Apple Watch

[Edd]

This one:

View attachment 6747

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tide-charts/id95714350

The iPhone app is OK, but the Watch App is excellent:

View attachment 6748


That little H / L indicator can be used as a complication.

The iPhone app has ads, but the Watch app functions completely, without adds, in the free version. But since I used it a lot, I went ahead and bought the ad free version, well worth it for $1.99


Tides Pro looks good too, and it's got a jazzier UI, iPhone app looks better, I may give it a shot, it's fremium, $4.99 to go ad free, I may check it out at some point, but since I used the above for like 2+ years, I stuck with it for now

Downloaded and set as complication. I like it, very handy for me right now.

 

[Pumbaa]

This one:

View attachment 6747

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tide-charts/id95714350

The iPhone app is OK, but the Watch App is excellent:

View attachment 6748


That little H / L indicator can be used as a complication.

The iPhone app has ads, but the Watch app functions completely, without adds, in the free version. But since I used it a lot, I went ahead and bought the ad free version, well worth it for $1.99


Tides Pro looks good too, and it's got a jazzier UI, iPhone app looks better, I may give it a shot, it's fremium, $4.99 to go ad free, I may check it out at some point, but since I used the above for like 2+ years, I stuck with it for now

Looks nice! …so of course it’s not available in my country/region.

Granted, I don’t really need it, but still!

 

[Pumbaa]

Anyone swimming with their Apple Watch?

If so, how’s that working out for you? What band are you using? Are you happy with the tracking? Is the moon made of cheese?

 

[User.191]

Anyone swimming with their Apple Watch?

If so, how’s that working out for you? What band are you using? Are you happy with the tracking? Is the moon made of cheese?

I've used it for swimming and it works well enough. Not the most functional of devices because it's hard to do anything with it while it's wet.

And no, of course the moon isn't made of cheese you moron.

It's made of bacon...lovely bacon...

 

[Hrafn]

Anyone swimming with their Apple Watch?

If so, how’s that working out for you? What band are you using? Are you happy with the tracking? Is the moon made of cheese?

Every summer until last year, it worked fine, Nike sport band, it’s the only one I have. Wallace and Grommit teach us yes, of course.

 

[tobefirst]

I’ve used it in the past (haven’t been to the rec center in a year and a half). It works alright. If I were more serious about swimming, I could see myself wanting something with physical buttons, but the tracking itself seemed pretty good. I mostly used a sport band, but occasionally forgot and used a sport loop. Both worked well.

 

[DT]

I don't do a formal "swimming workout", I wear it while in the ocean, in the pool, etc., It does report my activity, and if I'm actually swimming, it general detects that motion and kicks into a workout request.

I think most bands would be fine, some dry out quicker (or instantly) due to the material, like the Sport band. If I was using a band made with an absorbent material in the ocean, I'd rinse it out so it doesn't get ocean funk

 

[DT]

Pivoting to general band chit-chat ...

This company makes a stellar band, solid materials, great construction (very high quality lugs, hardware), excellent price:

OUHENG

OUHENG Store Home Page

www.amazon.com

I've got a few of this product, linking to the yellow/black I own:

Amazon.com

It's a leather[?] with a silicone rubber backing, I've had these in the ocean dozens of times, they look good as new. The thickness of the band and how the lugs are contoured look terrific (some bands look so skinny, and end it more of a squared off lug).

Tons of color options for the band, hardware, both sizes, heck, I may get a new color right now

 

[fischersd]

I used to be a fan of the Clockworksynergy bands, but sent one of their more recent NATO band purchases back - it was paper thin, not the quality I was used to. Heh. I likely have about 30 bands (and before you make that face - there used to be clones of the Apple sport band on Amazon before Apple got them to take those storefronts down - I scored about a dozen of those. (they were about $10 each?)

Originally a S0 (space black with the link band), then the S3 - likely upgrading to the S7 this fall. (the S3 is starting to show its age with WatchOS 8)

IMHO, the killer apps are Siri (while peering into the fridge "Hey Siri, add onions to my grocery list"), timer, having it sideways on a charging stand so you get alarm clock mode, of course the exercise app (filling your rings is addictive) Turn by turn directions (with the taps on the wrist) is pretty nice in sketchy neighbourhoods. . (or as another reminder when you're driving)

Edit: Oh..and if you want to leave your phone at home, there's a reminders app for WatchOS, useful for your groceries list.

Edit: One more - with the Find My app in WatchOS 8, if you DO leave your phone at home and didn't mean to, it tells you! . (provided you don't disable it) - this saved me the other day - got the notification just walking out of the lobby of my building.

(Apple Maps still seems to only be doing 2D btw - hopefully they start doing more with elevation).

 

[Edd]

Downhill skiing with the watch for the first time. I don’t have a proper app to track this activity so I’ve just done 4 runs and didn’t start a workout. Wanted to see what it would do.

It’s given me about 15 minutes of workout time and counted 1200 steps or so that I haven’t taken. I guess it thinks I’m walking downhill.

 

[B01L]

I am looking forward to a Series 8 with non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, also the potential "ruggedized" model; but I wish I could have stand-alone cell phone service thru the Apple Watch without the need to also have an active iPhone...

As to cost, a titanium model with a pair of AirPod Pro earbuds, still cheaper than the stainless steel Submariner I bought in the mid-1980's...!

 

[User.45]

I am looking forward to a Series 8 with non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, also the potential "ruggedized" model; but I wish I could have stand-alone cell phone service thru the Apple Watch without the need to also have an active iPhone...

