Top 9 Advantages of Having an Apple Watch in 2024

By Dave Johnson - Executive Editor
7 Min Read

An
Apple Watch
can do many things that your iPhone can’t. Benefits include tracking your heart rate, sleep, activity and overall fitness level.

The Apple Watch has taken center stage in the last few years. An Apple Watch has the capabilities of a fitness tracker, can run apps like an iPhone, and looks fashionable while being worn on the wrist.

Maybe you’ve been thinking of buying an Apple Watch for quite some time but still unsure whether you really need such a device. To help you make an informed decision, we will discuss the Apple Watch advantages.

Advantages of an Apple Watch

There are many advantages of having an Apple Watch. Here are just some of them:

1. timekeeping

This is the first most concrete benefit of having an Apple Watch. It’s not an uncommon story: You stopped wearing a watch because your iPhone had a big clock right on the Lock screen, only a pocket- or bag-pull away. It’s the old single- vs. multi-tasker debate, and why convergent devices like the iPhone proved so popular in the first place.

The Apple Watch is also a convergent device, and that convergence can be seen in every aspect, including how it tells time. When you want to see the clock on your Apple Watch, you don’t have to dig into your pocket or reach for your bag. You simply turn your wrist, the screen lights up, and you can view the time and date. It can be just that simple or, in the grand tradition of timekeeping, you can add “complications”.

The Watch’s faces range from minimal to infographic to utilitarian to motion graphics to astronomy to, well, Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Each face also includes a number of complications which offer even more data, if you want to enable them.

Complications can include features as subtle as a monogram for personalization, but also world clocks, alarms, a stopwatch, the weather, sunrise and sunset, activity levels, phases of the moon, upcoming appointments, and stock quotes.

You can have complications for your apps as well, so you can see your ETA, access your voice recorder, see sports scores, measure your activity, or even tell how much distance is left before your Pokémon eggs hatch. (Seriously.)

If that level of efficiency is intriguing to you, the Apple Watch might be just intriguing to you.

2. Quick Access to Notifications

You already get notifications on your iPhone. You can tell when they come in thanks to the beep, buzz, or bubble on your Lock screen. With the Apple Watch, however, those notifications can appear on your wrist, sending you a subtle tap that doesn’t even light up the display unless you turn the Watch to signal your interest.

Then, you only get a short summary of the information, providing the app name along with a brief bit of context. From there, you get to decide if you want to stop what you’re doing and view more.

There’s also a Notification Center, just like on iPhone, so you can swipe down and glance at everything and anything that’s come in and quickly see what’s happening and what, potentially, you need to take care of. And you can do it without reaching into your pocket or bag.

Facebook messages, turn-by-turn directions, airplane boarding passes, coffee cards, and other app interactions can benefit from being more easily accessible. If that appeals to you, Apple Watch might appeal to you.

3. health and fitness

Apple has recently re-focused Watch marketing around health and fitness and it’s no mystery as to why. With a GPS and an upgraded built-in heart-rate monitor on the latest Series 7 models, Apple Watch makes for a compelling exercise and wellness companion.

You automatically track all the basics, including standing and moving around as well as exercise, steps, and stairs climbed.

There’s also a Workout app that’s been specifically created to track your walks, runs, rides, rolls, and more. With improved water resistance for more recent Apple Watches, you can even track your swims and get detailed maps of your routes on land and sea.

Beginning with the Apple Watch Series 4, Apple has included an ECG, or electrocardiograph in the watch. Electrodes built into the Digital Crown and the back crystal work together with the ECG app to read your heart’s electrical signals. Customers in the United States, much of the European Union, as well as an expanding list of countries around the world, simply need to open the ECG app, place a finger on the digital crown, and wait for 30 seconds while measurements are taken. The app will tell you whether you’re experiencing normal (sinus) rhythm, or if you might be experiencing atrial fibrillation.

The newer Apple Watch models also packs hardware for fall detection. If you have this feature turned on, and you take a serious fall, the Apple Watch will issue an alert, allowing you to either dismiss it if you’re not hurt, or call emergency services. If you don’t respond to the alert within one minute, the watch will automatically contact emergency services for you.

With Activity Sharing, you share your achievements with the people closest to you. That way, when you reach a goal or they do, you can send a message or emoji to encourage them. Or to trash talk them. Whatever works for you.

Strava, Nike , RunKeeper, and most other popular exercise apps have extensions for Apple Watch as well: You get to add the convenience of Apple Watch to whatever system and community you’re already involved with.

