As a previous visiting nurse, I had a patient who fell down her basement steps on her way to bed. She was on the basement floor for a few minutes before she came to and then went back upstairs to bed. A little bit later there were a couple of people outside with flashlights. It was police and EMS and they told her that her watch alerted the EMS to a fall. She didn’t remember any fall. They talked her into going to the hospital where they found multiple broken bones. She was wondering why she was very sore while in bed.
I bought my model because it has fall detection (the SE model at the time didn’t.) It went go off when I tripped avoiding a cat, but I was not hurt and turned off the medical emergency. I have known a few people who fell and were on the ground for hours, if not days. (It also has generated false alarms when I was hammering something.)
A variation on the selfie-tip. If you want a wider shot by using a selfie stick or a tripod for your phone, use the camera remote app on your wrist to check framing and click the shutter. I use the timer option so that I’m able to look up at the lens.
I like it for texting while driving. (Yes. I know, but allow me to explain.)
I can say “Send a text” it asks to who. I say their name. It asks what I want to say. It repeats the message. Then it asks permission to send and I say yes. My hand never leaves the wheel. My eyes never leave the road.
Thanks, David! Great stuff, and always appreciate picking up new tidbits! I did not know about the “tip splitter” feature in the Calculator app, or “Time in Daylight” In the health app. I will definitely be using both of these! Thanks!
Good on you for extracting (along with the readers) all of the goodness that might be extracted from the Apple Watch.
In my own sample of Apple Watch users, there’s nowhere near this amount of insight and creativeness. I wish that there was. Instead, it just seems to be “the thing that replaced watches”, and so that’s what they wear. Most don’t seem to know what to do with it other than be even more distracted by notifications on their phones than they would be if they had only their phones distracting them. Nevertheless, the things are worn, and go about their digital life, perhaps modifying or enhancing the behavior of the owners, perhaps not. If only consumers were more intentional….
I suppose I'm just old, but none of these are of much actual use to me. I was just on a short overseas trip. During that time, I mostly kept my Apple Watch (V9) on charge since otherwise it would be dead. When I had it on, I used it to time the steaks on the BBQ. I was mostly using my Android phone (the one with the 'foreign" sim card) and Apple doesn't play well there for obvious (monetary) reasons. The Apple Watch is still just a toy to me, and not a particularly good one. Doesn't seem to be much in the pipeline, either. It's not anywhere near as good value as my $35 Wyze watch that keeps its charge for a week plus
Oh, I know the narcissists need to know if they made their 20K steps. I don't and I'm not paying for it
LOL! Well, if you’re trying to use an Apple Watch with an Android phone, of COURSE you’re not going to get much out of it! That’s like saying, “I don’t get the big deal about having cable TV service. Of course, I don’t own a television…” :)
Sure - just pointing out the continued “walled garden” approach has its limitations and restricts the usefulness of the Apple Watch. The $35 Wyze Watch works equally well with both OSes, oddly. It also reinforces my belief that the Apple Watch is merely a bauble you add on to your iPhone. It does nothing without the iPhone and everything it does is on the iPhone anyway - a whole 50cm away… Yes, I know there’s an “Ultra” version for Conspicuous Consumers. The AW should really be marketed as a medical device IMO
This was great. Opened my phone and added all the items I didn’t have. Thanks a lot!
My tip: don't buy one.
I choose not to waste my money on one.
As a previous visiting nurse, I had a patient who fell down her basement steps on her way to bed. She was on the basement floor for a few minutes before she came to and then went back upstairs to bed. A little bit later there were a couple of people outside with flashlights. It was police and EMS and they told her that her watch alerted the EMS to a fall. She didn’t remember any fall. They talked her into going to the hospital where they found multiple broken bones. She was wondering why she was very sore while in bed.
Great info!
I bought my model because it has fall detection (the SE model at the time didn’t.) It went go off when I tripped avoiding a cat, but I was not hurt and turned off the medical emergency. I have known a few people who fell and were on the ground for hours, if not days. (It also has generated false alarms when I was hammering something.)
A variation on the selfie-tip. If you want a wider shot by using a selfie stick or a tripod for your phone, use the camera remote app on your wrist to check framing and click the shutter. I use the timer option so that I’m able to look up at the lens.
Awesome, David, what a gift to find you here this morning.
I like it for texting while driving. (Yes. I know, but allow me to explain.)
I can say “Send a text” it asks to who. I say their name. It asks what I want to say. It repeats the message. Then it asks permission to send and I say yes. My hand never leaves the wheel. My eyes never leave the road.
Thank you for this helpful digest. Almost every one is helpful, for when I wear my AW instead of my analog watch. Hehehe
When you raise arm for Siri, all you have to say is “10 minutes”; and it knows to set the timer 😉
DANG… you made a great tip even better! I edited the tip…
Apparently “Raise to Speak” has been flakey for a lot of people for a long time. I wasn’t able to make it work on my Watch 11, OS 26.5
Great post. I use the heart monitor to tell me when my trick heart gets above a certain number of beats per minute—works great.
I do wish the “Did you fall?” function wasn’t as sensitive as it is. But it did work ok the one time I really did fall. So there’s that.
Nice! I like the selfie tip and the tip tip.
“Tip tip” LOL!
Thanks, David! Great stuff, and always appreciate picking up new tidbits! I did not know about the “tip splitter” feature in the Calculator app, or “Time in Daylight” In the health app. I will definitely be using both of these! Thanks!
Good on you for extracting (along with the readers) all of the goodness that might be extracted from the Apple Watch.
In my own sample of Apple Watch users, there’s nowhere near this amount of insight and creativeness. I wish that there was. Instead, it just seems to be “the thing that replaced watches”, and so that’s what they wear. Most don’t seem to know what to do with it other than be even more distracted by notifications on their phones than they would be if they had only their phones distracting them. Nevertheless, the things are worn, and go about their digital life, perhaps modifying or enhancing the behavior of the owners, perhaps not. If only consumers were more intentional….
I suppose I'm just old, but none of these are of much actual use to me. I was just on a short overseas trip. During that time, I mostly kept my Apple Watch (V9) on charge since otherwise it would be dead. When I had it on, I used it to time the steaks on the BBQ. I was mostly using my Android phone (the one with the 'foreign" sim card) and Apple doesn't play well there for obvious (monetary) reasons. The Apple Watch is still just a toy to me, and not a particularly good one. Doesn't seem to be much in the pipeline, either. It's not anywhere near as good value as my $35 Wyze watch that keeps its charge for a week plus
Oh, I know the narcissists need to know if they made their 20K steps. I don't and I'm not paying for it
My gawd I hate Substack
LOL! Well, if you’re trying to use an Apple Watch with an Android phone, of COURSE you’re not going to get much out of it! That’s like saying, “I don’t get the big deal about having cable TV service. Of course, I don’t own a television…” :)
Sure - just pointing out the continued “walled garden” approach has its limitations and restricts the usefulness of the Apple Watch. The $35 Wyze Watch works equally well with both OSes, oddly. It also reinforces my belief that the Apple Watch is merely a bauble you add on to your iPhone. It does nothing without the iPhone and everything it does is on the iPhone anyway - a whole 50cm away… Yes, I know there’s an “Ultra” version for Conspicuous Consumers. The AW should really be marketed as a medical device IMO