What do you use your smartwatch for?
A few weeks ago, I overheard a conversation between someone on the Pixel Watch team and a woman I know. He was quizzing her at a party about her Pixel watch and what features she used. He'd ignored me when I said I had a non-Google watch. She thought for a moment and said, other than telling the time, all she used were pretty much the step counter and contactless payments. He looked a bit crestfallen at his impromptu user-research participant and somewhat dismissively sneered, "Well, you're not exactly a power user, are you?"
I'm trying to imagine what being a "power user" of a watch is like. Can anyone enlighten me?
I think smart-watches are much like Alexa. What the user wants to do with it is almost totally at odds with what the company is selling. Alexæ are mostly kitchen timers, song players, and light switches. No one is a "power user" constantly installing skills and using it for anything which increases the product team's engagement metrics.
The same is probably true of watches. Alerts are nifty - but cumbersome for replies. The health stuff is useful - but only for a subset of users. Seeing the time is great - but if the battery lasts less than a week, who wants to keep that screen on?
People use watches because they are moderately more convenient to carry than the giant phones we have nowadays.
Back when mobile phones were new, exciting, and made a feature of being tiny, I was working for a network operator and trying to come up with reasons for people to use our brand-new 3G network. All the research we had showed that people used their phones for exactly three things:
- Voice calls
- Text messages
- A third thing
That "3rd thing" was varied. For some it was playing snake, for others it was a calendar, and a few took photos. But almost no-one used their phone beyond the basics. They weren't investigating the sub-menus, nor were they using most of their device's capability unless it was heavily advertised to them (ringtones, basically).
It took the industry a huge amount of effort to get people to actually use their phones for more than calls and texts. Part of that was bigger screens with enticing icons (although users will always be reluctant to click mysterious icons). Another part was that phones became genuinely useful. But perhaps the biggest change, I think, is that phones became easy to use.
Watches have tiny screens. You can only get a few words of a message on there. Icons are tiny and hard to reliably tap. Swiping away at your wrist or fiddling with a crown is a faff. Talking into your wrist makes you look like a prat. Interacting with a smartwatch is annoying. Why would anyone want to spend more time using it than is strictly necessary?
I'm sure there are some people out there browsing the web on their wrist, and sending endless voice-notes to their AI assistant, and setting up complex travel plans by tapping their nose on the screen, and installing new watch faces which always point to the nearest Dignitas clinic, and seeing what their heart-rate did during that last run, and tracking whether their menstrual cycle is synced to the phases of the moon, and hoping that tripping on the stairs didn't send an alert to the emergency services, and whatever else the team has cooked up to show that they're still innovating.
But I'll bet those "power users" are vastly outnumbered by people who are using a smartwatch for the limited set of actions which are useful to them; not to the manufacturer.
Perhaps the real power users have is the power to use a device on their own terms?
32 thoughts on “Are you a smartwatch "power user"?”
@Edent Oh good, there's a terminal emulator for Wear OS, so we can play, uh, maybe Wumpus.
| Reply to original comment on mastodon.sdf.org
Isn't health monitoring (and physical fitness tracking) the primary use-case for smart watches nowadays, in addition to the original application of notifications? Thus the sensors are the main attraction.
I know of people who use Apple Pay on their Apple Watches, but that actually seems less convenient than pulling your phone out of your pocket to tap it on the payment terminal.
knirirr
When I did have both a watch and phone which could make contactless payments I found it easier to use the watch - it was right there to hand and a little faster than pulling out and unlocking the phone. These days my phone doesn't support such payments so it has to be left to the watch (Garmin, because I go running). I note that the Pixel watch was often a bit of a nuisance to make payments with. Apparently at random it would demand a PIN entry after I'd already tapped it on the payment device and would frequently lag when I tried to type it in. I got used to hearing "that didn't go through, you'll have to try again." Google support were not at all interested in this, unsurprisingly.
