Apple Watch 30 First Impressions

Hey y’all, I got my first Apple Watch ever for Christmas this year! It’s the SE version, which debuted this past September, in 40mm (the smaller size), Space Gray Aluminum, Black Sport Band, GPS (not cellular). This post is simply a list of my first impressions of the watch during my very first day of using it. I tried to be brief!

For #mobilecomputing, I now have a wearable; it doesn’t get much more mobile than that, eh?

1. The sport band is far more comfortable than I expected. Its smooth and soft, not stiff or sticky.
2. Though the 40mm seems a bit small for my tastes, I have no problem using it. Bigger would just be nicer.
3. The overall quality, fit/finish/feel is top notch.
4. Using the watch – getting into, out of, and switching apps – works well and makes sense to me now that I’ve actually started using it.
5. The crown as volume knob is as useful and nice as I expected.
6. The Now Playing app, especially within the workout app, is very handy. Love it.
7. The speaker is loud and clear.
8. Text messages, glances, and quick replies are fun, convenient, and cool. Notifications in general are nice.
9. The number of watch faces and complications is surprisingly robust and almost overwhelming at first. Love the many options. They’re both fun and functional. Love having multiple watch faces for distinct situations.
10. Love the Reminders app on the watch.
11. Love email triage.
12. Voice Memo app sync with phone is great.
13. Maps navigation is nice and handy.
14. Love having Apple Music and Podcasts on the watch.
15. Love doing a workout with Music and Airpods and not having my big iPhone stuffed in my pocket.
16. Fitness tracking and workouts and activity rings and badges so far are super great and motivating, tons of useful metrics and very customizable.
17. Month view in calendar app with list view is awesome.
18. Remote shutter and camera viewfinder work well, not a gimmick!
19. Raise to wake and tap to wake work very reliably.
20. Watch performance is smooth, quick, fluid, nice, not choppy or sketchy.
21. The plethora of apps and options in the Watch app on the iPhone is staggering.
22. Battery level indicator of Watch and Airpods and Airpods case appear on both watch and iPhone – nice!
23. Watch is like a remote control for iPhone or iPad.
24. Love that activity rings from watch appear on iPhone in a widget!
25. It’s much nicer, and super convenient, talking to my watch instead of my phone for Siri. It seems more natural or fitting. It’s also just way cooler to hear Siri talk back from the watch. I’m using this feature to capture quick reminders.
26. First try with Apple Pay on watch at Best Buy worked perfectly.
27. Charge dock with nightstand mode is nice.
28. Theater mode is nice.
29. Summary of watch in first 12 hours: nice, healthy, convenient, useful.
30. Key apps/features I wanna see come to watch: Apple Notes app, FaceTime app with front camera, and video player despite small size.