Upgrade Your Apple Watch

Posted on by dudley228

By Jason Harris

I had to take my Apple Watch Series 4 in for repair on Saturday. The watch accidentally fell from my wrist as I was putting on my backpack before my hike.

One thing I have noticed by going back to my series 2 Watch is how less responsive it is to get to the notification screen. It also charges very slowly. It took me over an hour and a half for me to charge the Watch to 100%. It was only at 56% at the time. If you have a series 2, I suggest you upgrade. It will be a lot better and faster for you. I’m am glad I only have to use the series 2 until I get my series 4 back on Tuesday.

My visit to the Westfarms Apple store yesterday was my second visit to an Apple store during the Covid-19 pandemic. An employee at this Apple store asked me to put on one of their masks they offer customers without masks. This is only the second business to require a surgical type mask instead of the bandanna I was wearing. The other Apple store I had gone to a few months ago didn’t do this. It could be a new protocol Apple is requiring, or it just happens at the busier mall stores. I guess I won’t know this until I go back to the other Apple store.

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A Few Thoughts on WatchOS 7

Posted on by dudley228
By Jason Harris

WatchOS 7 came out last week. With the new operating system, I feel like text dictation on the watch using Siri is better.

The new handwash detection feature works well. I have only had It not work only a few times.

I do feel like I’m taking longer than I did in the past to wash my hands. If you do wash your hands for the 20 seconds, you will receive this graphic.

The one thing that is worse in the new operating system is turning up the volume with the Digital Crown on the watch. It takes longer for the volume to go up or down.

Apple’s Noise App Works

Posted on by dudley228

By Jason Harris

When Apple’s Noise app first became available, I made some room on my dock to place it. I didn’t know when I would use it. I was thinking I would have to remember to try it at the next concert I would go to.

Once I placed it in my dock, I didn’t know if I would have to open it to test the sound in a location. Or if I should place it as a complication to see if it would do something on its.

Well, I found out today that I don’t need to do anything to get a warning from the watch. I was mowing the lawn when I got the notification on my watch about the noise level.

I am very happy that the Apple Watch gives a notification without me having to do anything.

Did You Know This About the Apple Watch?

Posted on by dudley228

Last month, I went to Macstock in Crystal Lake, IL. It was my first time at this conference, which is in its fourth year. This year’s topic was productivity. It was very informative.

One of the things I learned was in Dave Ginsburg’s “Creating a Productive Workflow with iOS” talk. I never knew you could change the dock on your Apple Watch from “Recents” to “Favorites.” This function is more useful to me. You can find this setting under “Dock” in the Apple Watch app. Since I may not be the only one who didn’t know about this I thought I would share the knowledge here.

Loving the Apple Watch!

Posted on by dudley228

I have had my Apple Watch Series 2 since the end of September. I absolutely love it. I use it for everything I can and look forward to the day when it becomes even more accessible.

I have become obsessed with completing my rings every single day. I’m either walking or on the elliptical every day to complete my rings. There is an Airline trail here in Connecticut near where I live that I try to walk every day. There are days where I can’t walk because of lack of time or when it gets dark. These are the times I jump on the elliptical. There were a couple of times when I raked the yard for a few hours to complete or add to my rings. Since it has been cold lately and there has been threat of snow, I have been thinking about how I can continue to complete my rings. Yes, I can jump on the elliptical, but it’s not the same as walking. It gets boring at times.

This past Thursday it was cold and the wind chill was in the single digits and teens. I still walked the Airline Trail. I just dressed very differently. It will be different when there are several inches of snow on the ground. Until today, I never thought about how walking in the snow could effect my Move ring. Well, Rene Ritchie’s article on iMore changed that. Never thought about how my pace effects my Move ring. It’s a very informative article. I will definitely be choosing the “Other Workout” in the Workout app when I take my walks in the snow. I want to continue completing my rings and earning my achievements.

Having the watch definitely helps in cold weather since I can control my music and/or podcasts through the watch without having to get my phone out of my pocket. Dressed up as much as I was the other day, it would be very difficult to get my phone out of my pocket. I can’t recommend the Apple Watch enough.

If you use another wearable, please email me and share your thoughts. I would love to hear from you. -Jason Harris