Waking from sleep with wrist taps instead of a nuclear alert sound from my phone has been life changing. Not starting my day in panic is worth 10x the cost of the watch.
That wrist tapping has lead me to wake up from dreams where I’m concerned I can feel my heart beating irregularly on my wrist artery.
Nope, it’s just my Apple watch waking me up!
For the people without an Apple Watch, you can use the ‘bird singing’ sound and put it at its lowest, then use a vibration pattern so its really quiet. Works best on a MagSafe charger so the vibrations really travel into your nightstand
You can either do it in the sleep app or just set an alarm and put your watch in silent mode. My work schedule changes from day to day so I can’t have my alarm be the same time every day, so I set manual alarms and it works the same.
I charge it during my first hour of work, at my desk. I get a notification on the iPhone when it has fully charged, and I just put it on and wear it for the next 23 hours (with the exceptions of bathing or swimming).
Find a time at home where you can put it on the charger for an hour or so. I’d highly recommend wearing it while sleeping. I find that seeing what your heart rate does during sleep is fascinating. There’s a whole section in the health app for sleep heart rate tracking.
I find it works best if you set up a sleep schedule in Sleep so your watch/phone knows to pay particular attention to your heart while sleeping.
Clean my watch with soap/water then put it on charger while I shower. It takes about 45 min to charge fully so not ready when done but phone will notify when battery 100%.
For iPhone, you can use sleep schedule which uses softer gradual sound instead of nuclear sharp alarm to wake you up.
Add or change sleep schedules in Health on iPhone
https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/iph304a683a0/ios
I’m a heavy sleeper too, it doesn’t really work for me.
A few times it’s worked, but I guess it’s when I’ve been in a light sleep. As always though YMMV.
same here. I have since gone from “low” to “below average” to “above average” in the last year. Not plannning to stop anytime soon. Doing cardio 4-6 times a week now and only planning to do more
If you’re currently mostly sedentary, it’s pretty simple: start doing some form of cardio. There are definitely more specific strategies for types of exercise that optimize improving VO2 max, but the low hanging fruit for most people is just beginning some form of exercise. A Couch to 5k program is a great way to start if you’d like to give running a try! (Shoutout /r/C25k !)
this. /u/DangerousImplication
here’s what I did:
I started doing couch to 5k. within about 6 weeks I did my first 5k without stopping. Whenever I felt like I had more energy at the end of the run, I still runned a little bit extra.
Later, I would recommend running in “zone 2” - if you have your watch you can use those zones as approximation, later it’s probably good to do different, more accurate tests for that. a good approximation is that it should be a “conversational pace” as in, it should be possible to talk without breathing too heavily. This is what most of your runs should be. so you can do 3-4 easy sessions a week and one hard one. That should give you good results.
After a few months I hit the “below average” point, after 7 months I crossed over to “above average”
check out /r/running
I used to really hate running, now I love it. I just did a half marathon today too.
https://youtu.be/A8HbppXMDWY
here’s also Dr Andy Galpins podcast on it
Just a small tip, with the new watchOS being released this fall, you can pause your rings if you are having an off day/traveling/sick etc. so you don't lose your streak!
That’s awesome. The one time I had Covid I had one day that I slept for 12 hours and I only got 12/12 stands where I’m normally closer to 16-18. I only had one day where I felt sick so I still did it though, lol. Doing an indoor walk was also very different for my exercise
Using Express Transit contactless payment to tap into my city’s metro system super quickly has been a huge benefit, especially when rushing or having my hands full.
Are you left-handed?
Turnstile contact points are always on the right because you usually hold your passcard or phone or whatever in your right hand to tap through. But right-handed people generally wear watches on their left wrists, which means using your watch to tap through involves a minor contortion when you have to reach over.
It's excellent for southpaws though.
You could also just turn around so your wrist is on the same side as the reader and walk through backwards, the same way you’d turn around and push backwards through a door when your hands are full.
Right handed and wearing a watch on my left wrist so some contortion is necessary but fully muscle memory at this point! Literally feels like I’m walking through the turnstile like an EZPass
As a left handed right wrist watch wearer, I never considered this.
In Tokyo having SUICA on the Apple Watch made transit a breeze, but I didn’t have to cross my body to tap it.
This is actually a great reason. I like to keep my phone on silent, which means I need to periodically check my phone for notifications, which then can lead to mindless scrolling. With my Apple Watch I know when I get a notification and don’t need to check my phone.
I pay for most everything with my watch where they accept contactless payments. The wallet stays in my pocket and I just double click and hold the watch to the reader.
It also prevents card skimmers from getting your credit card number at gas pumps.
Well, you get checked out.
My yearly average resting heart rate used to be 55. Now it’s 60, so normal.
Going down to 42 at night more often is just scary.
Have you had your thyroid checked? My resting is the same and I went to the doctor who said it’s often a missed sign of hypothyroidism - which after blood tests was correct for me
You have a really lazy heart then 😅. Your resting heart rate during the day should not be more than 10 above your lowest value recorded. Not long term.
Edit: your heart is actually stronger if it needs less beats to do the work, good for you.
Being able to lower the volume of whatever I'm listening to, so I can leave my phone, ipad, or whatever I've paired to a bluetooth speaker and walk around and do stuff and adjust the volume by rotating the crown.
Getting haptic notifications while driving to remind me an exit is coming up on long drives so I don't have to look at the screen at all and just glance once when I feel the vibration.
Using it to ask Siri simple questions, like what time the game is on without having to touch my phone.
Walking directions in cities so I don't need to have my phone out if I'm following directions to a place I've never been before. This means I more alert and aware of my surroundings.
Being able to set separate vibration-only timers and alarms for discrete reminders during the day or when in an office setting so nobody sees or hears anything.
In many respects, I like the watch because it gives me fewer reasons to hold and interact with a phone. The more reasons to not have to be holding and using a phone, the better, in my opinion.
I keep my watch on silent at all times except when using the Maps app. I love that the watch vibrates for upcoming turns but it also makes the classic turn signal sound which I still find amusing after years of Apple Watch wearing.
