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Lucamegh

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 4, 2010
43
104
Schermata%202015-01-22%20alle%2003.16.28.png


As we can see from this webpage, if both watches are looking at the same conversation, they can freely communicate with each other via taps, heartbeat and sketches. I'm really wondering how that Digital Touch feature could happen if the people you want to communicate with do not have the relative app open. If I open up Digital Touch and I want to communicate with a friend but he has his :apple: Watch locked for instance, will he receive a notification of some kind? If I've sent to him 10 sketches in a row, will he receive them one by one as soon as he opens Digital Touch app? I really can't see how that could work if both users do not have the app open. I believe that a notification that says "Hey, your friend Steve just tapped on your wrist!" would be very silly. Any thoughts on how that could work? Probably even Apple doesn't know :D
 

Natzoo

macrumors 68020
Sep 16, 2014
2,016
646
I bet he would, but you never know because the watch is so small there may not enough room to put a notification symbol like on text messages. But maybe when you go on that app, it will show. We will just have to wait

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It would probably be notification from sketch app, steve sent message. idk
 

afsnyder

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2014
1,270
33
I bet he would, but you never know because the watch is so small there may not enough room to put a notification symbol like on text messages. But maybe when you go on that app, it will show. We will just have to wait

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It would probably be notification from sketch app, steve sent message. idk

Or a special notification specifically designed for Digital Touch.
 

Piggie

macrumors G3
Feb 23, 2010
9,182
4,112
Does anyone else feel like me that the some/much of the Digital Touch stuff, is going to be dropped in future models.

It's one of those things that feels like it's been done becasue we can and it's a gimmic.

I may be wrong, but I can see this being found out to be a bit of a 5 minute gimmic that, long term people don't use, and it's removed in later versions
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,859
8,039
Does anyone else feel like me that the some/much of the Digital Touch stuff, is going to be dropped in future models.

It's one of those things that feels like it's been done becasue we can and it's a gimmic.

I may be wrong, but I can see this being found out to be a bit of a 5 minute gimmic that, long term people don't use, and it's removed in later versions

I think it depends on how people use it. I can imagine sending my partner a "M" for "buy milk," he can respond with a check mark for "ok." It depends on how easy or hard it is to draw on such a small area. But artistic people might be able to draw fairly elaborate symbols. Oh, and in Asian countries, simple Chinese characters.

Though I think the more useful feature is to send taps. Maybe we will all learn morse code, and have entire conversations tapping our wrists while pretending to pay attention to a boring meeting.
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,723
32,183
Does anyone else feel like me that the some/much of the Digital Touch stuff, is going to be dropped in future models.

It's one of those things that feels like it's been done becasue we can and it's a gimmic.

I may be wrong, but I can see this being found out to be a bit of a 5 minute gimmic that, long term people don't use, and it's removed in later versions

Ha, the watch hasn't even been launched yet, nobody has used it and you're already removing features because you think they're a gimmick. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as you basically think this product is DOA anyway.

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I think it depends on how people use it. I can imagine sending my partner a "M" for "buy milk," he can respond with a check mark for "ok." It depends on how easy or hard it is to draw on such a small area. But artistic people might be able to draw fairly elaborate symbols. Oh, and in Asian countries, simple Chinese characters.

Though I think the more useful feature is to send taps. Maybe we will all learn morse code, and have entire conversations tapping our wrists while pretending to pay attention to a boring meeting.

Ben Bajarin wrote a piece about digital touch. I think this could become something that goes viral. Apple isn't really known for gimmicks so I've no doubt this was something well thought out and not just something they threw in because they could.

https://techpinions.com/the-communication-possibilities-of-digital-touch/35037
 

Piggie

macrumors G3
Feb 23, 2010
9,182
4,112
Ha, the watch hasn't even been launched yet, nobody has used it and you're already removing features because you think they're a gimmick. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as you basically think this product is DOA anyway.


Not really.

It just really feels like one of those "we did it because we could" type of things that's going to be very 50/50

It could go amazing, but it's got an equal chance of them realizing whilst fun it never really got used, and it will be removed as something we tried in future versions.


I'm not saying the watch is DOA, it's just not good enough for me yet.

Many items I've not bought as I don't think they are good enough, things improve and then I buy them.

When the Watch is a better product I may well get one, just takes time to get the early versions out the way.
 

Defender2010

Cancelled
Jun 6, 2010
3,131
1,097
Not really.

It just really feels like one of those "we did it because we could" type of things that's going to be very 50/50

It could go amazing, but it's got an equal chance of them realizing whilst fun it never really got used, and it will be removed as something we tried in future versions.


I'm not saying the watch is DOA, it's just not good enough for me yet.

Many items I've not bought as I don't think they are good enough, things improve and then I buy them.

When the Watch is a better product I may well get one, just takes time to get the early versions out the way.

You seem to have an awful lot to say in these Apple Watch threads...for someone who thinks the above. Go on, get one, you know you want to! :D Digital Touch will be great and I can imagine it can replace texts and iMessages in certain situations. Eg...triple tap = I'm outside in the car waiting. Double tap = I've arrived at the bar. Sketches just as much.
 
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Piggie

macrumors G3
Feb 23, 2010
9,182
4,112
You seem to have an awful lot to say in these Apple Watch threads...for someone who thinks the above. Go on, get one, you know you want to! :D Digital Touch will be great and I can imagine it can replace texts and iMessages in certain situations. Eg...triple tap = I'm outside in the car waiting. Double tap = I've arrived at the bar. Sketches just as much.

I can't as I don't have a smartphone.

I will probably get a smartphone later this year, but it will probably be a Lumia 940 with Windows 10 when I do.
 
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