Does Apple Watch really need a ‘killer app’?

By

1_1024
What's wrong with thousands of great apps?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch is missing a “killer app.”

At least that’s what some say. Apple’s first wearable has been selling well, but its inability to convince everyone they need a smartwatch since it went on sale in late April is being blamed on its lack of stellar software by some analysts. But are they right?

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Does Apple Watch really need a killer app to become the next iPod (in sales terms), or will it do perfectly well with thousands of great apps?

Join us as we battle it out over these questions and more in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac!

Killian-FNFKillian Bell (Writer, Cult of Android): Surprise! Apple Watch isn’t the next iPhone.

I don’t think anyone with realistic expectations thought it would be — but still, there are complaints that it might not be achieving its full sales potential. Some blame that on the lack of a “killer app,” but I think that’s a pretty ridiculous statement in 2015. What do you think?

cartoonluke_360.pngLuke Dormehl (Writer, Cult of Mac): I’m not going to disagree that it’s silly to expect the Apple Watch to become the next iPhone in terms of sales volume, although I don’t know how many people were realistically expecting that. There were certainly some wackily high predictions for first year Apple Watch sales, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone suggest smartwatches are going to take over from smartphones any time soon.

On the question of killer apps, I should start by pointing out what a killer app is, or at least was when the term was first coined.

Back in the late 1970s, personal computers were firmly the realm of geeks. They didn’t do very much at all, with the sales pitch to adults typically being that it could store your recipes for you. In the early 1980s, the Apple II took off as a sales juggernaut largely thanks to the arrival of the first spreadsheet VisiCalc — which went on to sell more than 700,000 copies in six years.

At the time, that was considered a massive number and the program was considered important enough that, for most people, it became reason enough for them to buy a computer.

Over time, what our computers and devices do for us has greatly expanded. Everyone has their own “killer app” to some extent, and the audience who love gadgets and technology for its own sake has expanded way past what it was in the early 1980s.

However, I still think there’s some merit to this idea of a killer app: something unique that a device does which appeals to all the potential customers out there.

I’m sure you’ll bring up the iPhone and say that it has no “killer app,” but the iPhone was the first smartphone which made it easy to use the Internet. As Steve Jobs put it, it was a “breakthrough Internet device.” I think fitness tracking has the most potential of anything I’ve seen on the Apple Watch, but I don’t think at the moment that fitness tracking on its own is enough to appeal to the casual user out there.

I love Apple products and have used an Apple Watch quite a bit, but — for me — it still hasn’t proven itself to have enough value on its own to make it a “must buy.” I wear a traditional watch, I use a Jawbone UP band to track fitness, and most other things I want are easily performable using my iPhone. And I’m a tech geek: I’m actively looking for reasons to buy.

What about your average person on the street? They need that essential killer app to make sense of the whole smartwatch phenomenon.

There are lots of awesome apps on Apple Watch.
There are lots of awesome apps on Apple Watch.
Photo: Apple

Killian-FNFKillian: I’m going to pretend the readers are still awake after that short yet painfully boring history lesson and keep this thing going.

Maybe I exaggerated the expectations a little bit, but I’m glad you admit that far too many people predicted insanely high figures that were unrealistic. And some people really did expect the Apple Watch to replace their iPhone. I’ve read reviews from intelligent people that say things like, “I still have to take out my iPhone to do stuff, so what’s the point.”

There was a time when a “killer app” helped sell a product, but that’s no longer the case. Technology is so mainstream now that everybody’s idea of a killer app or function is vastly different. What I want my Apple Watch to do could be totally different to what you want.

There’s no single app that is going to appeal to hundreds of millions of people anymore. It has to be a collection of great apps that do great things that make our lives that little bit easier. And with iOS developers behind it, the Apple Watch is already achieving that.

I can put my iPhone down on my desk in the morning, or even leave it beside the bed, and I won’t have to touch it all day, because I can get my notifications on my wrist and I don’t have to keep looking at my iPhone’s display to see what that ping was for. That’s a killer feature.

I can also use my Apple Watch to check the weather, sports scores, my calendar, and even package statuses without having to touch my iPhone at all. In lots of everyday situations, when you might not want to pull out your iPhone, this is incredibly useful.

I’m glad you mentioned fitness tracking, because, for me, that’s where Apple Watch really excels. I know your Jawbone UP band can track your steps and activities, and that’s great, but I’m confident it doesn’t do it anywhere near as well as Apple Watch.

That’s not to say it isn’t as accurate; it’s just not as good a fitness companion. The UP doesn’t motivate you to move and exercise in the same way Apple Watch does with reminders, goals, and rewards — and to lots of people, that’s important.

How many stories have we read about people who lost a ton of weight because their Apple Watch inspired them to workout in a way no other fitness tracker has before? Tim Cook quoted an email during the iPhone 6s keynote from some guy who lost 30 pounds with Apple Watch.

Apple Watch doesn’t need a killer app, because it has hundreds of them, and they cater to millions of users with lots of different needs. And in 2015, that’s what’s really important.

cartoonluke_360.pngLuke: You mean Tim Cook didn’t read out an email praising a rival product during an Apple keynote? Shocker!

I do see your point, but you’re also someone predisposed to buy smartwatches. Haven’t you even owned a few of the awful Samsung ones?

It’s all very well to say that there are plenty of apps available for Apple Watch, and I think watchOS 2 — and future iterations of the device — are going to help by making it more standalone than it’s been previously, but I still think some critical mass needs to be reached before this becomes something everyone’s going to want to own.

It may not ever do iPhone figures — and I doubt it will — but I could certainly see the Apple Watch being a lot more popular than it currently is. The iPhone wasn’t massive until around the third generation, but people got what it did from the start. I think that’s missing for the Apple Watch. Most people (not tech-lovers, but regular people who make up the bulk of consumers) see it as being a slightly geeky device that does some, but not all, of what your iPhone already does.

I don’t know what that “must have” killer app is going to be, but I think we’ll know it when we see it.

Are Apple Watch expectations just too high?
Are Apple Watch expectations just too high?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Killian-FNFKillian: Yes, I’ve owned smartwatches in the past — not only from Samsung, but others, too — and I think that’s why I’ve been impressed by Apple Watch. I had realistic expectations of what it would and wouldn’t do, and it has met and even surpassed those expectations.

The important thing I think we should all remember is that Apple Watch is pretty much just an iPhone accessory at this point. A very expensive but very capable iPhone accessory that meets a whole host of needs. And that’s all it’s going to be for a while.

For lack of a better analogy, it’s kind of like a set-top box right now. You don’t need it for the most part, but your TV is much better with it. However, you can’t take the TV out of the equation and assume the set-top box is going to be just as good.

I think when people realize this, Apple Watch will be much more successful. It’s doing pretty great already, of course. As you pointed out in a recent post on Cult of Mac, it has already outsold the iPhone and the iPad during their first years on the market.

I don’t think it will ever reach iPhone figures, either, but for a $349 accessory, it’s doing incredible well.

cartoonluke_360.pngLuke: On that note, then, let’s turn this over to readers? Do you think the Apple Watch is still waiting on its killer app, as some people have suggested? Do we need to lower our expectations as Killian has alluded to, or do we just need to wait for the already-impressive number of apps to grow even more? Whatever your thoughts, leave them below.

And have a good weekend.

Friday Night Fights is a series of weekly death matches between two no-mercy brawlers who will fight to the death — or at least agree to disagree — about which is better: Apple or Google, iOS or Android?

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.