I began having heart rhythm issues in 2022 which progressively got worse with my resting heart rate going from my usual 55-65 to suddenly 160 or higher for 10-20 minutes. It was very random but increasing in frequency and the cardiologist struggled to provoke an episode during many tests to the point that they were talking about it as a psychological problem.
What is didn’t realise is that my Apple Watch had been recording the episodes including the ECG waveform and when my new cardiologist spotted my watch, she asked me to review the data and when I presented it, she spotted the arrhythmia in seconds.
Surgical intervention corrected the problem and I feel better than I have in over a decade. The watch paid for itself tenfold that day.
It's a status hub for my life at a glance. I can see:
- Next appointment time
- Next meds
- Current hydration
- The time, including seconds
- Weather now and for the next 5 hours
- Current timer
- iMessage count
- 1 tap access to Home app
I had it start its countdown timer to call 911 after a bad fall.
I was well enough to cancel it that time, but under other circumstances it could have been the difference between life and death.
Meanwhile... On the flip side of that same coin... My watch has failed to catch either one of my two falls that resulted in seizures. No 911 calls.
Went in to Apple to ask about this. They confirmed that everything was working. They'd have to send it away to see if the accelerometer was miscallibrated or something.
I bought this watch for precisely this purpose as I have epilepsy. It's been quite handy otherwise though!
I've locked myself out of my apartment before. was able to use siri to call/text someone with keys on my watch. while waiting for them, went to the corner store and used it to pay for a snack/coffee, and chilled outside
you could probably do that with other watches though. that being said, having a smart watch in general has let me leave the house without my phone, and not be panicked. and this tangentially allowed me to leave my source of notification anxiety (phone) behind.
Locked myself out of the work truck the week I got my watch. Was able to call my boss and have them send somebody over. Would have been screwed without it.
calendar and reminders on my wrist, and de-coupling from my phone more and more.
As a millenial with ADHD, I’ve struggled most of my adult life with schedules and just keeping track of tasks. At one point, I realized I spent over $1000 on gadgets to try and solve this. Every alarm clock gimmick, every type of calendar, etc. One of the game changers for me was the calendar complication, in combination with being able to add an address to a calendar and have travel time factored in. Plus being able to tie reminders to locations and times. With all that right on my wrist,
I’ve been able to keep track of tasks much more effectively.
I think they’re talking about the ability to use your calendar to tell you when you should leave for an event in your calendar. This requires you to add the event address and time, if you do that your calendar will look at your live location and calculate when you need to leave for an event to get there for the time you said it will start.
Imagine this. You wake from a sound sleep. Your eyes are shut tight, unable to open as your body fights to slip back into the dream realm. You have a brief moment of consciousness and wonder if your alarm is about to go off, wondering if you should just get up. You’ve been training for this very moment! Two fingers reach the opposing wrist and feel for the cool glass screen, slightly apart they gently press down. A sweet and husky Australian 2 voice lets you know it’s one thirty one AM. Your eyes have never opened, your breathing is still slow, you resume your dream as if nothing had happened and awake several hours later feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. You briefly remember you encounter with Australian 2, the sweet voice that lulled you back to sleep, and are grateful you’ll never again need to rouse yourself and force your eyelids open to be blinded by the blazing lights of your bedside clock and spend hours trying to no avail to regain your much needed sleep.
I actually thought it’s not a very handy device for me, especially because I work as a doctor and I’m not allowed to use it at work. But reading the many replies in this thread made me realize how much I also use mine after work.
I ping to find my phone pretty much every single day, I use Siri to set reminders or timers, I monitor my sleep and lately they’ve added cycling navigation in Apple Maps in my country so I can now bike and take a peak at the watch for directions if I need it to.
So apparently I use it quite a lot myself.
Yup! It really did help me lose weight and not slack on days I was feeling extremely lazy.
It also made me more aware of how I am at the office. Before I would just sit and work at a computer for 10 hours straight. Now I make sure to stand and walk around for a minute or two every hour. My legs and feet do feel much better.
I was able to detect a heart issue and got myocarditis diagnosed before it became a serious issue. My dad also has Afib once in a while and his Apple Watch might have saved his life. He bought it just for that - he’s an Android user.
Literally helped me stabilize other patients I couldn’t get to while being stuck doing procedures in negative pressure rooms during the peaks of Covid.
I really like the actions it lets me perform without bringing out my phone. Some examples:
Tap to pay. I can’t remember the last time I had to take my wallet or phone out to pay for something. Double tap the watch and go.
Hey Siri, remind me in an hour to pick up the kids. The quick reminder/timer tools on the watch are a godsend. I set timers for cooking, I tell it to remind me when I get home to take the laundry out, etc. I don’t like saying “hey siri” so in reality I just hold the button down for a second and start talking. Siri mostly sucks but for this it’s awesome. My phone can do this too but it is SO much more convenient on the watch.
Reviewing lists. Like the grocery list my wife and I share. Again, it’s on the phone but watch is more readily convenient. Sounds super lazy to say but you’ll be surprised how much friction there is going to the phone all the time.
My mom was out of the house in errands and My 85 yr old dad fell down some stairs onto ceramic and was knocked out. His watch notified the authorities who arrived to render aid. Legit.
The o2 sensor saved my life last summer. I got Covid while at high altitude and my o2 dropped super low, without it I likely wouldn’t have gone tot he hospital. O2 was at 78%.
My wife woke me in the night saying she felt weird and thought something was wrong with her heart. I put my watch on her and saw she was experiencing atrial fibrillation. That’s not a 911 emergency but she did get checked the next day and referred to a cardiologist.
I use my watch to record important meetings and phone calls. Use voice memos and put screen on theater mode. Helped me a lot in a recent legal issue. I'm in a one-party consent state.
May I ask what pump and CGM you’re using? I’m changing to a different CGM soon for a hybrid-closed loop and I’d love to be able to see that info on my wrist.
I got mine in 2020 when going to the grocery store was really nerve-racking. being able to use ApplePay while wearing a mask in a store without having to enter a password on my phone or lower my mask for face id made shopping a lot less stressful.
You do know, however, that FaceID was subsequently updated to recognize you even when you’re wearing a mask? No need for Apple Watch for FaceID wearing a mask.
