The Apple Watch’s tiny screen has already proven to be a boundless landscape for creatively organizing app icons, but one obsessive reddit user has created the most scientifically convenient app layout we’ve seen yet.
Summertime is finally upon us, and here in the Valley of the Sun, that mostly means one thing: cliff-jumping season.
I’ve been worried that my Apple Watch might not survive some of the 50-foot cliffs my friends and I like to hurl ourselves off of, but the folks at DC Rainmaker have put the waterproofing of Apple’s new wearable to the test by jumping off an Olympic diving platform. Despite momentarily being exposed to water deeper than the 1 meter it’s rated for, the Apple Watch keeps on ticking.
Watch the full test below:
Apple Watch is great at many things like checking weather, tracking fitness and sending notifications. But when it comes to surfing the web, Apple Watch is unsurprisingly the worst device for the task.
An Apple Watch version of Safari wasn’t included with Jony Ive’s smartwatch, but that didn’t stop notorious jailbreaker Comex from hacking a web browser onto the wearable. Comex posted a video of his hacked Apple Watch running a web browser on the Google homepage over the weekend, showing it is possible to browse the web from your wrist — but you’ll never want to.
Check it out:
This week: For years Apple has reportedly been working their magic on the worst device in every home—the remote control. And now, with a rumored new Apple TV on the the horizon, we’ll tell you why an Apple-hewn controller could be its flagship feature. Plus: how to create your own Apple Watch band; how to share your digital heartbeat with other lonely Apple Watch wearers; and we vote on our favorite new gadgets on an all-new Faves ’N Raves.
Our thanks to lynda.com for sponsoring this episode! Learn virtually any application at your own pace from expert-taught video tutorials at lynda.com.
Full show notes ahead!
Save big on top gear and services every day at Cult of Mac Deals.
You’re running out of time to save serious cash on the WatchStand Apple Watch Charging Dock, the Jamstik Wireless Smart Guitar, and more.
This week, we focus on four non-obvious yet essential tips and tricks for using that fancy new Apple Watch on your wrist. Rob plays a new Apple Watch game, calling Lifeline the best game he’s played on his wrist, while Leander takes a speedy trip around the block on Stromer’s amazing electric bike. Luke digs into an Apple patent for a magical new Apple TV remote, and Buster checks in on how the Apple Watch will likely prevent heart attacks in the future.
All that and much, much more in the weekly installment of Cult of Mac Magazine!
The default calendar view on Apple Watch is a list of the upcoming events for the current day. If you tap on the Today link in the upper left of the screen, you can see the whole month at a glance, which lets you tap on any day to see that day’s list of events.
But what if you want it to look less like a list and more like a calendar on your iPhone or Mac?
Luckily, there’s a simple way to do just that.
The Apple Watch heart rate monitor is far better than everyone thought, and that could theoretically lead to big medical breakthroughs — like the ability to can apple watch detect heart attack before they happen.
Developer Brad Larson dug into raw Apple Watch HealthKit heart rate data after a run and compared it to data from a heart rate monitor he had been wearing. The Apple Watch doesn’t have Food and Drug Administration approval as a medical device, but Larson discovered the wearable is nearly as accurate as an electrocardiogram.
Losing the TV remote may soon become a thing of the past, now that it’s going to be permanently strapped to your wrist. DirecTV debuted its Apple Watch app this morning that gives customers the ability to control their DVRs from Apple Watch’s tiny display.
Messaging is one of the best use cases for Apple Watch – you get a message, you dictate a reply, you get on with your day.
Apple has included several pre-written responses for you to use when you’re just too busy to dictate a response (or don’t want to talk into your watch). They’re pretty awful, though, ranging from the terse (“OK”) to the fairly robotic (“Sorry, I can’t talk right now”). None of them really quite fit the way we talk, do they?
Happily, Apple lets you change these canned responses to better reflect your personality and style. Here’s how to do so.
We’ve already seen the Apple Watch’s durability get tested in some pretty extreme ways. Now Consumer Reports is weighing in with tests of its own and Apple Watch dominated the smartwatch competition.
Both the stainless-steel Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport passed their water-resistance test. The stainless-steel model also stood out for its sapphire display after surviving a test of up to 9 Mohs, just below diamond hardness.
Watch the full test below:
Apple is getting ready to offer customers the chance to pick up their new Apple Watches in brick-and-mortar retail stores, according to a new option on the Apple Online Store describing the service as “available soon.”
Unlock the secrets of developing apps for the Apple Watch for only $19 with the Mammoth Interactive WatchKit Developer Course from Cult of Mac Deals. Saving 93% on the retail price, you’ll learn how to create a variety of essential app types, showing you how to get the most out of the technology and kick-start your development future.
With shipping dates for new Apple Watch orders slipping to July and beyond, some owners are selling their devices in hopes of turning a quick profit.
It seems to be working. There’s a brisk trade of Apple Watches on eBay and Craigslist, with some used devices fetching up to twice their retail value.
