watchOS 3 makes me want to return my watch

[lazerbrains]

I have had an Apple Watch since the beginning and have loved it. It has really helped me get active and overall it has been fun to use. (except for the speed of loading 3rd party apps) Enter watchOS 3. I was excited to see the progression of this new OS and see how much it could be refined to make the watch even better.

Sadly, this update has made my watch clunkier and harder to use. I find I only use the few apps I NEED to use for activity tracking, even these have become let informative. Before when running it would tell me my current calories burned on one screen and other information on other. Now it just gives me one screen with limited information. (and calories burned isn't one of them.)

Also the dock is much less intuitive than Glances were. Although glances took longer to update and open the app, it was much easier to swipe back and forth between apps to get information. Now I have to click a button to get to the dock, open and app, click a button to close it, swipe and repeat. This constant cycling between button presses and swipes makes me use my watch less, and use less apps on my watch. Thus making my watch less useful.

And lastly Siri. Siri apparently no longer understands English on watchOS 3 and I cannot for the life of me get her to understand simple dictation. My wife has the watch as well and same thing on hers. It appears that Siri is broken. Anyone else having this problem?

Does anyone know of a way to revert the watch to watchOS 2?

 

[gigaguy]

I tend to agree. I thought it was because I'm not as accustomed to 3.0 but it seems to be more trouble just to check info. Glances was a quick swipe up and left and right. Now you have to push the small side button just to get to the many pages. I guess if you use a lot of apps it could be better, but I don't think most users use 3rd party apps as much as the stock functions, oh well.

 

[44267547]

I actually have yet to upgrade to Watch OS3. I have also read Watch OS3 has impacted the battery as well. I am in no hurry to upgrade.

 

[lazerbrains]

I actually have yet to upgrade to Watch OS3. I have also read Watch OS3 has impacted the battery as well. I am in no hurry to upgrade.

If I could figure out a way how, I would downgrade back to watchOS 2. I feel like I have been mugged and someone stole my watch and left me a fitbit with the new watchOS. So don't upgrade! Unfortunately, this means you shouldn't upgrade your phone to iOS 10 either as updating the phone and not the watch breaks some communications. (explicitly being able to control music from your watch) I would downgrade both devices if I could. Does anyone know if this is a possibility?

 

[44267547]

If I could figure out a way how, I would downgrade back to watchOS 2. I feel like I have been mugged and someone stole my watch and left me a fitbit with the new watchOS. So don't upgrade! Unfortunately, this means you shouldn't upgrade your phone to iOS 10 either as updating the phone and not the watch breaks some communications. (explicitly being able to control music from your watch) I would downgrade both devices if I could. Does anyone know if this is a possibility?

Unfortunately I don't know if you can. Hopefully some one will reply if there is a possibility to do so.

 

[kazibole]

Before when running it would tell me my current calories burned on one screen and other information on other. Now it just gives me one screen with limited information. (and calories burned isn't one of them.)

You can customize and choose what 4 pieces of information are displayed for each workout type in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

 

[lazerbrains]

You can customize and choose what 4 pieces of information are displayed for each workout type in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

Oh really!?!? That will help me feel less robbed. It would be nice to be able to add more than 4, like the watch used to allow. But at least having that ability will help get some of the functionality back.

Thanks for that info.

 

[Night Spring]

My solution is to use the watch faces as "glances." I played around with various faces, mostly modular and X-large, and loaded them up with complications from apps I use most often. I now just slide through the faces to glance at the information I need and access my apps; I hardly ever go to the dock.

 

[MxChino]

Oh really!?!? That will help me feel less robbed. It would be nice to be able to add more than 4, like the watch used to allow. But at least having that ability will help get some of the functionality back.

Thanks for that info.

I believe you can add up to 5

 

[lazerbrains]

My solution is to use the watch faces as "glances." I played around with various faces, mostly modular and X-large, and loaded them up with complications from apps I use most often. I now just slide through the faces to glance at the information I need and access my apps; I hardly ever go to the dock.

Oh, that is a creative solution. I will give that a try. thanks

I just sucks to have to come up with work arounds to make the watch work as good as it did.