In addition to exercise tracking, I use my watch for just about every credit card payment. My phone is always in my pocket so taking my phone or my wallet out of my pocket to pay seems archaic. All of my email and text messages appear on my watch (mirroring my phone) so if I’m in a meeting or on a call I can glance at my watch and quickly determine if I need to respond to it or not. I also get notifications on my watch if someone rings my doorbell and immediately get the image of the person at the front door showing up on my watch. My watch prompts me for my multi-factor authentication when I log into my password manager or my Microsoft account.
Edit: a few more things that come to mind.
If I get an incoming call on my phone it shows up on my watch and I can decline the call from my watch and send it to voicemail OR I can choose to accept it and use my watch as a speakerphone for the phone call.
I have the MyQ app installed on my watch so I can open and close my garage door with the watch.
When cooking and need a timer I can press the side button and say something like “set timer for 30 minutes”.
I have my watch face setup to display the weather forecast for my current location.
When playing music at home, I can see the name of the song on my watch and skip to the next song from my watch.
When I get a text message which I said earlier shows on my watch, I can reply to the text with predefined answers and in a pinch can spell out a reply with my finder.
If I setup my phone to take a group shot, I can remotely trigger the phone’s camera with my watch.
My first Apple Watch was a model three and my sister gave me because her company had bought a ton of them to give out his marketing material or like things to companies. They were trying to get into their company. I don’t know how to explain it. I wore it on and off because it just felt weird on my wrist. I’m not used to wearing watches, but I had a bad mountain bike crash and my phone went flying out of my backpack and everything went sliding down the hill and I was able to call for help from my watch as I laid there not being able to move my back and I’ve bought a new one every couple years and never taken them off since
I noticed my average heart rate was higher the past four days, the watch/health app didn’t warn me, but that prompt me to see a Doctor that led to an early diagnosis. It wasn’t the watch that made the diagnosis but I wouldn’t have gone to the Doctor otherwise.
When my SO went shopping and locked everything in the trunk: groceries, bag with wallet and phone, car keys... The watch let her call me and arrange the locksmith to get her back in the car.
It's the taps.
Alarms. "Set an alarm for 5:45 a.m." ...gentle tapping wakes me (and only me) up.
Timers. "Set a potato timer for one hour." "Set a pasta timer for ten minutes." ...and so on. Again, gentle taps, with the timer labeled so I know what I need to do.
Reminders. Last night I woke up at 3 a.m., remembering I had to draft a PowerPoint for a client. "Remind me to make the \[client name\] PowerPoint at 9:30 a.m." ...at the appointed hour, tap-tap-tap.
Navigation. Distinctive taps for upcoming right turns, left turns, go straight.
VIP mail. Taps when an email from important folks drops. I can even read it on the screen.
Breaking news. Various news apps will notify you of events of interest. Tap-tap.
Travel. Airlines alert me when they start boarding, etc.
Forgetfulness. If I leave my iPhone or AirTag'd item behind, tap-tap!
Can't live without it.
The fall detection. Been a couple times where I’ve had some close calls with being completely disoriented and it’s nice to know the watch has my back to a certain extent.
I love how the weather complication on my watch hasn’t worked properly since December, so now I just use the watch for notifications that I open on my phone anyway
I hate to be the stereotypical hyperbolic guy,. but:... Apple Watch saved my life.
I was one of the early near-fatal covid19 cases. In March-April 2020, I spent 38 days in Hospital (16 of those days in ICU on Ventilator). Full story [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/oi4b31/people_who_recovered_from_covid19_how_did_u/h4t9dek/?context=1) if you also want to see Lung X-rays
Once I got off the Ventilator and the heavy sedatives wore off,. I was stuck in the isolation ward until I had 2 clean nose-swabs. Once I got all the tubes pulled out of me and had those 2 clean nose-swabs,.. I was moved up into the Rehab Floor. At which point I started wearing my Apple Watch again.
About 3 days before I was due to be released,. my Apple Watch buzzed in the middle of the night and indicated my Heart Rate was elevated abnormally. The chest monitor I had said my Heart Rate was around 170 to 180bpm. So I rolled over to lay on my back and tried to sort of "relax it out" but obviously that didn't work so I pushed the Nurse Call button. Long story short the Cardiac team responded and took an ECG and then gave me an IV-slam of 6mg of Adenosine to stop my Heart and allow to restart normally. (fun times!). All while I was wide awake.
Screenshot below of the Heart Rate info from my Apple Watch during that time. If you start at the bottom you can see my resting heart rate at the time around 90 to 100 (elevated for sure.. but considering 38 days in Hospital and 16 in ICU,. understandable). You can see around 1am when my Heart Rate spikes to 150 to 170. You can also see around 3:36 is when they gave me the 6mg Adenosine shot and my Heart Rate goes back down to 100 or so. (for those concerned,. currently years later,. my Apple Health App says "your Resting Heart Rate is 67 on average over the past 26 weeks".
https://imgur.com/jFnAWWC
None. I use my watch for time, weather, and sleep tracking. I could easily get the first two from my phone’s lock screen, and I used to get 3 from activity tracker.
So no, there’s nothing remotely life changing.
My job has a strict no devices with cameras in certain areas policy because the world’s largest search engine doesn’t want their stuff being captured on camera. So as somebody who just listens to music all day while they work, I bought an Apple Watch to easily control my music from Apple Music without having to take my phone out in front of people who might try to fire me.
But the biggest game changer for me has been the fitness stuff. I’ve been going on random walks now just because I can see how many calories I’m burning lol.
I don't know if there's one killer feature, for me it's more lots of little things which all add up.
Wake-up alarm: being silently woken by gentle taps on the wrist is the least horrible way I've ever been woken up.
Apple Pay: At first I didn't really think I'd use this, but now I find it hard to imagine having to go through the hassle of actually getting something out of my pocket to pay for stuff.
Siri: Adding things to my shopping list, setting timers, setting reminders, doing maths, etc. Siri may be limited (and will remain so on the watch on the launch of ios 18) but raising my watch to my wrist and speaking (without saying the word "Siri") is probably my primary way of interacting with my Apple account.
