What would you like in the next watchOS?

By Siobhan, 10 December, 2022

Forum
watchOS and Apple Watch Apps

Hi all. Since having my watch for a short time, I am enjoying it. However something in the next update, even a .3 release for me would be the ability to delete notifications from the watch also. What i mean, because i totally F that up, is, if I delete a notification on my Messages app, it should be gone from t he watch if they're pared together. Another thing is I wonder if Uber/Lyft will ever design a watch app? I thought it had one but not. I mean it's not a huge issue just deciding what I'd want next. Also I hope there are new games coming, there was a great brake the safe one but not available in my country, America. just curious if others have ideas for the next Os.

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Comments

By Missy Hoppe on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

I just got my first ever apple watch a couple of months ago: an apple watch ultra. On the whole, I love it, but with VO, the workouts app is a pain to navigate. This is only because no matter what I do, VO constantly focuses on music controls. I think it would be very nice if there was an option in settings to remove music controls from the workouts app. Maybe I'm the exception to the rule, but I control music using a button on my headphones when I'm working out, and especially the way it functions now, being forced to contend with music controls when I'm trying to review info pertaining to an ongoing workout on my watch is incredibly frustrating. I've done everything I can think of to make it impossible for music controls to appear on the watch, but nothing works, so if anyone knows of a pre-existing work-around for this, I'd love to hear about it. Otherwise, I'm really hoping that at the very least, Apple fixes things so that vo won't automatically focus on music instead of more relevant parts of the workout apps screen. I've actually tried to report this as a potential bug to Apple Accessibility, but I don't feel as though the representative I was working with understood the issue.

By Brian Giles on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

I probably don't use a fraction of what my watch can do. I would like to see voice parody between all of Apple's platforms. Eloquence on my phone? I want to use it on my watch too. same thing for those other TTS apps that can integrate with iOS for people who prefer them. I'm one of those people who doesn't like using different TTS for different devices if I have the choice. lol

The other thing I want to see is more music management options. I've googled and can't figure out if I can do what I want. Basically I want my watch to be what my 4th gen iPod nano used to be -- let me have a subset of my music library on it without having to think about it too much. I've read in a few places that roughly 1/4 of the watch's storage can be used for media, so with the newer ones that would be around 8GB. So I want to be able to have my phone copy 8GB of music to my watch when it's charging without having to manually copy albums over. So kind of like what you used to be able to do with smart playlists in iTunes. Right now I have my phone set up to copy music that I've recently listened to onto my watch, but it only copy's around a gig.

By Siobhan on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

I use Alex, seeing as how they made it, I like supporting them. I understand the I want this voice idea, don't like it at all, but that's my axe to grind. As for the music stuff, I haven't eventhought of that yet. I don't like how apple syncs music anyway, I get a ton of other music not the band I want. Let's see what's up and keep emailing.

By Holger Fiallo on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

1, having individual ring tones, sound notifications, music. The samsung watches have all that. Apple talk about innovation but my cat is more than apple.

By Siobhan on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

I know the speaker's not ideal but Appple needs to update their sounds. I mean, how many times have you heard, ring, reached but to quote a famous band, "It's not you!" Yep. I'd like a real ring not the cute one they have.

By Unregistered User (not verified) on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

Make it so that when I say "start an indoor workout" on my phone, it starts an indoor workout on my watch instead of opening fitness+

By Siobhan on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

I was thinking, it would be nice to have contact sounds ported to the watch. So i have speciffic ring tones and text tones to identify who's messaging so i don't send a R rated message to someone by accident. I wish I could have those same sounds on the watch.

By Missy Hoppe on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

I would love it if the custom alert tones and ring tones I've set up in my phone could work on the watch as well. These days, I just keep my phone on mute since the majority of important alerts come to the watch now. I honestly don't understand why the ring tones or alert sounds we've purchased can't be transfered over to the watch. I'd still much rather have the music controls go away from the workout app, or at least for VO to be less obsessed with focusing on them, but if that can't happen, I wish that Apple would at least let us have our custom ring tones.

By Holger Fiallo on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

Samsung watches have that and they are not that great. Picture this, apple using the sane as samsung. Each call will have their own tone and notification also.