“I am wearing the watch as we speak,” said one seller, who identified himself as Ben and has a stainless steel Apple Watch on Craigslist for more than $200 over the list price.
“I’ve been wearing the Watch since I posted that hoping to get a small profit,” he said. “Part of me hoped nobody would offer me the extra few hundred because I really wanted to wear this gorgeous first-gen product! I haven’t worn a watch in 10 years.”
Apple Watch has a known issue where it doesn’t exactly play nice with tattoos. For some wearers with dark wrist tattoos the device can’t detect if you have a pulse, but according to Conan O’Brien, it’s not really glitch if Apple can sell you a fix.
So far Apple’s only advice seems to be, “just don’t get wrist tattoos,” but the late-night TV show host has come up with his own hilarious way to fix the TattooGate problem.
Let us introduce you to the Apple Watch Hand:
If you need more evidence that the luxury Swiss watchmakers are as truly screwed as Jony Ive predicted, look no further than IWC’s laughable answer for keeping up with the Apple Watch.
The luxury watch company is adding a smart sensor called IWC Connect to the strap of its Big Pilot watch, a favorite of horologist collectors including John Mayer. Details on what the fitness sensor can actually do haven’t been revealed, but IWC created a ridiculously dramatic teaser trailer for the new strap that you can watch below:
One of the most original features of the Apple Watch is the ability to send your heartbeat to a friend or loved one. With only a small fraction of Watches having shipped, however, early adopters are turning to the Internet to try and find other Apple fans willing to test out the new feature.
I can’t quite work out whether this is depressing, or the perfect hook for a 2015 update of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s You’ve Got Mail.
With its small screen and 0.46-inch thickness, the original iPhone from 2007 looks like an antique these days. Put it next to the Apple Watch, however, and it’s remarkable how similar the two devices look in terms of their design language.
At 0.45 inches, the Apple Watch is ever so slightly thinner, but its rounded edges, color and overall aesthetic certainly appear reminiscent of the first-generation Apple handset, don’t you think?
One of the biggest questions surrounding the Apple Watch has been what kind of accessories will be allowed to work with the device. Several third-party companies have already started advertising their own bands and cases, but Apple has yet to introduce any kind of formal guidelines.
Until now.
Like its iPhone counterpart, the new “Made for Apple Watch” program outlines how third-party manufacturers can make their own bands. Here are some of the key takeaways:
If you forget your passcode on Apple Watch, or you’ve entered an incorrect one too many times, you can use the Apple Watch app on the iPhone to enter the passcode one more time. If you still can’t quite remember it, though, you’ll need to erase and restore the erased Apple Watch. This sets it back to factory default settings, and takes all the content off of it.
So how do you get all your stuff back onto the Apple Watch?
Although it’s poised to win the smart home war eventually, Apple’s HomeKit is still half-baked. Case in point: hardly any smart home accessories officially integrate with it yet, let alone Apple’s own products.
Despite its parent company’s rivalry with Apple in the smartphone race, the SmartThings platform has beat HomeKit to the Apple Watch, and it makes the idea of controlling your home from your wrist look pretty useful.
Got an shiny new Apple watch but hate the band it came with? You could order a new one from Apple’s website and wait a few months for it to come it. Or if you bought the Apple Watch with the Classic or Modern buckle, there’s a simple way to modify it so you can add any strap you want.
Lewis Hilsenteger at UnBox Therapy published a new video revealing a dead-easy way to add third-party bands to your Apple Watch. The best part is it doesn’t even require a third-party connector, and you don’t have to destroy your current band in the process. All you need is a pentalobe screw driver, an Apple Watch, and your new band of choice.
Watch the full how-to below:
Apple Watch owners may have noticed there’s a tiny port hidden inside the groove of the bottom band connector. Before the watch’s release there was some speculations whether the port just be used for diagnostics, but the Reserve Strap have discovered third-parties can use it to recharge the smartwatch.
The company originally developed an Apple Watch battery band that used the inductive charge to transfer power. Now that they’ve had time to dissect the Apple Watch they’ve found out you can just transfer battery power straight through the port, and they’ve come up with a much more elegant design to work with it.
Some purists will recoil in horror at the idea of covering up their new Apple Watch in any way, but based on the broken Apple Watches we’re already seeing, perhaps a little protection isn’t such a bad idea.
Whether you play sports or just want to garden without having to worry, these Apple Watch protectors will ensure your wearable remains as pristine as the day it came out of the box.
It’s been a week now that we’ve been living with Apple Watches affixed to our wrists, and in that time, we’ve curated a list of what we love, what we don’t and our overall impressions of Apple’s newest trinket. Is Apple’s timepiece the next must-have gadget? Some of us are smitten, but not all of us are sold.
Our thanks to Automatic for supporting this episode. Plug Automatic into your car’s data port, and their beautiful app will show you where you parked, learn how to save fuel with tips based on your actual driving, and even diagnose and turn off your car’s check engine light.
Full show notes ahead!