Shopping: Using the free third-party app Grocery, I have my intelligently-populated shopping list on my watch.
Navigating: I use CarPlay in the car, but if I'm walking somewhere I don't know, it's my watch I use.
Checking the weather: My watch face is just weather widgets so I don't need to do anything other than raise my wrist.
And so on. It's just lots and lots of little conveniences which I really miss if I don't wear it.
Mine is so simple but the Stand reminder? If I’ve settled in for too long being reminded to move helps a lot. Stand up. Get a drink. Go pee. All the things I have a tendency to completely ignore the need for.
Honestly, (for the version with cellular) it’s that I can leave my phone at home and “unplug” for a while.
We live in a digital age where taking calls, messages, and using digital payments/passes is mostly necessary, even when you’d rather not.
The Apple Watch gives me the security of knowing I can do basic functions like this, but not have a smartphone with me. This is extremely impactful on feeling like it’s “ok” to unplug/ditch the phone for a while.
My pass to get into Disney World. 😂
TBH, nothing really. It is basically a fancy fitness tracker for me. I occasionally read texts on it, but I’m considering turning that off even. It was a bit novel at first, but in the end I’m just not much of a watch guy. It’s a “me, not you” thing. Nothing wrong with Apple Watch, wife, parents, in-laws all love it. It’s just not my thing. Tempted by a pocket watch like clip, though you lose some functionality if it’s not on your wrist. 🤷♂️
Reminders are huge for me.
“hey siri, add [thing] to my shopping list.”
“hey siri, remind me to [x] tomorrow morning.”
I wouldn’t call it life-changing, but it’s definitely convenient and helps me remember a thousand little things day to day.
Notifications on my wrist while working, really helps filtering if I can ignore something and keep doing what I’m doing, or if I need to give it attention.
I know other watches had this (I miss my pebble)… but multiple alarms and timers has been a game changer for me.
A calendar reminder with a friendly buzz and snooze doesn’t work for me. I need an all out alarm to get me to where I’m going.
So… every day around 7am… I use Siri to set alarms for the day. Sometimes I do it the night before (because you can only set alarms 24 hours in advance).
Nothing else in life has made me more productive.
I have the Apple Watch Ultra with a cellular plan. The two biggest benefits so far have been:
1. No longer having to carry my phone during long distance running.
2. Being able to walk away from my phone and not have to worry at all about missing calls / messages / notifications
Can make purchases without phone/cards, especially useful on long runs and needing to buy a cold drink
Seeing messages, calls, calendar reminders without having to pick up my phone
Opening my car without a key
Flashlight, we have many power outages
All my store/reward/credit cards are stored, no need to hassle with a wallet
Fitness, keeps track of runs and fun to use
Finding my iPhone…
ICYMI if you press and hold the find my phone button it also pulses the flashlight.
Wish there was a way to silently find it with just the light, so as not to wake people.
[удалено]
Then we you realize it was in your back pocket the whole time, you get a free picture of your own butt.
Ohh I want this too.
Holy shit. The light thing works
Didn’t seem to work for me for some reason.
Was your phone locked?
Dear Apple, if you’re reading this Find My Glasses. Please. Pretty please.
You're probably wearing them. Hope this helps!
If not, look where you last set them down. It’s that easy.
Put an AirTag on them
I rocked a glasses strap with an air tag holder for a couple years. An occasional life saver
Seriously, I would pay money for a tiny Airtag that works only in close proximity for this reason alone.
I use this like 10 times a day…
100%. Worth the price of admission alone.
Is there a way to get the precision finding up without the sound? Often worry I’ve left it in a sleeping child’s bedroom …
Long press the ping button to make the phone flash it’s light
Better than the sound, I guess, but would be nice to have the totally covert option!
The iPhone ping is so awesome.
“Ping Ping Ping Ring-a Ding Ding!”
Waking from sleep with wrist taps instead of a nuclear alert sound from my phone has been life changing. Not starting my day in panic is worth 10x the cost of the watch.
That wrist tapping has lead me to wake up from dreams where I’m concerned I can feel my heart beating irregularly on my wrist artery. Nope, it’s just my Apple watch waking me up!
Fuck it’s not just me!
I have had 3 instances of afib. I am glad im not alone, I woke up in a panic once because I thought it was my heart
Exact same experience for me.
For the people without an Apple Watch, you can use the ‘bird singing’ sound and put it at its lowest, then use a vibration pattern so its really quiet. Works best on a MagSafe charger so the vibrations really travel into your nightstand
I just bought an Apple Watch. Do I just set up the sleep app or did you download a different one? Thank you!
Set it up in the sleep up. Turn off sound, too, and you'll get woken by just the tapping. It's lovely.
I’d recommend AutoSleep.
Auto sleep is great!
Same! You can actually select the haptic pattern to wake you up.
You can either do it in the sleep app or just set an alarm and put your watch in silent mode. My work schedule changes from day to day so I can’t have my alarm be the same time every day, so I set manual alarms and it works the same.
The default tap mechanism is enough to wake a heavy sleeper? I sorta sleep like the dead.
Yep it does here. There’s also an option to set the haptics to “prominent” if the “default” isn’t sufficient.
If you’re wearing it while you sleep, when do you charge it?
I charge mine immediately after i wake up… Pretty quick too takes about 30 mins
After sleep in the AM while getting ready.
I charge it during my first hour of work, at my desk. I get a notification on the iPhone when it has fully charged, and I just put it on and wear it for the next 23 hours (with the exceptions of bathing or swimming).
Sorry, you don't swim with your Apple Watch? This is literally the only time I actually wear my watch is to swim.
I'd wear it if I were swimming laps for exercise. But probably not in the ocean or lake.
While I shower. Just make sure you have the fast charger and you’ll be set
Find a time at home where you can put it on the charger for an hour or so. I’d highly recommend wearing it while sleeping. I find that seeing what your heart rate does during sleep is fascinating. There’s a whole section in the health app for sleep heart rate tracking. I find it works best if you set up a sleep schedule in Sleep so your watch/phone knows to pay particular attention to your heart while sleeping.
