Mason Trinca/Reuters
Apple Watch will soon get a built-in voice memo app and a calculator. But it still won't tell you the time if you just glance at it.
- Apple just announced a slew of new features for Apple Watch that will be packed into its upcoming watchOS 6.
- But those new features won't include the ability for it to display the time at all times.
- This limitation is glaring, because it's a basic watch function and other smartwatches offer it.
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Apple Watch will soon become an even more capable computer.
But it's still struggling to do the most basic thing expected of a watch - display the time.
Apple on Monday announced a slew of new features for its smartwatch at its annual developer conference. The new version of its operating system - watchOS 6 - will bring Apple's voice memo and calculator apps to the device. Users will now be able to download apps directly to their watches through its new built-in app store.
Women will be able to track their menstrual cycles with it, using a new app. And the device will even warn users when ambient noise levels get loud enough to damage their hearing.
But one thing the new software won't do is display the time at all times. Instead, as they have since the first Apple Watch debuted four years ago, users will still have to twist or raise their wrists just to check the hour.
That may not seem like a big deal, but it can be. It can force users to stop whatever they're doing with their hands - typing on a keyboard, say, or carrying luggage - just to check the time.
It's also just a plain design failure. The most essential function of a watch is to display the time, to allow the wearer to see the hour at just a simple glance. The vast majority of traditional wristwatch and many of Apple Watch's rivals offer this simple, but basic function. Why can't Apple's smartwatch?
Battery life isn't a good excuse for not displaying the time
An Apple representative confirmed that watchOS 6 won't include an always-on time feature, but declined to explain the company's rationale for leaving it out. So I don't exactly know what the thinking is in Cupertino.
But company officials would probably argue that it would diminish the device's battery life. And they could probably make a strong case that the device is selling pretty well without that ability.
That may be true, but I think many users would opt for an always-on screen if they had a choice, battery life be damned. And I'm no expert, but I would think that there are ways to minimize the impact on the device's charge.
The Apple Watch comes with an OLED screen. That type of screen doesn't have a backlight; instead, it can be set to illuminate only the particular pixels it needs for each image it displays. It likely wouldn't need a lot of power to display just a digital readout of the time or a simple pair of watch hands on a black background. Apple could also limit battery drain by not displaying the time with full brightness or use the watch's built-in ambient light sensor to adjust the brightness on the fly.
The company seem to recognize that customers use the Apple Watch as a timepiece. With watchOS 6, users will be able to set the device to buzz them every hour on the hour. And the updated software, like its predecessors will come with a new collection of watch faces. Many of these are customizable; users can have them display the date or their appointment or, now, the noise level around them.
What they can't do is have these watch faces show the time all the time. Until they can, Apple Watch will be a smart gadget, but a really dumb watch.
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