Let’s put the mixed reviews and the delay to one side for a bit and look at what the watchOS 2 has to offer. First of all, on average Internet speeds, the new smartwatch operating system for the Apple Watch will take about an hour as reports claim. Furthermore, the update requires the watch to be charged at all times as the download process will not even start without this step. Once the firmware has been installed, there are not many significant changes visually. However, a nice new feature is to keep the watch’s face lit up for a total of 70 seconds instead of the maximum 15. This is great to show off to friends about the watch’s current clock face.
The WatchOS 2 Update: What Can be Expected?
Perhaps the biggest addition to the watchOS 2 is something familiar to iPhone users everywhere: native apps. Before, the Apple Watch relied mostly on the iPhone and third party apps to do and handle just about everything. This made for incredibly long delays. How so? Users of the previous watchOS will find themselves staring at their Apple Watch, not for the time, but to look at the circular loading screen as to whatever it is they’re looking for in an app. This kind of defeats the purpose of having a watch, or even a smartwatch altogether.
With the Apple Watch WatchOS 2, developers are now able to run their apps directly onto the wearable timepiece. This will let users speed things up immensely as they no longer have to spend so much time flicking through apps on their smartwatch. Currently, there is but only a small amount of apps that are specifically ready for the 2nd watchOS. However, people are expecting this to change over the course of the next few weeks.
One of the native apps found in the new watchOS is Citymapper and can be immediately found in the user’s iPhone after the update. The app is quick to load and will only last about a second before users are able to use it. The app lets users easily plan a trip from wherever their current location is, to their home or towards other saved addresses. The good think about this new native app is it actually feels like a real iOS app rather than a mere shell. The map app can even show nearby bus and subway stops.
The watchOS 2 may still look like a simple status simble for iOS devices, but it does it quite well. It also shows that the company is learning from its mistakes in developing better firmware for their devices.