In 2015, I proclaimed that Apple was going to make the best running watch in the world. I theorized that while it was a mediocre smartwatch in 2015, it would get better and better and apps would make it a true rival to the likes of Garmin.
“Should brokers buy an Apple Watch this year? No way, “I wrote, smugly thinking it was clever and prophetic, only for the next sentence to make me look like a fool in 2021.” For the same price, you can get something much more useful from Garmin, Polar, or even Adidas. But don’t be surprised if you start to see Apple Watches in the arms of the competition in 2017… or even on its own.
Actually … maybe it wasn’t that far off (aside from the 2017 prediction). Sure, most enthusiastic runners don’t wear an Apple Watch and are much more likely to wear a Garmin, Polar, or Suunto on their wrist.
But not all, I get a lot of questions about whether an Apple Watch will withstand a marathon (or even an ultramarathon) and I can happily say yes, it will last much longer than before, and the efficiency of the Apple Watch 6 chip means that it is the most efficient out there, and a growing number of people trust Apple to help them get through their burgeoning running career.
Back in 2015, I theorized that Apple would add GPS, elevation tracking, cadence, and more, that the likes of Adidas, Nike, and Strava would develop great running apps to make the watch a handy thing to have on the wrist by breaking the soles. of your feet on the pavement.
And, apart from the cadence, everything appeared. Good GPS monitoring, average speed of rolling miles, an impressive suite of fitness apps from Strava, MapMyRun, Nike, and Adidas are available on the watch and combined with one of the best everyday smartwatch experiences.
Music for my ears
Spotify is finally coming to the Apple Watch (Image credit: Spotify / Apple)
So why wasn’t I strapping my Apple Watch around my wrist every time I went out for a speed interval session, a lung-busting 10km Thursday, or a disgustingly endless 20-mile jog? Well there are a few reasons, but one of the massive ones was playing music while running.
I’m not an Apple Music subscriber, and this was the only platform that offered offline music (like saving music to your watch so you don’t have to carry your phone on the run) unless you wanted to pay more. just to have a mobile data connection for your Apple Watch.
The most popular running watches had been ahead of the musical game. Garmin was already paired with Spotify, which means I was able to get all the music I want on my wrist, while also getting dozens of great fitness features that I use all the time. Apple may have the upper hand as a general smartwatch, but it’s too basic as a running watch and forced you to subscribe to its music service to get offline track playback.
But all that changed this week. Spotify’s offline music support has just been added to the mix, so now I can download music to the Apple Watch 6, track my long runs with mile alerts, monitor my VO2 max levels, and still get all the items. Smartwatch extras (like handwash monitoring, great mindfulness apps) and more comprehensive notifications.
Apple Pay is a really useful feature on the wrist, too – the absence of biometric authentication means it’s easy to pay for things in this pandemic-plagued world. By comparison, Garmin Pay is under-supported, and these little glitches can add up.
Make no mistake, adding Spotify support offline will be a huge draw for many people who are just starting to dabble in running and investing in an Apple Watch. It’s been frustrating waiting for Apple to open its doors to offline support for third-party apps, but now here (with the likes of Deezer too), the watch has really added another dimension of exercise entertainment.
There is still a long way to go
New ‘fitness’ features like blood oxygen monitoring aren’t mind-blowing (Image credit: future)
Let’s not get too excited though: Apple is still a long, long way from being the best running watch in the world. First, you need to get better battery life, add more sensors, and improve daily stress, fitness, and sleep tracking to give you a more comprehensive picture of your energy status.
And, for the love of all that is good and pure, you should include training plans to follow to help you get in shape. It would be very easy to do, but nonetheless, Apple lags behind many other fitness watches that allow you to create your own interval sessions, detect changes in your pace, and generally last much longer than some of your runs.
These things are key if you’re doing more than a couple of runs per week, and it’s inexplicable that Apple hasn’t added these more advanced features until now.
Suunto, Garmin, and others have had this fitness-focused functionality for years, and they’re getting pretty nifty with their smartwatch notifications too. Some are even adding solar glass for longer battery life, crying out loud, and I don’t see their position being the go-to for ‘right’ fitness enthusiasts to freak out anytime soon.
But Apple has broken down a great wall by fully incorporating the largest music service on the planet into its Watch platform, and while it’s taking years longer than I thought, the Apple Watch is definitely closing the gap with built-in players in the watch space. fitness.
Will it reach the position of the best racing watch there is? Maybe, but maybe we’re just waiting for something like a high-end Apple Watch Pro before the competition with Garmin, Suunto, and more gets really interesting.
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