 

[barjam]

I have had an Apple Watch since the beginning and have loved it. It has really helped me get active and overall it has been fun to use. (except for the speed of loading 3rd party apps) Enter watchOS 3. I was excited to see the progression of this new OS and see how much it could be refined to make the watch even better.

Sadly, this update has made my watch clunkier and harder to use. I find I only use the few apps I NEED to use for activity tracking, even these have become let informative. Before when running it would tell me my current calories burned on one screen and other information on other. Now it just gives me one screen with limited information. (and calories burned isn't one of them.)

Also the dock is much less intuitive than Glances were. Although glances took longer to update and open the app, it was much easier to swipe back and forth between apps to get information. Now I have to click a button to get to the dock, open and app, click a button to close it, swipe and repeat. This constant cycling between button presses and swipes makes me use my watch less, and use less apps on my watch. Thus making my watch less useful.

And lastly Siri. Siri apparently no longer understands English on watchOS 3 and I cannot for the life of me get her to understand simple dictation. My wife has the watch as well and same thing on hers. It appears that Siri is broken. Anyone else having this problem?

Does anyone know of a way to revert the watch to watchOS 2?

Oh lord no, watch OS2 was a huge pile of crap. Three is way better and has received almost universal acclaim. Many people have said that it was the watch release that should have shipped day one and I agree. I can't even imagine how someone would have a preference for the previous OS. It is like someone who preferred Windows ME to Windows 7 or something.

By the way, you can adjust what things show up in your workout view.

 

[lazerbrains]

Oh lord no, watch OS2 was a huge pile of crap. Three is way better and has received almost universal acclaim. Many people have said that it was the watch release that should have shipped day one and I agree. I can't even imagine how someone would have a preference for the previous OS. It is like someone who preferred Windows ME to Windows 7 or something.

By the way, you can adjust what things show up in your workout view.

1) I'll tell you why. watchOS 3 is a user experience nightmare, unless you like to click, touch, click, touch, click touch, all day long. It was way better to swipe than continually change how you are interacting with the watch. This makes the dock nearly unusable hence why others are using the watch faces to replace glances and skip using the dock. Interacting with my watch should be as simple as possible. As a matter of fact, unless I am changing settings or something more indepth, I don't think I should have to press the buttons at all.

2) Using screens and swipes made most things in watchOS 2 discoverable. Now you need an instruction manual to figure out how to use your watch.

3) Siri doesn't work at all. Voice dictation doesn't understand anything. It is so much worse than on watchOS 2 that I have given up even trying to ask Siri anything.

If it weren't for the fact that I use this watch for activity tracking I would likely retire it to a drawer with how much worse this OS is than the previous. If downgrading was an option (please be an option) I would do it ASAP.

The only redeeming quality of watchOS 3 is the speed boost. Yes my watch is faster to load 3rd party apps. But since I have to click, click, touch, click touch to get back and forth, it makes it feel like it takes longer to get anywhere.

 

[FrisbeeK9]

1) I'll tell you why. watchOS 3 is a user experience nightmare, unless you like to click, touch, click, touch, click touch, all day long. It was way better to swipe than continually change how you are interacting with the watch. This makes the dock nearly unusable hence why others are using the watch faces to replace glances and skip using the dock. Interacting with my watch should be as simple as possible. As a matter of fact, unless I am changing settings or something more indepth, I don't think I should have to press the buttons at all.

2) Using screens and swipes made most things in watchOS 2 discoverable. Now you need an instruction manual to figure out how to use your watch.

3) Siri doesn't work at all. Voice dictation doesn't understand anything. It is so much worse than on watchOS 2 that I have given up even trying to ask Siri anything.

If it weren't for the fact that I use this watch for activity tracking I would likely retire it to a drawer with how much worse this OS is than the previous. If downgrading was an option (please be an option) I would do it ASAP.

The only redeeming quality of watchOS 3 is the speed boost. Yes my watch is faster to load 3rd party apps. But since I have to click, click, touch, click touch to get back and forth, it makes it feel like it takes longer to get anywhere.

Some people are adverse to change, even when it's An improvement.

