Two Years with the Apple Watch: A Love/Hate Relationship

The Apple Watch turned 2 this week. Here’s what works, what doesn’t, and what still needs to change.

Time has flown by since Apple released its watch in April 2015. But for a product that turned two yesterday, the Apple Watch feels stubbornly stuck in its infancy -- it’s a cute product without the skills to thrive on its own.

I’ve been using an Apple Watch from the start, back when the colors were more limited and you had to pay $10,000 or more for a gold-colored watch. Since then, I’ve lost a watch, amassed a sizable watch-band collection, and upgraded to the latest model. I still wear the device every day.

Apple has made improvements along the way. The Series 2 model, released last fall, is faster than the original. It’s waterproof and tracks your progress via its own GPS chip. You can technically leave your phone at home now. Recent operating-system upgrades have also made necessary improvements. We like the ability to scribble a text reply, for instance, which seems less obnoxious (and less error-prone) than dictating a reply.

The original appeal remains, as well. You get a quick tap on your wrist with every text message (that begins to feel strangely natural after a few weeks). You can set activity goals and cheer your watch-wearing friends on as they accomplish their own. You can swap out bands easily to get a new look -- just make sure to buy the cheaper third-party models from Amazon. And you can view the time, temperature, and moon phase -- as well as the next event on your calendar -- with just one quick glance.

But still, the watch remains a niche product, and it’s hard to justify the purchase for all but the most dedicated Apple fans. Here are some ways the watch could expand its appeal.

Better battery life: You won’t be able to make it through two full days of Apple Watch use on a single charge, and that’s a problem. Rival companies make smartwatches that can last a week or longer in between charges. Those products allow you to take advantage of third-party sleep tracking apps and generally give you more flexibility.

An always-on screen: As it stands, the Apple Watch face only lights up when you raise your wrist to look at the screen or tap on the device. And there’s still a short lag even after your raise your watch. No one should have to wait for the time. This is a battery-saving measure, but the watch’s battery doesn’t last long enough anyway. Battery life could be Apple’s greatest challenge with the watch. The small space doesn’t allow for much battery. Maybe the company needs to rethink its screen; an e-ink model, like the screen used in Amazon’s Kindle, would allow for far more battery. Garmin uses a type of e-ink display in its smartwatches and they last for a week or more.

A slimmer case: The Apple Watch Series 2 is actually heavier than the earlier version. Apple needs to find a way to make the watch lighter and less bulky. That’s another area where competitors have an edge. Here, though, Apple is probably working against the physics required for better battery life.

Standalone functionality: Most of what you want to do with the Apple Watch can only be done while your iPhone is nearby. Yes, you can go on runs with GPS and listen to (some) music via Bluetooth while your phone hangs behind, but you can’t send or receive messages on the go without the phone in your pocket. We hope the next version of the Apple Watch will have wireless capabilities built in. This would likely make the device more useful to people. Instead of being somewhat redundant for iPhone users, it could become a substitute when they don’t want to carry their phone around with them on quick trips around the neighborhood.

A Spotify app: So far, everything but Apple Music has been handcuffed on the Apple Watch. That leaves out the 50 million or so folks that pay for Spotify. But that looks like it might finally change. A third-party developer is working with the streaming service to bring a Spotify app to the Apple Watch at some point in the near future. Runs would get a lot better with Spotify playlists that are stored and played directly on the watch.

Apps that work: Apple Watch apps don’t get much love from developers. The apps are often slow and glitchy. And it’s hard to blame the developers given the relatively small base of watch users. Apple needs to kick off an iPhone-like cycle. A better product leads to more users, which means better apps.

Finally, we’d like to see Apple give more detail about the watch business. The company has yet to break out sales, so we’re all guessing to some degree about the importance of the business. Providing detail on watch sales would be a vote of confidence about the watch’s future.