By Bingo Little on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

Siobhan, I have never seen the 'Apple made Alex so I'm supporting them' take on Alex before but actually I like that argument. I won't go down that route myself because Alex is American and I prefer my iPhone to speak with an english accent (note English, not British, please) as I prefer it to match my locality. however, were Apple ever to make Alex speak as though he were from, say, Yorkshire, I would be very keen to use him.

now, to the question itself, to which my answer is very simple and boring: I just want the three-finger double tap to turn speech off! I know I know - there'll be people coming on the radio in a minute saying: it works for me, no issues here, I've been able to do this since 1954 etc. but it doesn't work for me, nor has it ever done so. it would be really handy to ensure total silence from time to time.

There you go. Told you it would be boring.

By Siobhan on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

As for the supporting Alex argument, I am just getting sick of every one wanting absolutely every voice from now to forty years ago, thereby making Apple not care if they really update a/lex or not because hey they can use something else. Your voice is your own prefference so I understand you want english. As for the three finger double tap, yes it does work for me, however i'll throw you a curve ball. The roter thing gesture, I can not get it to work consistently as i have a 41 mm watch. anything bigger i think I'd be fine but I just don't always get it. So I understand you wanting it to work so I'm not trivializing your pain at all. I would like the sounds from the phone to go to the watch as said before but let's see what happens. Now time for breakfast.

By Siobhan on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

I'd like the unlock mac with your watch to be more responsive. I just opened the computer, it didn't unlock. It's not a huge deal this is just what I experience.

By Holger Fiallo on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

I am using Nathan for my watch. Did not use Alex because do not care for him. I had use him in the past many times in my phone but I kept going back to Tom. My iPad 9 has tom also.

By Bingo Little on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

I thought that said Tom Alsop for a moment there! he's a fine young cricketer who scored a lot of runs for Sussex last summer and who could play for England one day if he continues to improve; but he isn't a voice option in IOS or Watch OS. If he were, however, I would be more likely to use him than I would be to use Alex for the localisation reasons given above.

Another thing I do wish, incidentally: I wish i could tell the time while swimming. Can't get that to work.

By FrankE on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

Apple recently (IOS 16.1) add this feature under:

"Accessibility- Siri- Announce Notifications on Speaker"

Please add this feature to Watch OS for those with low vision or dexterity issues.

Currently, Apple supports the speaking of the Time-of-day with two fingers on a watch face

By Brian Giles on Thursday, December 22, 2022 - 00:42

Maybe the ability to customize VO gestures on the watch? I can do the three-finger double/triple taps to turn speech and screen curtain on and off, but it's tricky. Then again, I have the larger size watch. I assume this would be even easier with the ultra.

By Brooke on Sunday, January 22, 2023 - 00:42

No matter what I do during a workout, focus jumps to page 3, the audio playback page, even though I have nothing playing. It's annoying! I'd also like to be able to use my custom ringtones and alert tones. Especially the alert tones for texts.

By Siobhan on Sunday, January 22, 2023 - 00:42

I'd love differing sounds for say standing goal, moving etc. Yes, I hope you can use text alerts. The work out i haven't looked into.

By Roxann Pollard on Sunday, January 22, 2023 - 00:42

Since you're able to mirror your watch from your iPhone, I do not comprehend why we are not able to have custom ringtones, text tones, matching voiceover voices between devices, etc. This is just common sense, but I guess Apple doesn't use that? Lol I would also like to get rid of the music controls inside the workout app. For those who haven't discovered this, however, when you open up an active workout, it will either be focused on page 2 or page 3. I am a left-handed watch wearer, so if I swipe to the right, then I find the picker item,then I can swipe up or down to get to the page that I need to see. You can also do the three finger swipe up and down, but I find that, on my very old Apple Watch Series 3, swiping to the picker item to change pages seems to be faster and more effective. here's hoping that these very simple requests will actually happen soon.

By Magic Retina on Sunday, January 22, 2023 - 00:42

Honestly all I want is for the time to be announced when I tap my watch once. It used to do that, now I have to hunt around and tap the time once or twice to hear it.