Wonderful Apple Watch!

My daughter just ordered one of the new Apple Watches that operates with cellular, and does not need to be near the iPhone for it to work; so she is giving me her current watch.
She has been asking me about getting me one for the last couple of years, and I kept saying no because they are SO expensive , and I have enough trouble using the iPhone and was sure that there was no way that I would be able to read apps or answer texts on a little wrist watch, and it would be waste of her money.
Anyway, she was explaining to me that I don’t have to do any of that, but that I can tell when someone is calling me and even answer the phone call with the watch.
It is also a fitness tracker and is waterproof so I could wear it when I am swimming if I want to. She said that it monitors heart rate, sleeping patterns, and would send me an alert when my heart goes into one of its a-fib spells.
Since it syncs with the phone, even if I can’t tell everything from the watch, I can look on the phone and read it.
Her new one should be here this week; so she will be bringing me the old one by next weekend or before, and I can report in on how it works and what I like about it.

 

Robin came over last night after work and brought the Apple Watch. We had fun setting it up and pairing it with my iPhone, and choosing the look of the watch itself. There are all sorts of face combinations that you can use for the look of the watch, including some that actually move, like a butterfly or jellyfish.
For right now, I have chosen one that has a digital time readout, and also shows activity right on the front, and it also measures my heart rate and shows that; but once I get more accustomed to the watch and what all is available, I will be playing around with that part and trying out some of the different looks.
I haven’t worn a watch for a long time, since I usually can just look at my ipad or phone when I need to know the time, and it seems strange to have something on my wrist; but I am sure that will feel normal before very long.
The information is that I can wear this swimming; but I have to get everything in just the right mode before I go in the water with it; so until I become more familiar with using it, I will not be taking any chances on getting it wet.
All in all, I think that it is pretty awesome, and I like that I can answer the phone calls right from the watch; so no more missed calls because my phone was in the bottom of my purse and I didn’t hear it ringing.
Mine is a Series 2 watch, so not the newest one; but not the first Apple Watch either.

 

So far, the Apple Watch hasn't offered anything that would be useful for me. Now, when they make them so that the Apple Watch is my cellphone, then I might consider it because carrying my iPhone is never convenient for me. I don't like carrying a phone in my shirt pocket, although having had cancer twice now, I don't suppose that's something I should worry much about, and there's no other convenient place to put it. I keep leaving it on the table at restaurants and have to go back for it. I would wear a watch if I could use it as a phone.

 

Actually,@Ken Anderson , you can do that with the newest Apple Watch because it operates on cellular; so it does not need to be close to the phone for it to work. The version that I have does operate just like a phone, and I can answer phone calls from the watch. I don’t know how to find the keypad to dial from here yet, but I can go to my recent phone calls (which are the people I normally talk to anyway) and call someone that way.
I still have to have the phone somewhere close though, but it can be in my purse, or even in the other room and the watch still alerts me for the phone call.
I can also get text messages this way, and can answer them by voice if i want to do that. Since there is no way that I am apt to try and text with the watch, I would either use it as an alert to use my phone for the text, or use the voice response. There are also some pre-programmed answers that you can choose from and send, things like “on my way”, or “I will call you back”.
So far I have not done any of this, and today, I downloaded the Apple Watch manual to my iBooks and I am in the process of reading it to see what all it can do and how it does it.

 

That's a step in the right direction but I'm not paying that kind of money until it can replace my iPhone. I rarely use my iPhone to get online and I seldom text, so that would be ideal.

 

Does your daughter have the new cellular Apple Watch, @Chrissy Cross ? Robin just picked hers up this week, and she is getting one of the new iPhone X’s on Friday also.
She said that when she is at work, it is not always convenient for her to carry her phone around, but she still needs to be able to make phone calls and answer them, and the new cellular watches can work without have to have the phone along with you.
I think that at this point, it would not totally replace the iPhone, @Ken Anderson ; because the watch app is on the phone and you use that app to make changes on the watch.
But it would eliminate your having to carry the phone around when you go someplace, because you can use the watch as your phone. It also uses SIRI, so you can tell her what you want to do with the watch, and it also works as your GPS if you need to use maps for directions. Since you already have the iPhone, you could just use that when you needed to make changes to the watch that need to be made from the watch app on the phone, and otherwise not bother with using the phone.

Here is more information about how the new cellular one works.

 

I went to iBooks and downloaded the whole manual for the watch, and read through all 300+ pages of that, and then I watched an hour long youtube tutorial on how they work; so I am now getting to be more proficient with the Apple Watch .
The more i wear it, the better I like it ! I have been playing with the different clock faces, and composing them the way I want them, and learning how to answer phone calls and text messages even.
I really like how tuned in it is to helping a person be aware of their health, and it is interesting to be able to see what my heart is doing all of the time.
When we walked down to the store, I set the activity tracker for “outdoor walk” and it started timing me, plus I could see my heart rate right on the front of the dial constantly, and was able to tell how it was responding . If my heart rate goes too high, the watch will alert me, so I can stop and rest until it slows down again.
One of the things i really like is that there is an emergency button that you can push and it will call 911 for help. This could be a lifesaver if a person was in a car wreck, or had a heart attack or some other serious emergency. You can also ask Siri to call for help, or even to help you find your way home if you are driving and get lost. Of course, my phone can do that, too; but in an accident, it would be much easier to push a button that was right on my wrist and not try to find my phone and turn it on.
You should ask your daughter for one of these, too, @Chrissy Cross , since you live alone and don’t have anyone close by to call for help if you have an emergency and do not have your phone handy.