| Cult of Mac

Study examines Apple Watch quitters and their quibbles

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Not everybody who bought the Apple Watch is wearing it.
Not everybody who bought the Apple Watch is wearing it.
Photo: Apple

If you bought an Apple Watch that now collects dust on your dresser, you are not alone.

Web-based research firm Wristly, which found a 97 percent user satisfaction rate among early adopters, took equal interest in the unhappy 3 percent. What it found from 340 former Apple Watch users could provide valuable insights for Cupertino as it works on future generations of the smartwatch.

The reasons people gave up the watch include:

Running without iPhone makes Apple Watch inaccurate

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Don’t leave me this way - Apple recommends you take your iPhone with you on a run
Don’t leave me this way - Apple recommends you take your iPhone with you on a run
Photo: Graham Bower / Cult of Mac

Runkeeper is one of the first big-name running apps to offer full watchOS 2 support, which means you can log a run on your Apple Watch even if you leave your iPhone behind.

The Apple Watch’s built-in Workout app has always offered this feature, but it is new for third-party apps. I had never tried it before, but Runkeeper got me curious. So I left my iPhone charging at home, put on a pair of Nikes and went out for a run.

Here’s what people use their Apple Watch for

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Not everybody who bought the Apple Watch is wearing it.
The Apple Watch sure is a versatile device.
Photo: Apple

Unlike many previous must-have tech gadgets, the Apple Watch doesn’t just have one killer app — but many. So what exactly do owners use their Watch for then, and how does this stack up against Apple’s stated goals for the device?

A new survey released by analysts at Wristly charts the usage of around 2,000 Apple Watch owners, and reveals a few intriguing insights into the most and least popular uses for Apple’s debut wearable device.

The conclusions? Checking the time and monitoring activity = Hot. Using it as a next-gen communication device = Not.