I have had an Apple Watch since the beginning and have loved it. It has really helped me get active and overall it has been fun to use. (except for the speed of loading 3rd party apps) Enter watchOS 3. I was excited to see the progression of this new OS and see how much it could be refined to make the watch even better.

Sadly, this update has made my watch clunkier and harder to use. I find I only use the few apps I NEED to use for activity tracking, even these have become let informative. Before when running it would tell me my current calories burned on one screen and other information on other. Now it just gives me one screen with limited information. (and calories burned isn't one of them.)

Also the dock is much less intuitive than Glances were. Although glances took longer to update and open the app, it was much easier to swipe back and forth between apps to get information. Now I have to click a button to get to the dock, open and app, click a button to close it, swipe and repeat. This constant cycling between button presses and swipes makes me use my watch less, and use less apps on my watch. Thus making my watch less useful.

And lastly Siri. Siri apparently no longer understands English on watchOS 3 and I cannot for the life of me get her to understand simple dictation. My wife has the watch as well and same thing on hers. It appears that Siri is broken. Anyone else having this problem?

Does anyone know of a way to revert the watch to watchOS 2?

You should sell the watch since you did the upgrade and didnt read a thing about it.

 

[Julien]

Some people are adverse to change, even when it's An improvement.....

I want something different.........................................






........................................I hate what they changed.

 

[Fynd]

Sounds like an overreaction without much research or trial. You can fully customize what's displayed on the workout screen now. Put calories burned on there for whichever workouts you want. And remove things you never used.

The dock is real time. Don't click, swipe, enter, repeat. The dock preview will update and show a live view of the app as you swipe over it, the same way glances worked. Except now you can view the entire app as opposed to just what was available in the glance. The next time you use it check it out. Swipe to an app in the dock and wait just a second.

 

[lazerbrains]

Some people are adverse to change, even when it's An improvement.


You should sell the watch since you did the upgrade and didn't read a thing about it.

First of all, not adverse to change at all. Actually, I'm generally an early adopter. Also am a User Experience Designer and Web Developer by trade. None of the moves except for speed increase helps user experience.

Also I did research it and that is why I upgraded. (clearly reviews were not written by people who used the watch on a daily basis before) It is just too bad that they replaced functional features with new ones that aren't as functional or user friendly. Do you think *click*, *swipe*, *touch*, *click* is superior usability to *swipe down*, *swipe*? I don't. That's like saying you like to click on three or 4 links before getting to the page you want to go on a webpage. Or that you really love pop up ads.

I'm glad you like the new version, but I think it is mostly a step backwards and would like to revert to the better usability of the previous OS.

 

[matrix07]

Before when running it would tell me my current calories burned on one screen and other information on other. Now it just gives me one screen with limited information. (and calories burned isn't one of them.)

Oh really!?!? That will help me feel less robbed. It would be nice to be able to add more than 4, like the watch used to allow. But at least having that ability will help get some of the functionality back.

Thanks for that info.

You can even get the same thing you had with OS 2 back by choosing Single Metric. It's exactly the same, just turning the crown to choose metric instead of swiping.

Also I did research it and that is why I upgraded. (clearly reviews were not written by people who used the watch on a daily basis before) It is just too bad that they replaced functional features with new ones that aren't as functional or user friendly. Do you think *click*, *swipe*, *touch*, *click* is superior usability to *swipe down*, *swipe*? I don't. That's like saying you like to click on three or 4 links before getting to the page you want to go on a webpage. Or that you really love pop up ads.

I don't think you accustomed yourself to OS 3 yet.

 

[FrisbeeK9]

First of all, not adverse to change at all. Actually, I'm generally an early adopter. Also am a User Experience Designer and Web Developer by trade. None of the moves except for speed increase helps user experience.

Also I did research it and that is why I upgraded. (clearly reviews were not written by people who used the watch on a daily basis before) It is just too bad that they replaced functional features with new ones that aren't as functional or user friendly. Do you think *click*, *swipe*, *touch*, *click* is superior usability to *swipe down*, *swipe*? I don't. That's like saying you like to click on three or 4 links before getting to the page you want to go on a webpage. Or that you really love pop up ads.

I'm glad you like the new version, but I think it is mostly a step backwards and would like to revert to the better usability of the previous OS.