@Edent less and less of a power user over time honestly. I use my Apple Watch for: notifications, my main (max complications) detail face, audio player controls, occasionally sending a brief text response when getting my phone out would be in bad form, and even less occasionally being a remote viewfinder/shutter release (on a timer) for my phone for group shots.
| Reply to original comment on ruby.social
@Edent I think I used to have a single custom/third party complication but now all of my use is the built in functionality
| Reply to original comment on ruby.social
@Edent I use mine to tell the time, receive and preview notifications from my phone, as a step counter and fitness tracker, and for pointing the way to GPS coordinates when geohashing. I don't need a touchscreen to do any that, nor a colour display, and so the smartwatch I use has neither... which gives it about a month of battery life (a little more in the summer, when it gets some solar charging).
| Reply to original comment on m.danq.me
@blog I use it to track exercise and sleep. I use it to listen to music and podcasts from the watch instead of the phone as it's much easier than pulling out a phone on a crowded train in the morning. I use it for payments. I use it to unlock my Mac or approve things. Power user? I used the features more than most but not really a power user either,.. I don't even have notifications sent to the watch. I think that the hardcore or power user they are looking for already uses a Sunto, Garmin etc.
| Reply to original comment on fosstodon.org
@Edent
I got mine as a reward to myself for reaching a running milestone
I use it for the time, notifications, health (sleep/heart rate), exercise, and checking the weather (I made a weather app for it)
Attempting to use the keyboard or to interact with it more than just glancing at info is an exercise in futility and annoyance
Am I a power user? Who knows
| Reply to original comment on hachyderm.io
@Edent my Garmin watch lasts 3 weeks on a charge. Used for: Run, sleep and general health tracking, payments, loyalty cards, weather, notifications, torch, occasional navigation, fancy watch face with sunrise/sunset times, timers. Smartwatches have been very useful; a shame as I used to like proper ones and don't get chance to wear those much any more.
| Reply to original comment on mamot.fr
I use it to tell time, set alarms/timers, count steps, see notifications, and control the music when I've gone to bed and the phone is deliberately out of reach.
I doubt I'm a power user, but I also chose my watch because it was the cheapest smartwatch matching my phone brand (samsung) as watches can perform worse on mismatching brands.
@Edent Anecdotally, the “third thing” people use smartwatches for always seems to be health and fitness features (i.e. something it mostly does without you having to interact with it).
I think you’re right that people just don’t want to tap away at the tiny screen or use voice-driven UI.
| Reply to original comment on tech.lgbt
Longitudinal health data - about 10 years of heart rate, sleep, exercise etc now. I remember that starting to feel like something I didn’t want to lose after a year or so.
The other common one is saving reminders - ie quickly getting something into my todo list. Yes, talking into a watch looks/feels weird but not forgetting something feels better.
Wrist notifications are generally irritating and I have most turned off, but being able to glance down and see a new message is less interruptive than getting my phone out.
Spike
I use mine mainly to vibrate and let me know that my 'phone is ringing. Other than that, it is a wrist-worn tiny extension display for my 'phone. Sorry developers!
@Edent three things I do: start timer, control lights, find my phone (the newest variant of this on Apple Watch is really good)
| Reply to original comment on mastodon.sdf.org
@Edent Funny you should ask. I'm probably a power user, but for a completely different reason than the guy in question might think. 😁️ I use Amazfit Neo. It's a Casio-like "smart" watch with an STN display. Smart being in quotes because it doesn't do that much. It just shows time & date, measures steps and heart-rate, has stopwatch, shows basic notifications (just a number), shows me who is calling me and has a find my phone feature. Real benefit of this watch is that the battery lasts for 3-4 weeks and it does basically everything I need. There are however some minor annoyances I had with it.
First, the notification is just a blinking icon (+1) that is shown for a few seconds. Really easy to miss. It doesn't have vibrations and the piezo buzzer has a really unpleasnt sound so I turned it off. Second, apart from the find my phone feature and declining a call, there isn't really a way to trigger some action on my phone.