If any of those features could help you live a healthier, fitter life, the Apple Watch might be all the help you need.

4. Apple Pay

Apple Pay on Apple Watch is magic. Instead of having to fumble for your wallet or even your iPhone, you simply press a button on your Apple Watch, hold it close to the terminal, and you’re done. What makes it so great is that it’s always right there on your wrist, it never reveals your real credit card number or personal information, and if it loses contact with your skin (via the heart rate monitor), it shuts off so no one else can use it.

In many countries, tap to pay is already ubiquitous. In the U.S., it’s still rolling out. Yes, years later. Still. If you have a lot of tap-to-pay near you, the Apple Watch is especially compelling.

5. Reply to messages & receive calls instantly

Apple Watch has basic phone and messaging features built right in, which makes it feel like something straight out of science fiction. It’s incredibly convenient, especially if you have a bigger iPhone you typically leave on a table or in a bag. When any call or message comes in, rather than scrambling for it, you can simply glance at your wrist.

For short conversations or replies, you can talk or text right from your watch. For longer communications, you can start on your watch and smoothly transition to your phone, or you can just go get your phone once you see who’s calling and messaging on your wrist. You can even dictate or hand write short messages on Apple Watch, which makes it remarkably effective for quickly communicating on the go.

The GPS Cellular model takes this one step further, letting you call, communicate, dictate, or write even when your iPhone is far away. Send a message on a boat in the middle of a lake or look up a friend’s location while walking over to their place — whatever your heart desires, the GPS Cellular model lets you do it with or without your iPhone nearby.

If keeping in touch matters to you, the Apple Watch just might be the right touch for your wrist.

6. Remote control

The Apple Watch will let you control your Apple TV. It’ll also let you remotely access your iPhone’s camera, and thanks to Siri and HomeKit integration, it can even control the lights, thermometer, blinds, fans, and other connected devices in your home.

The possibilities for the Apple Watch are boundless. Not only does it mean never having to get up to turn off your lights, it means not even having to reach for your phone. You can adjust anything in your setup, right from your wrist.

7. Find your missing iPhone

Although an Apple Watch can do a lot of the same tasks as your iPhone, it’s still not an outright replacement – yet. However, it can come in very handy if you ever misplace your iPhone nearby by acting as a tracker.

If your iPhone and watch are still connected, you will be able to locate your larger device easily via the Find My app. Simply tap from the watch to make your iPhone emit a ringing sound that you can use to locate it. This is a very simple feature, but one you’ll likely end up using time and time again.

8. Listen to music offline

The Apple Watch come with some internal storage space. How much you get depends on the model, but there should always be enough for a few personal files. If you install a music app like Spotify then you’ll be able to use this storage space to download music for offline listening. This is perfect for certain situations where you want to listen to music but don’t want to take your iPhone, like going out for a run. You’re able to put an album or podcast on and hear it using wireless headphones.

9. Crash detection in Apple Watch might save your life

If a serious car wreck happens in a remote location, there might not be anyone to call for help. The driver can lie unconscious for hours or even die without rapid medical attention. In hopes of preventing this, the 2022 Apple Watch models all have crash detection.

The Apple Watch Series 8, the new Apple Watch SE and the Apple Watch Ultra use their accelerometer and gyroscope and a crash detection algorithm of Apple’s own creation. The software also gets data from the barometer to detect cabin pressure changes, the GPS for speed changes and the microphone listens for sounds indicative of a car wreck.

“To create the algorithm, data was collected from these new motion sensors at professional crash test labs with common passenger cars in simulated real-world accidents, including head-on, rear-end, side-impact, and rollovers,” said Apple.

If the Apple Watch detect an automobile wreck, the user will be notified that emergency services are about to be notified. If they are unresponsive after a 10-second countdown, the automatic call will go out. . Emergency responders will be given the device’s location, which is also shared with the user’s emergency contacts.

Many people who’ve been in a serious car wreck tell the same story – they’re driving down the road and the next thing they know there’s a EMT leaning over them. In situations like this, having an Apple Watch call for help can be a life saver.

Conclusion

There are many other benefits of having an Apple Watch. The ones mentioned above are just some of the concrete benefits you must know.

See also: Top 10 Advantages of an iPhone Over Android in 2022!

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By Dave Johnson Executive Editor
Dave Johnson is the editor-in-chief of GeeksModo. He covers news, how-tos, and user guides for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.
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