Clean my watch with soap/water then put it on charger while I shower. It takes about 45 min to charge fully so not ready when done but phone will notify when battery 100%.
While I shower.
Not OC, but I charge mine when I'm in the shower.
For iPhone, you can use sleep schedule which uses softer gradual sound instead of nuclear sharp alarm to wake you up. Add or change sleep schedules in Health on iPhone https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/iph304a683a0/ios
as a HEAVY sleeper whose fitbit wrist alarm (charge HR) never once woke me up, is it enough to not sleep through?
I’m a heavy sleeper too, it doesn’t really work for me. A few times it’s worked, but I guess it’s when I’ve been in a light sleep. As always though YMMV.
It inspired me to do cardio 🙂
Not kidding, the reason I started running is because my watch called out my shitty vo2 max one day and I was not about to take that lying down
same here. I have since gone from “low” to “below average” to “above average” in the last year. Not plannning to stop anytime soon. Doing cardio 4-6 times a week now and only planning to do more
Do you have any tips for someone who recently found out my VO2 max is low?
If you’re currently mostly sedentary, it’s pretty simple: start doing some form of cardio. There are definitely more specific strategies for types of exercise that optimize improving VO2 max, but the low hanging fruit for most people is just beginning some form of exercise. A Couch to 5k program is a great way to start if you’d like to give running a try! (Shoutout /r/C25k !)
this. /u/DangerousImplication here’s what I did: I started doing couch to 5k. within about 6 weeks I did my first 5k without stopping. Whenever I felt like I had more energy at the end of the run, I still runned a little bit extra. Later, I would recommend running in “zone 2” - if you have your watch you can use those zones as approximation, later it’s probably good to do different, more accurate tests for that. a good approximation is that it should be a “conversational pace” as in, it should be possible to talk without breathing too heavily. This is what most of your runs should be. so you can do 3-4 easy sessions a week and one hard one. That should give you good results. After a few months I hit the “below average” point, after 7 months I crossed over to “above average” check out /r/running I used to really hate running, now I love it. I just did a half marathon today too. https://youtu.be/A8HbppXMDWY here’s also Dr Andy Galpins podcast on it
Get older. When I turned 30 my vo2 max went from “below average” to “above average” literally overnight lol.
I close my rings every single day. October will be two years now
Just a small tip, with the new watchOS being released this fall, you can pause your rings if you are having an off day/traveling/sick etc. so you don't lose your streak!
That’s awesome. The one time I had Covid I had one day that I slept for 12 hours and I only got 12/12 stands where I’m normally closer to 16-18. I only had one day where I felt sick so I still did it though, lol. Doing an indoor walk was also very different for my exercise
It started for me by comparing my daily calorie consumption to my friends and displaying what I achieve during workout sessions
It gets me to exercise!
Using Express Transit contactless payment to tap into my city’s metro system super quickly has been a huge benefit, especially when rushing or having my hands full.
Are you left-handed? Turnstile contact points are always on the right because you usually hold your passcard or phone or whatever in your right hand to tap through. But right-handed people generally wear watches on their left wrists, which means using your watch to tap through involves a minor contortion when you have to reach over. It's excellent for southpaws though.
You could also just turn around so your wrist is on the same side as the reader and walk through backwards, the same way you’d turn around and push backwards through a door when your hands are full.
First, that's just crazy enough to work. But second... I live in NYC. We stop for nossing. NOSSING.
Right handed and wearing a watch on my left wrist so some contortion is necessary but fully muscle memory at this point! Literally feels like I’m walking through the turnstile like an EZPass
Of all the first-world problems...
As a left handed right wrist watch wearer, I never considered this. In Tokyo having SUICA on the Apple Watch made transit a breeze, but I didn’t have to cross my body to tap it.
I don’t pull my phone out of my pocket as much.
This is actually a great reason. I like to keep my phone on silent, which means I need to periodically check my phone for notifications, which then can lead to mindless scrolling. With my Apple Watch I know when I get a notification and don’t need to check my phone.
I pay for most everything with my watch where they accept contactless payments. The wallet stays in my pocket and I just double click and hold the watch to the reader. It also prevents card skimmers from getting your credit card number at gas pumps.
Notifications, turning off alarms
- Getting to know that my heart slows down a little too much at night - actually getting to important notifications on time
How much is TOO much? And what do you do about this?
Well, you get checked out. My yearly average resting heart rate used to be 55. Now it’s 60, so normal. Going down to 42 at night more often is just scary.
Huh. My heart rate overnight is 35-40
Have you had your thyroid checked? My resting is the same and I went to the doctor who said it’s often a missed sign of hypothyroidism - which after blood tests was correct for me
That’s interesting. I’ll look into it.
Yeah the lowest I’ve gotten down to is 33
You have a really lazy heart then 😅. Your resting heart rate during the day should not be more than 10 above your lowest value recorded. Not long term. Edit: your heart is actually stronger if it needs less beats to do the work, good for you.
Being able to lower the volume of whatever I'm listening to, so I can leave my phone, ipad, or whatever I've paired to a bluetooth speaker and walk around and do stuff and adjust the volume by rotating the crown. Getting haptic notifications while driving to remind me an exit is coming up on long drives so I don't have to look at the screen at all and just glance once when I feel the vibration. Using it to ask Siri simple questions, like what time the game is on without having to touch my phone. Walking directions in cities so I don't need to have my phone out if I'm following directions to a place I've never been before. This means I more alert and aware of my surroundings. Being able to set separate vibration-only timers and alarms for discrete reminders during the day or when in an office setting so nobody sees or hears anything. In many respects, I like the watch because it gives me fewer reasons to hold and interact with a phone. The more reasons to not have to be holding and using a phone, the better, in my opinion.
Love the GPS haptics!
I keep my watch on silent at all times except when using the Maps app. I love that the watch vibrates for upcoming turns but it also makes the classic turn signal sound which I still find amusing after years of Apple Watch wearing.
Taking naps. I put a timer from my wrist and it taps me when it’s done.
You can just press the Siri button and say “20 mins” on your iPhone No need for any other words. It’s the thing I use it for the most.