As to cost, a titanium model with a pair of AirPod Pro earbuds, still cheaper than the stainless steel Submariner I bought in the mid-1980's...!

I wouldn't hold my breath for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring. If you're diabetic, it won't cut it. And if you're not, it would be very unlikely to compare to even an annual A1C.... All those AI/big data driven stuff are fun, but medical standards are not (yet) established based on these. (I learned a lot about blood pressure when I trended mine electronically for a month, even after many years of experience managing it on others. High sampling probably encodes more than good measurements, but I digress). I find the pulseox on the AW nearly a total gimmick, but also quite funny. Pulseoximetry is notoriously skin tone dependent. It consistently underestimates my saturation. And my skin isn't even that dark, LOL. It's would probably detect bad sleep apnea (so do spouses, haha), but don't see a lot of utility.

 

[Andropov]

I wouldn't hold my breath for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring. If you're diabetic, it won't cut it.

Why not? I thought that was the whole point. I get that it won't be reliable enough for life-or-death situations or keeping an accurate history of glucose levels, but for general monitoring during the day I would hope for it to be enough. After all the range of acceptable glucose levels in relative terms is more or less wide, isn't it? I mean, it's not like measuring SpO2 saturation (for example) where you need to measure tiny relative differences (since the expected measured range is within 90-100%), so if the measurement is, say, 20% off, it's completely useless. Being 20% off in a glucose measurement doesn't seem enough to make a dangerous measurement seem normal or vice-versa (genuinely asking).

That said, oxygen monitoring on Apple Watch is hilariously bad. Totally useless IMHO. I can't think of a reason why anyone would want to track all that garbage data.

 

[User.45]

Why not? I thought that was the whole point. I get that it won't be reliable enough for life-or-death situations or keeping an accurate history of glucose levels, but for general monitoring during the day I would hope for it to be enough. After all the range of acceptable glucose levels in relative terms is more or less wide, isn't it? I mean, it's not like measuring SpO2 saturation (for example) where you need to measure tiny relative differences (since the expected measured range is within 90-100%), so if the measurement is, say, 20% off, it's completely useless. Being 20% off in a glucose measurement doesn't seem enough to make a dangerous measurement seem normal or vice-versa (genuinely asking).

That said, oxygen monitoring on Apple Watch is hilariously bad. Totally useless IMHO. I can't think of a reason why anyone would want to track all that garbage data.

Legit question. Here's a quite comprehensive paper on current methods: PMC7731259
The reason I brought up pulseox is that the glucometry would most likely have to rely on optical methods too in a watch form factor.
20% difference could be life, vs. (near) death.

I think precision can be achieved using AI algorithms adjusting measurements based on large-scale population data (+ground truth established using the gold standard method).
The concern with optical methods is that they tend to be non-linear. This is why medically if I'm concerned about O2 sat, I do arterial blood gases (used to, LOL, I don't miss inpatient care). Because below ~92% on the pulseox, hypoxia can be pretty severe without the device telling you.

My lazy websearch didn't even reveal and "FDA cleared" non-invasive glucometer device (the ones you find actually come with a sensor prick that stays on the skin continuously). With FDA's definition of a medical "device", that's many times lower bar than for drug approvals.

So now, Apple would have to have a major breakthrough in medical tech for BP or Gluc measurements work out. Based on what they've done thus far is really good quality AI on low quality sensor data. I think eventually this will be good enough, but RN it's closer to a truly fun gimmick.

 

[Edd]

I’ve got a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. There’s a Toyota app that has remote start and other crap. I can use Siri to remote start the car, using Shortcuts for some reason. Works well with the iPhone.

But with Apple Watch there’s an extra unnecessary step. When I say “Start the car” I get this message.

If I say “allow” it then goes on to start it but happens every time. I’ve been through Shortcuts, the app on both phone and watch, iOS Settings and everything is turned on. I see people having similar issues online but no fix. It very much feels like an Apple issue. I don’t have HomeKit or anything. I find Shortcuts very confusing generally.

Anyone have a fix?

 

[fischersd]

View attachment 11806I’ve got a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. There’s a Toyota app that has remote start and other crap. I can use Siri to remote start the car, using Shortcuts for some reason. Works well with the iPhone.

But with Apple Watch there’s an extra unnecessary step. When I say “Start the car” I get this message.

If I say “allow” it then goes on to start it but happens every time. I’ve been through Shortcuts, the app on both phone and watch, iOS Settings and everything is turned on. I see people having similar issues online but no fix. It very much feels like an Apple issue. I don’t have HomeKit or anything. I find Shortcuts very confusing generally.

Anyone have a fix?

Heh - doesn't it annoy you to have to pay them a subscription for that? (they should have just allowed bluetooth connectivity without having to have a subscription to their cloud).

 

[Edd]

Heh - doesn't it annoy you to have to pay them a subscription for that? (they should have just allowed bluetooth connectivity without having to have a subscription to their cloud).

Are you referring to the Toyota subscription? If so, the answer is yes I’m quite annoyed. Not sure I understand your reference to bluetooth.

 

[fischersd]

Are you referring to the Toyota subscription? If so, the answer is yes I’m quite annoyed. Not sure I understand your reference to bluetooth.

The point being there didn't need to be a cloud subscription - they easily could have given us remote control / access to our SUV's with an app on our phone (no $750 key fobs either).

Heh - I already sent them hate-mail about that when I ordered mine. Car companies charging subscriptions for functionality that should be included is almost criminal.