Apple Watch Review

I've now had my  Watch for 2 months.  I've held off writing about it for 2 reasons,  I wasn't sure what to say and how would it apply to Youth Ministry.

It's time to talk about it, but first let me put this out there.  I'm a tech guy, I love tech.  Which frankly, explains why I write for this blog.  Secondly, I'm a watch guy. Always have been.  And when the 2 combine...well, I'm in a better place.




As I said before, I'm a watch guy and wear a watch every day.  The amount of time since I was in Jr. High on that I have not had a watch on is very small.  When the Pebble came out, it wasn't that long after full release that my family surprised me with my Pebble watch.  I've even written about it.  It was useful, a bit clunky, but over all, useful.

I admit that I didn't hesitate to order this watch...with my own money. It's beautiful, full featured and, I'm an "Apple Guy".  I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had people that I don't know ask me about my watch, and while that's not why I bought it, it's interesting to see people react to it.

I bought the 42mm White Sport  Watch.  I wanted a Stainless Steel version, but couldn't justify the extra money needed at this point, although I would love to have the sapphire-chrystal screen. I use it every day, multiple times a day.

So within my review, here's the biggest benefit that I've found.  I'm 43 years old, married and  overweight.  I even admit I'm a bit self-conscious about it.  Youth ministry is an active ministry; think paintball, games, and such.  I desire to be my young, leaner self, and able to keep up with my student's activity levels.  So while using the  Watch to keep on task with reminders, calendar appointments, and even using to control my Keynote presentations is incredibly useful stuff for my day and ministry, the biggest use and help I've found is it's ability to track and compel my activity level.  Playing the game of filling in the circle of activity, exercise and standing has proven a very compelling reason for me to have this watch.  I'm doing well.  So far, 13 lbs gone.  I'm feeling better, able to run more than I have in around 10 years, and I'll keep going.  The combination of that alongside apps like MyFitnessPal make the  Watch extremely valuable for me and my ministry.

Secondly, the Siri integration is amazing, especially the dictation for text messages.  On numerous occasions my hands were full, and it was drop-dead simple to reply to a text using the hands-free functionality of just talking to my watch.

The notifications work great as well.  The taptic feedback is much better than what I experienced on the Pebble Watch.  I know, it's just a vibration, but there is something more noticeable to me about it.  I love it's integration with the maps, giving me a great way to know when a turn is coming up while driving, which allows me to keep my eyes on the road.

While the battery EASILY lasts through a day, I do wish that I could get at least 2-3 days of full use out of the watch, but that's fairly minor.  Currently, I don't use a lot of 3rd party apps on the watch because loading their information is a bit clunky and slow at times, developers I am noticing are getting better at understanding how to speed this process up though.

I truly am looking forward to WatchOS 2.0 and it's ability to load apps directly to the  Watch.  I'm interested to see how developers begin to use the features in new and creative ways as well. Remember, they began writing for the watch without having ever held one in their hands.

Have a question about the  Watch?  Let me know.