Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Now many dozens of countries sell and support Apple Watch — including models with cellular connectivity.
FIGURE 1-2: Wow! What a selection of different materials and bands to choose from with Apple Watch Series 6.
Figuring Out What Apple Watch Can Do
Some may question why they need a smartwatch. Perhaps you traded your watch for a smartphone years ago and now wonder why you’d go back to the wrist? One word: convenience. Not having to carrying anything is pretty darn handy, which you soon find out when using your Apple Watch. Simply glance at your wrist to glean information — wherever and whenever you need it. Not to mention your watch can tap you with a slight tactile vibration to let you know about something, such as a calendar appointment or a loved one giving you a virtual “poke.” Buying something at a vending machine or a retail store by simply waving your wrist over a sensor is also kind of awesome. Or having an airline attendant scan a barcode on your watch’s screen to let you board a plane? What a timesaver.
You can thus keep your iPhone tucked away, preserving its battery for when you really need to access something with it. In fact, some Apple Watch models can make or receive calls and texts even without a smartphone nearby, which I get to in Chapter 5.
Perhaps, because you wear it on your wrist and will likely glance at it multiple times throughout the day, Apple Watch will become an extension of yourself. When you strap it onto your wrist, you’re not going to want to take it off. Now, that’s personal.
As you discover in this book, Apple Watch has many, many features. Some of its main categories include time, communication, information, navigation, fitness, entertainment, and finance (mobile payments). The following sections highlight Apple Watch’s main features, but be aware a few may require the GPS + Cellular model (I indicate where).
Watch faces
Instead of a regular watch that simply shows one face, you can choose what you see on your Apple Watch. The watch has many styles to choose from right out of the box, as well as numerous downloadable apps that customize the look of the face. You can also change the color of the watch face to match your outfit. Chapter 4 walks you through it all.
Timers and alarms
Apple Watch also includes various stopwatches, timers, and alarms. Whether you use your fingertips or your voice, your Apple Watch can let you know when it’s been 30 minutes so you can pull something from the oven. Or time your friend doing laps in a pool — from the comfort of your lounge chair. Apple Watch also lets you set an alarm to wake you up in the morning. You can use the Timer app as a game clock, for example, to tell you and your opponent when your time is up in a round of Scrabble. Check out Chapter 4 for all the details.
Caller ID, or even calls
See who’s calling by glancing at your wrist. Apple Watch displays the caller’s name (Caller ID) or perhaps just a phone number (which often happens if that person isn’t in your iPhone’s Contacts). You can also use the Apple Watch microphone to record and send sound clips to friends. Some Apple Watch models — those advertised as GPS + Cellular — let you leave your iPhone at home and take or make calls right from your wrist when you’re out! Heed the call and go to Chapter 5 for details.
Walkie-Talkie
What’s more fun and quicker than a phone call? The Walkie-Talkie feature built into Apple Watch. As the name suggests, Walkie-Talkie lets you press to talk to someone else who has an Apple Watch. Let go to listen for the reply. 10-4, good buddy? I cover this in Chapter 5, which is about the different ways to use Apple Watch to communicate.
Health and wellness
In case you weren’t aware, Apple Watch has been morphing into a powerful health device that can monitor what’s happening inside your body. Sounds like science-fiction, but the latest Apple Watch Series 6 model includes a heart rate monitor (measured in beats per minute), electrocardiogram (ECG), and even a blood O2 monitor (to measure how well oxygen is being sent from the heart and lungs out to the rest of the body). Maybe not as impressive, but Apple Watch can now detect when you’re washing your hands — an important habit now more than ever because of COVID-19 — and starts a 20-second timer.
Emergency SOS
In a nutshell, the Emergency SOS feature built into Apple Watch calls for help — when you can’t. Whether it senses a troubling anomaly through the heart-rate or ECG sensors, or detects a fall, Apple Watch can dial emergency services, notify your contacts, send your current location, and even display your Medical ID badge for emergency personnel. I cover all of this in Chapter 8, which focuses on fitness and health.
Text messages and instant messages
You can read and reply to messages with Apple Watch, as shown in Figure 1-3. Hold your wrist up to read the message or lower your arm to dismiss it. Chapter 5 walks you through all the messaging functions for Apple Watch, including some models that don’t require your iPhone to be near you at all!
When an email comes in, you can read it on your wrist (scroll up and down the screen with your fingertip to see all the text), flag it as something to reply to later, mark it as read (or unread), or move it to the Trash. As with text messages and phone calls, you can transfer email from Apple Watch to your iPhone to pick up where you left off. I cover all of this in Chapter 5.
FIGURE 1-3: Read and reply to messages on your Apple Watch.
Wrist-to-wrist communication
Along with the Walkie-Talkie feature, your smartwatch lets you communicate directly with someone else’s wrist via a component called Digital Touch. For a sketch, use your fingertip to draw something, such as the heart shown in Figure 1-4, and the person who receives it will see it animate — just as you drew it. Or why not send some virtual kisses to let someone know you’re thinking about them. As described in Chapter 5, you can even send your heartbeat to someone by pressing two fingers on the screen.