You don’t want to make it a habit to always mess with your watch in those situations – but it takes away the inconvenience of the awkward action of pulling out your phone.
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It’s Fun
You can connect games like Pokémon Go, Instagram, Twiter, as well as connect your health app to the watch. It’s a much easier and accurate way to count steps, track runs, as well as general workouts. Plus, I love being able to change-up the look of the face, case, and band to fit my current style or mood.
It takes a while to get used to the features. However, once you get them down it’s like any tech device that it becomes second nature. Be sure you have the Watch app downloaded to your phone, this is how majority of your changes can be made.
- You can orient it so it wakes upon lifting your wrist. For a while I had this off to keep it discrete and save battery life. Recently I noticed I was having to tap the screen multiple times to wake it up – so I switched back. This option can be accessed on the app on your iPhone.
- You can customize your face with your own photos and patterns – you just have to know how to get there. The app is odd and it will only let you add photos that are recent in your camera roll. I always just screenshot what I want and make sure it’s in my recent, test it out, and change what and where it show. I always have the time, temperature, and date written with the day of the week. There are other things you can add such as steps, more detailed weather, etc. But this keeps my face simple and easy to read.
- To get off your ‘face’ and onto the home screen, you must push the top button, or the one that is the little wheel. This brings you to the home where all of your apps can be found. Simply click on the app you want or use the scroll feature of the top button to get where you want.
- On your ‘home’ screen with all of the apps, press the bottom button to see your recent apps. You can customize certain apps to stay in your dock if you frequently check them. I don’t use this feature much as I just scroll to the app I need.
- Hold down the top button to access Siri. Tell her what you need just like the phone.
- Customize your text sayings! On the home screen of your watch app find ‘Messages’. There you can select ‘default’ replies and set custom replies for text messages. That way it’s easy to respond to a quick text with something that is more personal, as well as give yourself options. An example is that I was taking classes and there was only a reply for ‘in a meeting’. So I added ‘In class’ and was able to discretely reply with it.
- Open the camera app on your watch – it will activate your phone camera and you can use it as another screen to see the photo! It’s great for those selfies that you just cannot use that front facing camera for.
Overall, there are so many features and fun things to do with the watch that it can get a little overwhelming. However, just take your time learning the small processes and soon enough you’ll be able to use it like a pro.
Have anymore questions about the Apple Watch or other tech questions? Shoot me an email and let me know!