Ok I actually can see your point from a web design standpoint but the dock keeps the apps updated. I found glances yet to be very cool, my watch took a while if it could update the app in question. I think once you work in OS3 you might enjoy it. I wish I could offer a solution to get you back to OS2.

 

[MBHockey]

I believe you can add up to 5

Yeah, you can have five

 

[tromboneaholic]

Hopelly you have discovered that WatchOS3 works for you after reading this thread.

It seems like you got used to the other OS versions and are having a hard time adjusting. That's all.

 

[doboy]

The dock is real time. Don't click, swipe, enter, repeat. The dock preview will update and show a live view of the app as you swipe over it, the same way glances worked. Except now you can view the entire app as opposed to just what was available in the glance. The next time you use it check it out. Swipe to an app in the dock and wait just a second.

Thanks did not know this!

 

[flavr]

I have had an Apple Watch since the beginning and have loved it. It has really helped me get active and overall it has been fun to use. (except for the speed of loading 3rd party apps) Enter watchOS 3. I was excited to see the progression of this new OS and see how much it could be refined to make the watch even better.

Sadly, this update has made my watch clunkier and harder to use. I find I only use the few apps I NEED to use for activity tracking, even these have become let informative. Before when running it would tell me my current calories burned on one screen and other information on other. Now it just gives me one screen with limited information. (and calories burned isn't one of them.)

Also the dock is much less intuitive than Glances were. Although glances took longer to update and open the app, it was much easier to swipe back and forth between apps to get information. Now I have to click a button to get to the dock, open and app, click a button to close it, swipe and repeat. This constant cycling between button presses and swipes makes me use my watch less, and use less apps on my watch. Thus making my watch less useful.

And lastly Siri. Siri apparently no longer understands English on watchOS 3 and I cannot for the life of me get her to understand simple dictation. My wife has the watch as well and same thing on hers. It appears that Siri is broken. Anyone else having this problem?

Does anyone know of a way to revert the watch to watchOS 2?

I 100% disagree. In fact, the original Apple Watch is so much faster on OS3, I bought one at a fantastic discount instead of getting AW1 or AW2. When the new designed AW3 comes out next year, Ill use the extra money I saved towards that.

This watch is night and day fast with OS3.

 

[lazerbrains]

Yes it is faster. That is the only thing that I mentioned was better. We agree on that.

One thing no one has mentioned is Siri. Mine can't seem to understand anything i say. I tried to get directions the other day and no matter how well I enunciated the words. She just kept saying "I didn't get that". I ended up having to use my phone. It has happened when I have tried to text and pretty much anytime I try to use my voice to control it. One of the reasons I did upgrade after the research I had done was because I heard there were improvements to Siri. However, ever since I upgraded Siri basically no longer works. Anyone else experience this?

 

[Night Spring]

Unfortunately, I never use Siri, so can't comment on that. You're the first one I've seen say they have problems with Siri after the update, though.

As for glances vs the new way I improvised with faces, I don't think one is better than the other. Just a different way of doing things. The only glance I found useful under Watch OS 2 was Activity. The rest of the glances were too slow to be useful. Now apps in docs update much faster, so while swiping through the faces looking for where I put a complication or clicking the side button to bring up the dock might take a little more time, the overall speed for getting the information I want is much faster, so I'm not complaining.

 

[zhenya]

If anything Siri is more accurate for me on OS3 than it was previously, and for whatever reason, Siri always works better for me from my watch than from my phone.

I think the dock is much better than Glances were. The latter took far too long to update and the disconnect between the glance and the actual app behind it was too large. The fact that the new dock is updated in real time even while scrolling through it is a huge UI improvement. I don't find the swiping gestures all that great on the watch, so triggering the dock from the watch is no big deal to me - although I kind of agree that it could have just as easily remained triggered by the old gesture, and the Control Center treated as just another app in the dock, saving the physical buttons for something more useful.

My biggest complaint is that they wasted the right to left swipe on switching watch faces. Who does that often enough to devote a limited UI gesture to it, especially when we already have Force Touch to accomplish the exact same thing? Swiping should switch open apps, just like it does on every other device Apple makes.