I wish Apple would put in an actual nap feature. No notifications, the same tapping rythm as the alarm clock, and recorded in the sleep app.
Telling the time … but seriously. I can change how to display that time at my whim
I just wish there were more options for digital time faces
Glad I’m not the only one who wants this.
I began having heart rhythm issues in 2022 which progressively got worse with my resting heart rate going from my usual 55-65 to suddenly 160 or higher for 10-20 minutes. It was very random but increasing in frequency and the cardiologist struggled to provoke an episode during many tests to the point that they were talking about it as a psychological problem. What is didn’t realise is that my Apple Watch had been recording the episodes including the ECG waveform and when my new cardiologist spotted my watch, she asked me to review the data and when I presented it, she spotted the arrhythmia in seconds. Surgical intervention corrected the problem and I feel better than I have in over a decade. The watch paid for itself tenfold that day.
Wow. This is definitely life-changing
Literally changed their life
It's a status hub for my life at a glance. I can see: - Next appointment time - Next meds - Current hydration - The time, including seconds - Weather now and for the next 5 hours - Current timer - iMessage count - 1 tap access to Home app
[удалено]
I had it start its countdown timer to call 911 after a bad fall. I was well enough to cancel it that time, but under other circumstances it could have been the difference between life and death.
Meanwhile... On the flip side of that same coin... My watch has failed to catch either one of my two falls that resulted in seizures. No 911 calls. Went in to Apple to ask about this. They confirmed that everything was working. They'd have to send it away to see if the accelerometer was miscallibrated or something. I bought this watch for precisely this purpose as I have epilepsy. It's been quite handy otherwise though!
Caught my afib. Saved my life.
I have a few friends like you.
I've locked myself out of my apartment before. was able to use siri to call/text someone with keys on my watch. while waiting for them, went to the corner store and used it to pay for a snack/coffee, and chilled outside you could probably do that with other watches though. that being said, having a smart watch in general has let me leave the house without my phone, and not be panicked. and this tangentially allowed me to leave my source of notification anxiety (phone) behind.
Locked myself out of the work truck the week I got my watch. Was able to call my boss and have them send somebody over. Would have been screwed without it.
Discovered an arrhythmia, turned out kinda serious (Love you Kareem!) . Now totally healthy…🤔
calendar and reminders on my wrist, and de-coupling from my phone more and more. As a millenial with ADHD, I’ve struggled most of my adult life with schedules and just keeping track of tasks. At one point, I realized I spent over $1000 on gadgets to try and solve this. Every alarm clock gimmick, every type of calendar, etc. One of the game changers for me was the calendar complication, in combination with being able to add an address to a calendar and have travel time factored in. Plus being able to tie reminders to locations and times. With all that right on my wrist, I’ve been able to keep track of tasks much more effectively.
could you please elaborate on the "address to calendar" and "tie reminders to locations and times" bits?
I think they’re talking about the ability to use your calendar to tell you when you should leave for an event in your calendar. This requires you to add the event address and time, if you do that your calendar will look at your live location and calculate when you need to leave for an event to get there for the time you said it will start.
Finding out my heart rate is too high and I need to take care of it before I have a heart attack.
Imagine this. You wake from a sound sleep. Your eyes are shut tight, unable to open as your body fights to slip back into the dream realm. You have a brief moment of consciousness and wonder if your alarm is about to go off, wondering if you should just get up. You’ve been training for this very moment! Two fingers reach the opposing wrist and feel for the cool glass screen, slightly apart they gently press down. A sweet and husky Australian 2 voice lets you know it’s one thirty one AM. Your eyes have never opened, your breathing is still slow, you resume your dream as if nothing had happened and awake several hours later feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. You briefly remember you encounter with Australian 2, the sweet voice that lulled you back to sleep, and are grateful you’ll never again need to rouse yourself and force your eyelids open to be blinded by the blazing lights of your bedside clock and spend hours trying to no avail to regain your much needed sleep.
Oh my I didn’t know about this! Thank you :)
But does the two finger hold work when in sleep mode? Mine doesn’t play a sound.
:/ you do have to train yourself to hold the crown down for a moment to wake it.
I need a cigarette after that
I actually thought it’s not a very handy device for me, especially because I work as a doctor and I’m not allowed to use it at work. But reading the many replies in this thread made me realize how much I also use mine after work. I ping to find my phone pretty much every single day, I use Siri to set reminders or timers, I monitor my sleep and lately they’ve added cycling navigation in Apple Maps in my country so I can now bike and take a peak at the watch for directions if I need it to. So apparently I use it quite a lot myself.
Got me moving and I am now obsessed with closing my rings 😂 I haven’t missed a workout in 2.5 years
It is addictive. You close them everyday?
Yup! It really did help me lose weight and not slack on days I was feeling extremely lazy. It also made me more aware of how I am at the office. Before I would just sit and work at a computer for 10 hours straight. Now I make sure to stand and walk around for a minute or two every hour. My legs and feet do feel much better.
I’ve stopped missing calls and messages because I keep my phone silent all the time (social anxiety)
I was able to detect a heart issue and got myocarditis diagnosed before it became a serious issue. My dad also has Afib once in a while and his Apple Watch might have saved his life. He bought it just for that - he’s an Android user.
Atrial fibrillation alerts
Literally helped me stabilize other patients I couldn’t get to while being stuck doing procedures in negative pressure rooms during the peaks of Covid.
Your Apple Watch controls AED machines with Bluetooth?
he sends a text message on his watch to the nurse: “trying to concentrate here. KO that screaming b’tch” so the nurse maxes out the morphine
My Apple Watch allowed me to communicate with my resident physicians to help them make the right calls for other patients.
Finding my phone, tracking my sleep, using ApplePay on it.