So I tried playing around with it for a while. I installed this app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.llamalab.automate) and created two things:
1) When I get an important notification, it gets automatically repeated every few seconds until I turn on the screen. So the +1 icon on my watch keeps blinking because there is a never-ending stream of fresh notifications.
2) When the find my phone feature is activated, it plays a sound on my phone and shows a specific notification ("Watch is searching for this phone"). If you cancel the action, both the sound and the notification stop. So when I detect this notification, I lower the volume to 0%. If the notification is still there after 3 seconds, I turn the volume back up so the feature works as intended. If, however, it disappears early (because I cancelled it), I can use it differently. I can, for example, take a photo. So I essentially made a remote shutter button.
The monstrosity looks like this: (doesn't even fit on the screen 😁️)
| Reply to original comment on mamutovo.cz
John Fitzgerald
My use is a bit different - I use a GPS watch for offline access to maps and tides while sailing. Harbour I sail from is very tidally dependent so it’s great to have an at-a-glance view of forthcoming tides. Obviously it needs a data connection every few days to refresh this.
I use mine to set timers, trigger my camera, tell the time, inform me of family notifications, navigate, record sleep, exercise & audio notes & surveil, my every move. I guess I’m a power user because it’s always bloody on charge. 
| Reply to original comment on bsky.app
@Edent the thing I /want/ to do on my watch, but haven't found a good non-apple implementation of, is very navigation instructions while walking. Looking at my phone every few minutes just to see the map is annoying, but I want some sort of map to see if this is my turning it the one 10 yards further on. I tried a third party app for pixel watch and when it worked it was pretty good but the reliability was "interesting debo" level at best
| Reply to original comment on mastodon.social
Simon Temple
My wife's currently looking for a replacement, and one is touting it can monitor your anti-oxidant levels. WTF. Is there a secret competition to see who can come up with the most bizarre parameters?
@Edent Funny thing, this blog post coinciding with me.giving the subject some thought.
I bought a Colmi watch, partially inspired by your review back then, to replace my aging PineTime. It works, it tells time, it connects with Gadgetbridge, and... Frankly I'm done with it.
The crown is set to change the watch face and is far too sensitive about inadvertently being turned. Raising the watch to look at the time, as one tends to do, often has me looking at the last notification instead. In all honesty, my wrist buzzing with notifications annoys me, anyway. And the battery seems to be going wonky.
The function I use most often? The built-in flashlight...
I'm seriously contemplating just going back to a watch, a regular, old-fashioned(ish) one.
I'm not bitter about getting the Colmi or anything, just... A bit done with the whole smartwatch thing.
| Reply to original comment on toet.dnzm.nl
@Edent Trying to understand what “power user” entails.
I use the watch for time, health & fitness, payment and notifications. I would consider myself a power user as I would really miss the watch and I interact with it dozens of times per day.
The problem in that observed scene is rather with the interviewer than with the interviewee.
| Reply to original comment on infosec.exchange
@Edent In many ways, I think the big companies who offer a watch are vastly overselling the usefulness of them.
Speaking for myself: As someone with ADHD, the single most important element of them is that they can show me a notification without having to take my phone out of my pocket. As soon as the phone comes out, concentration is gone.
I've had a cheap Amazfit, an Apple Watch, and now a cheap second-hand Garmin, and regardless of what they're all *supposed* to be able to do, ultimately 95% is notifications, 4% is looking at the time, and 1% is all the other stuff, like step counting.
In fact, when I got the Apple Watch, I ended being pretty disappointed that what Apple had sold didn't really match what I actually did. Sure I *could* use it to track long bike rides, or hikes in the mountains, but I don't do those things. And the battery was never really adequate for that anyway.
So I'm now in place where, while I do value having a smart watch, I don't really see the point of spending more than about £50 on one.
