watchOS 10 is just some days away, and the replace seems like an enormous deal for giant Apple Watch screens. A brand new widget overlay and apps optimized for Apple Watch Extremely? Let’s go!
Not a lot else has been rumored for watchOS 10, nevertheless, and that’s most likely as a result of the Apple Watch software program is pretty mature now. Seems you may knock out of lot of nice options in 9 years. That’s had me excited about some quite outdated characteristic requests which have by no means materialized – options I actually thought we’d have by now.
Management notifications
Apple Watch notifications ought to be opt-in, not opt-out and all or nothing. There’s a toggle to activate alerts for all apps. There’s no button for turning off alerts for all apps. The very best answer requires going via an inventory of toggles for every app put in in your iPhone. Even in the event you toggle all of them off, it’s a must to keep in mind to manually flip off watch alerts for future app installs.
The present mannequin assumes that if an app can alert your iPhone, you’ll need it to alert your Apple Watch as a substitute whilst you’re carrying it. Saving most app alerts for iPhone helps you to use the Apple Look ahead to what you take into account VIP app alerts. Simply the necessary stuff faucets your wrist.
Customized tones
Once I revealed my assessment of the primary Apple Watch eight years in the past, I used to be fairly optimistic about one characteristic I thought of lacking: setting customized alert tones for various contacts. I wrote this in 2015, not figuring out it could nonetheless be related in 2023:
You’ll be able to toggle sounds on or off, however you may’t customise tones for particular alerts. On my iPhone, I’ve a special tone if both my girlfriend or my mother texts me so I do know I ought to learn it quickly. Apple Watch has the identical tone and the identical faucet for all messages from all contacts. That is form of a set again functionally for me, however hopefully this modifications in future software program updates.
…hopefully this modifications in future software program updates. Ouch.
Critically, does nobody else need this characteristic? Even in the event you’re not involved in setting tones for various contacts, I’m assured folks would really like the choice to alter tones for message alerts. On the very least, Mail and Messages may use two completely different sounds.
I do know this level is moot as most individuals maintain their Apple Watch on mute. It’s simply bizarre to me that setting ringtones, textual content tones, and mail notification sounds hasn’t come to watchOS but.
Utilizing your watch on a telephone name
with watchOS 10 across the nook, I’m beginning to see myself telling my nice grandkids about this some day. Should you’re on a telephone name from the watch, you may’t depart the Telephone app. Effectively, you may, however it’s a must to grasp up first. This was a bizarre limitation when the Collection 3 was new. Frankly, I used to be shocked and didn’t to see the scenario unchanged when the Collection 4 got here out. Quoting myself from 2018:
After a full yr of with the ability to make telephone calls on the Apple Watch with out an iPhone close by, you continue to can’t depart the Telephone app throughout a name.
I’m unsure how time works anymore, however one way or the other this was nonetheless a obtrusive omission to me two years in the past:
Think about utilizing your iPhone and never with the ability to examine your calendar or e mail to reference one thing related to your name. We’d all snigger if our iPhones requested us to finish a telephone name earlier than switching to a different app. That’s precisely the state of watchOS immediately. Will watchOS 8 subsequent week change it? Possibly 5G will save us all.
What can I say? Will watchOS 10 subsequent week change it? If it did, that might be like Climate app on the iPad massive. Possibly greater than Instagram for iPad. The reply to the issue all alongside has been to simply use an iPhone.
Simply figuring out this limitation exists on the watch makes it unnecessarily inferior as a voice communicator. Actually, it seems like dial-up web. You should use your telephone, or you should use the web. You’ll be able to’t do each.
Watch alerts on iPhone
Most notifications come from the iPhone and get mirrored to the Apple Watch. Should you examine alerts in your Lock Display and Notification Middle, you will not be within the behavior of checking missed notifications on the watch. That’s extra in step with how I exploit the watch today.
The issue is that there are choose alerts that come from the Apple Watch. These don’t get mirrored to the iPhone. The mirror is one-sided. Telephone to observe: cool. Watch to telephone: nope. Alerts on this class embody the occasional new watch face, new Exercise problem, or new watchOS updates.
Extra widespread are Exercise Sharing notifications. Should you don’t have an Apple Watch, Exercise Sharing notifications will seem on the iPhone as of iOS 16. Should you do have an Apple Watch, nevertheless, your telephone is not going to show Health notifications.
Will watchOS 10 handle any of those characteristic requests which have spanned the lifetime of the Apple Watch class? It wouldn’t be a watchOS replace if it didn’t ignore customized tones and utilizing the watch throughout a telephone name! In fact, I’d like to be shocked by any of those modifications in watchOS 10.
What about you? Is there a characteristic request you’ve had for years that also hasn’t been addressed? Share you concepts with us within the feedback.
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