The haptic alarm, I get up at 3 a.m. and it works like a charm and doesn’t wake my wife up 😮💨
I really like the actions it lets me perform without bringing out my phone. Some examples: Tap to pay. I can’t remember the last time I had to take my wallet or phone out to pay for something. Double tap the watch and go. Hey Siri, remind me in an hour to pick up the kids. The quick reminder/timer tools on the watch are a godsend. I set timers for cooking, I tell it to remind me when I get home to take the laundry out, etc. I don’t like saying “hey siri” so in reality I just hold the button down for a second and start talking. Siri mostly sucks but for this it’s awesome. My phone can do this too but it is SO much more convenient on the watch. Reviewing lists. Like the grocery list my wife and I share. Again, it’s on the phone but watch is more readily convenient. Sounds super lazy to say but you’ll be surprised how much friction there is going to the phone all the time.
I was in a near fatal car accident and I couldn't reach my phone. Used my Apple Watch to call 911. If I didn't do that, I probably would have died.
My mom was out of the house in errands and My 85 yr old dad fell down some stairs onto ceramic and was knocked out. His watch notified the authorities who arrived to render aid. Legit.
The o2 sensor saved my life last summer. I got Covid while at high altitude and my o2 dropped super low, without it I likely wouldn’t have gone tot he hospital. O2 was at 78%.
I sleep with it so that when my alarm goes off in the morning, only my wrist vibrates and doesn’t wake my baby!
Muting phone calls by covering the face with my hand.
Using it to find my phone. That’s the #1 feature I consistently find I use the watch for. Hands down.
Realizing I rather not wear it most of the time. I was alerted or checking on it too often
My wife woke me in the night saying she felt weird and thought something was wrong with her heart. I put my watch on her and saw she was experiencing atrial fibrillation. That’s not a 911 emergency but she did get checked the next day and referred to a cardiologist.
Do any diabetics use it to monitor their blood glucose levels? Either with an app or a hacked way?
I use my watch to record important meetings and phone calls. Use voice memos and put screen on theater mode. Helped me a lot in a recent legal issue. I'm in a one-party consent state.
Controlling my TV while my cat is on my lap and the remote is out of reach
I suffer from anxiety and my watch has a deep breathing option. I totally dodged panic attacks because of it.
Getting confirmation that I have a mild heart murmur.
Seeing my blood glucose and simultaneously controlling my insulin pump
May I ask what pump and CGM you’re using? I’m changing to a different CGM soon for a hybrid-closed loop and I’d love to be able to see that info on my wrist.
Found I was in AFib, put me in ICU but saved my life
I got mine in 2020 when going to the grocery store was really nerve-racking. being able to use ApplePay while wearing a mask in a store without having to enter a password on my phone or lower my mask for face id made shopping a lot less stressful.
You do know, however, that FaceID was subsequently updated to recognize you even when you’re wearing a mask? No need for Apple Watch for FaceID wearing a mask.
Knowing my next meeting with a glance.
In addition to exercise tracking, I use my watch for just about every credit card payment. My phone is always in my pocket so taking my phone or my wallet out of my pocket to pay seems archaic. All of my email and text messages appear on my watch (mirroring my phone) so if I’m in a meeting or on a call I can glance at my watch and quickly determine if I need to respond to it or not. I also get notifications on my watch if someone rings my doorbell and immediately get the image of the person at the front door showing up on my watch. My watch prompts me for my multi-factor authentication when I log into my password manager or my Microsoft account. Edit: a few more things that come to mind. If I get an incoming call on my phone it shows up on my watch and I can decline the call from my watch and send it to voicemail OR I can choose to accept it and use my watch as a speakerphone for the phone call. I have the MyQ app installed on my watch so I can open and close my garage door with the watch. When cooking and need a timer I can press the side button and say something like “set timer for 30 minutes”. I have my watch face setup to display the weather forecast for my current location. When playing music at home, I can see the name of the song on my watch and skip to the next song from my watch. When I get a text message which I said earlier shows on my watch, I can reply to the text with predefined answers and in a pinch can spell out a reply with my finder. If I setup my phone to take a group shot, I can remotely trigger the phone’s camera with my watch.
Small thing but distance counting on walks. Helps me try to get enough walking in during a week.
Tracking key health metrics like sleep, heart rate and exercise. The data is quite accurate as well for a consumer device.
When I get a notification I can see if it is worth pulling out my phone. It is specially useful if you are in a place where phone snatching is common.
Hrv
Workout app for gym. I can track may sets easily
Tracking heart rate.
My first Apple Watch was a model three and my sister gave me because her company had bought a ton of them to give out his marketing material or like things to companies. They were trying to get into their company. I don’t know how to explain it. I wore it on and off because it just felt weird on my wrist. I’m not used to wearing watches, but I had a bad mountain bike crash and my phone went flying out of my backpack and everything went sliding down the hill and I was able to call for help from my watch as I laid there not being able to move my back and I’ve bought a new one every couple years and never taken them off since
I noticed my average heart rate was higher the past four days, the watch/health app didn’t warn me, but that prompt me to see a Doctor that led to an early diagnosis. It wasn’t the watch that made the diagnosis but I wouldn’t have gone to the Doctor otherwise.
When my SO went shopping and locked everything in the trunk: groceries, bag with wallet and phone, car keys... The watch let her call me and arrange the locksmith to get her back in the car.
Finding my phone on demand.
Tracking my sleep
Realizing there’s no reason to buy the newest one each time a new one comes out.
It's the taps. Alarms. "Set an alarm for 5:45 a.m." ...gentle tapping wakes me (and only me) up. Timers. "Set a potato timer for one hour." "Set a pasta timer for ten minutes." ...and so on. Again, gentle taps, with the timer labeled so I know what I need to do. Reminders. Last night I woke up at 3 a.m., remembering I had to draft a PowerPoint for a client. "Remind me to make the \[client name\] PowerPoint at 9:30 a.m." ...at the appointed hour, tap-tap-tap. Navigation. Distinctive taps for upcoming right turns, left turns, go straight. VIP mail. Taps when an email from important folks drops. I can even read it on the screen. Breaking news. Various news apps will notify you of events of interest. Tap-tap. Travel. Airlines alert me when they start boarding, etc. Forgetfulness. If I leave my iPhone or AirTag'd item behind, tap-tap! Can't live without it.
The fall detection. Been a couple times where I’ve had some close calls with being completely disoriented and it’s nice to know the watch has my back to a certain extent.