:edit: Oh, and mine is a silent alarm clock that buzzes on my wrist to wake so I a) don't get woken up with a start, and b) minimise the disruption to my wife.
| Reply to original comment on mendeddrum.org
It sounds like he was looking for a user who would rave about all the great features he had been involved in rather than trying to get an understanding of what they actually want.
| Reply to original comment on bsky.app
I use a mii band 4, it was 18 quid, it tells me about phone calls, notifications for messages from selected people, tells me the time, tracks my steps and heart rate, and occasionally times my cooking. It also has several weeks battery life.
| Reply to original comment on bsky.app
@Edent
For me, the only function that I *really* want from a smart watch is notifications/alerts of calendar appointments, incoming calls and (some) messages, and some apps.
If it also told the time, that would be a bonus, but it is not a deal breaker.
| Reply to original comment on mastodon.neilzone.co.uk
@Edent I guess I am a smart watch power user? I have a #rePebble Time 2, #pebbleOs powered. Battery life of a month, so screen is always on showing something. Always time, usually a weather forcast and/or steps.
If Going Out I might put a more animated watchface on.
I use it's speech recognition all the time for reminders and timers, or simple query like units conversion.
Call/notification display is also a big win, I cam glance or do a quick reply with out needing to unlock phone
Showing the next few calendar events also means I can answer questions like "when are you free this week"
#pebbleTime2
pebbleospebbletime2repebble
| Reply to original comment on social.falkensweb.com
@Edent I didn't wear a watch for decades and only got one for running, so it could play music and tell me split times from GPS. Both of those are just audio, I don't look at the screen or go online; I don't wear it unless I'm running and don't use it to tell the time
| Reply to original comment on hachyderm.io
@Edent My idea of a "power user" is someone with a Garmin Fenix who regularly uses that weird multiactivity triathlon thingie where you start recording and then you switch between sports in one tap because seconds genuinely matter.
Or perhaps someone who plans their workouts on something like intervals.icu (150W for a few minutes then 300W for this many minutes and so on) and then syncs them to the watch and then connects their watch to a smart trainer or bike and does the training.
Or perhaps someone who runs their own little apps on it.
Or someone who trusts their solar watch with their life and expects it to call rescue over satellite after 3 months away from civilization and power. Free Cycling, Running, Triathlon Training Platform | Intervals.icu
| Reply to original comment on genserver.social
@Edent Blam, got myself a regular watch today. Well, it' does connect to set time and relay the stepcounter score, but nothing else.
| Reply to original comment on toet.dnzm.nl
@Edent does it count if I built my own? It may not fit everyone's definition of a smart watch in that I can't install apps. But since I wrote the operating system I can write new bits of it that behave like apps. It tells the time, including Mars time. It displays a photo album (it has a bigger display that most watches, but not as big as a phone), it does heart rate monitoring, and it detects Daleks (that's a game).
It also gets notifications from my phone so I don't have to pull out the phone when it pings.
It's running on a Teensy 3 and written in C. Working on a Rust version which will run on ESP32.
| Reply to original comment on mastodon.nz
@Edent @Edent yeah exactly this. I have a quite pricey Garmin for running. As a smart watch I use it to see messages on my wrist and tell the time. I hardly use payments, I mostly have my phone anyway.
The part that justified the price was gps running tracking with maps and navigation, including pace setting for races, but that's a little specialist. I even turned off the Sp02 tracking to get several weeks of battery life.
I used to have a Samsung watch and never used the apps on it either!
| Reply to original comment on mastodon.social
I'm as "power user" as someone who has been using the Pebble watch daily since I was finally able to purchase it (which happens around the same year when Pebble stopped selling watches.
I use my watch to:
All of these are features of any electronic watch from the 1990s (well, except vibration), and I expect them on any decent (smart)watch.
For the "smart" features, I use my smartwatch to:
And I used to use the following features, until they became obsolete or broken or inconvenient:
I've never used my watch to:
The sleep tracking and step counter features are nice-to-have, but most of the time I don't look at them. I don't need a tracker to know that last night I didn't sleep well. My body tells me so. I don't need a tracker to know today I was very active. My tired body at the end of the day is enough evidence.
Well, after writing all of this, I think I'm a power user after all. But I'm likely not the imaginary power user the companies are targeting.
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