Afterwearingmy Apple watch day by day for the past two+ month , I ’ve line up myself wish for a simpler interaction model for moving between mental object and apps . Here ’s what I ’d pop the question and why .
The Brobdingnagian majority of my interaction with the Apple Watch necessitate notifications . I get a wakeful wiretap on my wrist , arouse my subdivision , and get a chip of useful information . This sentience of what ’s happen help mestay connected to the real Worldand is the primary reasonableness I enjoy jade a smartwatch .
Thanks to “ foresightful look ” notifications , I ’m also able to take action on some notification — mostly totriagethings quickly . Much more rarely do I engage with Glances and even less with apps . This createsa hierarchy of use : notifications , glances , apps .
regrettably , the Apple Watch ’s fundamental interaction model does n’t ring this pecking order . alternatively , there ’s a lot of accent on apps , which seems to createmore UIthan is necessary on your wrist . view for starters , all the path to get at an app on the Apple Watch ( not counting the special showcase of theFriends app ) .
This structure create the times when I do use apps needlessly complex . As an example , the common economic consumption case of listening to music while working out require moving between watch faces , glimpse , and apps .
There ’s also an app - only way to accomplish the same chore but with different resolution .
So change over tasks using Glances requires a trip to the watch face and a swipe up but switching task using apps requires double - intercept the digital crown . All this is made more confusing when you liken the Music Glance and app : which is which and why does using each final result in dissimilar OS - level demeanour ?
calculate at the fundamental interaction fashion model of the iPhone hint an alternative . Why not echo that ( now familiar ) structure on the Apple Watch ?
Comparing the current Apple Watch interaction model with this change illustrates the simplification . In the redesign , there ’s one level for home screens ( filled withapps and/or complications ) , one for notice , and one for presently running apps .
glimpse are replaced with the ability to scroll through active apps . But that does n’t intend “ glance - able content ” goes ways . In fact , each app could have a “ coup d’oeil - like ” home screen as its default ( it could even be the Glance ) but also exhibit its last used cover when appropriate ( like after you ’ve recently interact with the app ) .
With this framework , switching between two combat-ready apps is trivial , just nobble up from the bottom to move between them with no confusion between Glances and apps . To come back to the sentry face , plainly weigh the home push button .
Android article of clothing has had asimilar interaction modelfrom the start . Just swipe up from the bottom of the ticker facial expression to scroll through active ( relevant ) apps . Then tap on any app to go profoundly .
This approaching also give up you to scroll through the content within each app easily . desire to go deeper ? Simply tap a calling card to scroll within it , or swipe across to access other features in the app .
When wearing an Android Wear smartwatch , I found myself save up with more than I do when wearing the Apple Watch . A simple-minded scroll up on Wear would give me the latest capacity from several appsordered by relevance .
In their current State Department , Glances on the Apple Watch do n’t give me that lightweight way of staying on top of the information I handle about . Their inclusion in the Apple Watch interaction good example seems , rather , to refine moving between tasks ( and apps ) .
Perhaps this is but an artifact of what ’s possible with the first version of Apple Watch given the current long loading times for apps and Glances . If so , Apple ’s interaction example may well be a good fit when performance on the Watch improves .
Or perhapsthird party complicationswill offer a better fashion to keep up with timely information . In which lawsuit , the multiple home cover model I pop the question above could give you an effective room to move across multiple watch faces complete with distinct app catapult and complications .
Regardless of how affair end up , it ’s concentrated to indicate there ’s not way for improvement on the wrist .
Luke Wroblewskiis an internationally acknowledge digital product leader who has designed and built software used by more than one billion people worldwide . This post earlier appearedon his blogand is syndicated here with permission .
Android WearAppleApple WatchSmartwatches
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