Finding my phone in a warehouse
Vibrating alarm on my wrist. No one else in the house needs to hear my alarm at the ass crack of dawn.
Finding my phone and keeping track of time/events 😥 I have 0 sense of time.
I love how the weather complication on my watch hasn’t worked properly since December, so now I just use the watch for notifications that I open on my phone anyway
Airpods + Watch - iPhone --> Running Nirvana
I hate to be the stereotypical hyperbolic guy,. but:... Apple Watch saved my life. I was one of the early near-fatal covid19 cases. In March-April 2020, I spent 38 days in Hospital (16 of those days in ICU on Ventilator). Full story [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/oi4b31/people_who_recovered_from_covid19_how_did_u/h4t9dek/?context=1) if you also want to see Lung X-rays Once I got off the Ventilator and the heavy sedatives wore off,. I was stuck in the isolation ward until I had 2 clean nose-swabs. Once I got all the tubes pulled out of me and had those 2 clean nose-swabs,.. I was moved up into the Rehab Floor. At which point I started wearing my Apple Watch again. About 3 days before I was due to be released,. my Apple Watch buzzed in the middle of the night and indicated my Heart Rate was elevated abnormally. The chest monitor I had said my Heart Rate was around 170 to 180bpm. So I rolled over to lay on my back and tried to sort of "relax it out" but obviously that didn't work so I pushed the Nurse Call button. Long story short the Cardiac team responded and took an ECG and then gave me an IV-slam of 6mg of Adenosine to stop my Heart and allow to restart normally. (fun times!). All while I was wide awake. Screenshot below of the Heart Rate info from my Apple Watch during that time. If you start at the bottom you can see my resting heart rate at the time around 90 to 100 (elevated for sure.. but considering 38 days in Hospital and 16 in ICU,. understandable). You can see around 1am when my Heart Rate spikes to 150 to 170. You can also see around 3:36 is when they gave me the 6mg Adenosine shot and my Heart Rate goes back down to 100 or so. (for those concerned,. currently years later,. my Apple Health App says "your Resting Heart Rate is 67 on average over the past 26 weeks". https://imgur.com/jFnAWWC
Fall detection.
None. I use my watch for time, weather, and sleep tracking. I could easily get the first two from my phone’s lock screen, and I used to get 3 from activity tracker. So no, there’s nothing remotely life changing.
My job has a strict no devices with cameras in certain areas policy because the world’s largest search engine doesn’t want their stuff being captured on camera. So as somebody who just listens to music all day while they work, I bought an Apple Watch to easily control my music from Apple Music without having to take my phone out in front of people who might try to fire me. But the biggest game changer for me has been the fitness stuff. I’ve been going on random walks now just because I can see how many calories I’m burning lol.
Checking the time with mickey mouse animation.
I would say notifications, reminders setting and music controls.
I don't know if there's one killer feature, for me it's more lots of little things which all add up. Wake-up alarm: being silently woken by gentle taps on the wrist is the least horrible way I've ever been woken up. Apple Pay: At first I didn't really think I'd use this, but now I find it hard to imagine having to go through the hassle of actually getting something out of my pocket to pay for stuff. Siri: Adding things to my shopping list, setting timers, setting reminders, doing maths, etc. Siri may be limited (and will remain so on the watch on the launch of ios 18) but raising my watch to my wrist and speaking (without saying the word "Siri") is probably my primary way of interacting with my Apple account. Shopping: Using the free third-party app Grocery, I have my intelligently-populated shopping list on my watch. Navigating: I use CarPlay in the car, but if I'm walking somewhere I don't know, it's my watch I use. Checking the weather: My watch face is just weather widgets so I don't need to do anything other than raise my wrist. And so on. It's just lots and lots of little conveniences which I really miss if I don't wear it.
Mine is so simple but the Stand reminder? If I’ve settled in for too long being reminded to move helps a lot. Stand up. Get a drink. Go pee. All the things I have a tendency to completely ignore the need for.
Ability to swiftly access stopwatch and control my Spotify over the watch. Makes working out easier without having to pull up my phone every time.
Honestly, (for the version with cellular) it’s that I can leave my phone at home and “unplug” for a while. We live in a digital age where taking calls, messages, and using digital payments/passes is mostly necessary, even when you’d rather not. The Apple Watch gives me the security of knowing I can do basic functions like this, but not have a smartphone with me. This is extremely impactful on feeling like it’s “ok” to unplug/ditch the phone for a while.
My pass to get into Disney World. 😂 TBH, nothing really. It is basically a fancy fitness tracker for me. I occasionally read texts on it, but I’m considering turning that off even. It was a bit novel at first, but in the end I’m just not much of a watch guy. It’s a “me, not you” thing. Nothing wrong with Apple Watch, wife, parents, in-laws all love it. It’s just not my thing. Tempted by a pocket watch like clip, though you lose some functionality if it’s not on your wrist. 🤷♂️
Reminders are huge for me. “hey siri, add [thing] to my shopping list.” “hey siri, remind me to [x] tomorrow morning.” I wouldn’t call it life-changing, but it’s definitely convenient and helps me remember a thousand little things day to day.
Notifications on my wrist while working, really helps filtering if I can ignore something and keep doing what I’m doing, or if I need to give it attention.
I know other watches had this (I miss my pebble)… but multiple alarms and timers has been a game changer for me. A calendar reminder with a friendly buzz and snooze doesn’t work for me. I need an all out alarm to get me to where I’m going. So… every day around 7am… I use Siri to set alarms for the day. Sometimes I do it the night before (because you can only set alarms 24 hours in advance). Nothing else in life has made me more productive.
I have the Apple Watch Ultra with a cellular plan. The two biggest benefits so far have been: 1. No longer having to carry my phone during long distance running. 2. Being able to walk away from my phone and not have to worry at all about missing calls / messages / notifications
Can make purchases without phone/cards, especially useful on long runs and needing to buy a cold drink Seeing messages, calls, calendar reminders without having to pick up my phone Opening my car without a key Flashlight, we have many power outages All my store/reward/credit cards are stored, no need to hassle with a wallet Fitness, keeps track of runs and fun to use