Is the Apple Watch useful for a totally blind person?

If you can write this post, there isn't anything I can say that will help you. Just get one and see - my only advice after having two, save money and just get the WiFi only version - unless your life is much more exciting than mine! I find it hard to be out of the house doing the sort of things where carrying a phone isn't necessary!

Hi there, it all depends on what you value. I have one, and am glad to have it, but don't use it nearly to its' full potential. For me, it's basically a glorified talking watch that I can also use to set timers, control homekit devices, check my blood sugar through the companion dexcom app, but I don't use much of the stuff for exercise as you have to start a workout on there manually, or if it detects that you are doing something, it will ask if you want to start a workout, but half the time it doesn't recognize I'm doing anything until I'm over half way done, and if you tell it to start the workout when it finally recognizes you are doing something, it doesn't then back track and count what you already did, only from the point where a workout was started. When I was briefly on Android, my Galaxy watch actually tracked workouts from when you actually started, you didn't have to tell it you were doing a certain workout, it just detected it and that was that. So for me, the exercise features aren't all that useful, but it has enough other features that it is worth having. Now, I would be tons more interested in upgrading my phone, or even my airpods, long before I ever even think about upgrading my watch.

As others have posted here,
It really depends on the person. My wife and I do use it for a lot of the health features. However, if i want to take a quick glance at a notification from Uber or even a text, its kinda nice not to have to grab my phone. As is custom with Apple, VoiceOver is included.

Here are some reasons I bought an Apple watch along with some things I find useful:

1. The biggest reason I got the Apple Watch is for its fall detection and emergency alert features. I often exercise on my treadmill, etc. when no one is at home. If I fall or wind up having an accident, I like that the Apple Watch will call 911 and my emergency contacts.

2. I also like to keep track of my heart rate while exercising. I use the Echo Heart Rate app. The developer recently put in a number of features that are useful for people who use Voiceover. For example I can ask Siri for my current heart rate, heart rate zone, etc.

3. I also like the haptic feedback I can get in order to know what the time is. Thus I don't have to have Voiceover speak out the time or have a talking watch announce the time out loud and pester other people. I simply get some haptic vibrations that let me know the time silently.

4. With the pedometer++ app on my watch and phone, I can now see my steps walked and distance walked right on the watch.

5. When I go hiking in the mountains of Colorado, I also have my watch face configured to show my current altitude.

6. The watch also shows the current date and outdoor temperature.

After writing this list, I'm amazed at how much I actually use the watch. When I first got it, I was dubious about whether I would actually make use of it. Well, I guess I do!

--Pete

Hi, I find my Apple Watch SE incredibly useful for all sorts of tasks that it lets me perform without taking my Phone from my bag or pocket. I wrote a brief web page about my views at https://www.blindios.uk/how-useful-is-an-apple-watch-for-a-blind-or-low-vision-user. (Sorry, not sure if posting that link violates the AppleVis rules.)

I think it has certainly become more useful, not least because it is far more responsive than earlier versions.

Could I do without it? Yes. Would I feel I'm missing out without it? Also yes.

I think there are more ways for it to fit into your life than there were before. It's good for notifications, finding your phone should you misplace it, as I do, checking the time, wild I know, the weather, I have reminders on there too.

I think it's worth a try, give it the full time you can before return to get to grips with it and we're all here if you want to ask how to do certain things.

I’m totally blind and I use mine every day. It’s handy for the basic stuff like checking the time, which I can never keep up with without a watch, but I also like it for a step tracking and notifications. I use it for sleep tracking too in combination with the Apple health app. It’s one of those things that you don’t know exactly what you’ll use it for until you have one. I use mine every day and it was definitely worth the money.

Yes it is worth it. You can use it for step tracking, listening to music, tracking sleep ETC.

I'm totally blind and use an Apple Watch.
I use to keep track to my wolking and running.
In the past I ride on a bysical and I knew how much I ride and how much kalorys I burned.
I am not using it for calls but It's nice to have a celular connection but it'sn't must if you want a chipper one.
My Apple Watch remind me to breathe, and to take a moment for myself.

I've been using mine here as of late, or should I say, starting to using it again and it's quite handy for time when you're doing things and you wanna check things with out having the phone out of your pocket, also, if my phone is charging here in the studio and I just so happen to not technicly have my phone on me and I need to keep an eye out for something, my watch takes care of that while the phone is on charger. My thing is, do I need a watch, no however, is it handy and makes my life easier? Yep sure does. Plus, accessible.

I have an Apple Watch as well as a collection of 31 talking watches over the past 10 years. Personally, I only use my Apple Watch to track my sleep and test out new features as they become available, but if given the choice, I will vouch for talking watches every single time. You might find there are certain benefits to using an Apple Watch once you purchase yours, but it depends on the individual. I love the voice customization on my Apple Watch, but I also love to test out new and upcoming talking watch models that pose a challenge to the talking tech market and make it a little bit interesting. Good luck Mr. Fulton; feel free to update us and let us know how it goes! Cheers from Idaho! 🥔

I love my Apple Watch. I have series 9. I use its health features and workouts. I love double tap gesture because it is great for hands-free use. Also, Siri is quite good and responsive. Checking the notifications is very convenient.

I have an SE first gen which I will probably need to upgrade soon because Apple is no longer updating it. I find the haptic time feature is extremely handy (when it works), as I don't have to listen to TTS or have a braille device in order to know what time it is. I find it indespensable when I am walking to an engagement and need to check if I'm early, on time, late, etc. I think the hearing protection features (noise notifications) are also very useful, and as a musician, I use them to protect mfor hearing. Finding my phone and playing music if my phone dies are also handy, as well as checking weather/notifications.

However, I'm not sure it's worth getting at full price. I would only get one on discount (Black Friday, Apple-certified refurbished). I will wait until there are good discounts before updating my watch, as even the newest SE is too expensive given its outdated processor which will probably have it lose updates in a few years.