Thinking about upgrading to Apple Watch 4

GPS is abysmal - both in the city and out. The battery lasts me 2 days. Phone call quality sucks unless your phone is within Bluetooth range. It is durable - mine’s not stainless and I haven’t dinged it yet (not a careful person either). The AirPods fall out unless you’ve got a headband on. The Apple store swore up and down the pods stay in your ears and you can leave your phone at home. Yeah, no.

A few student athletes on my XC team I coach have them. They think they are worthless for running. Just glitz and glamour... that's about it.

For real running, get a running watch.

I have a Watch 3 and use it with AirPods all the time. Never had one fall out. Run with a buddy on long trail runs. The difference between his distance readings and mine winds up being 1-4 tenths over 10 miles. It’s not a perfect sports GPS watch but it’s a great device. I’m upgrading to Watch 4 and expect it’ll be a significant upgrade.

Thanks for all the responses!

Re: Yessiree bob

Can you stream music on spotify or do u use apple music? I was thinking if the watch can make phone calls and texts then I wont have to take the phone with me to work- Only problem is I'll need music when Im on the train, but I'm already a spotify premium user

Can you use apps like uber without phone?

I think I'll buy it! Thank u all.

appleorangebanana wrote:

Thanks for all the responses!

Re: Yessiree bob

Can you stream music on spotify or do u use apple music? I was thinking if the watch can make phone calls and texts then I wont have to take the phone with me to work- Only problem is I'll need music when Im on the train, but I'm already a spotify premium user

Can you use apps like uber without phone?

I think I'll buy it! Thank u all.

old and out of it here. can someone explain paying for a streaming music service? if you are already paying for web cant you just listen to any music you want from youtube?

Wow, here, with the upgrade of Apple Watch 4, Audible app is coming to it. Put it another way, you can listen to Audible audiobooks on Apple Watch without iPhone nearby directly.

Fore more detailed information, please visit this source page: Audible Comes to Apple Watch:

https://www.audfree.com/news/audible-comes-to-apple-watch.html

As I know, apple watch can't play music , audiobook directly, it depends on an iphone to work. But don't worry, now there is a better solution, take audible audiobook for example, you can simply use a third party tool drm audiobook converter to convert the , then you can transfer audiobook to apple watch.

I found the tips to play audiobooks here: https://www.drmare.com/drm-audiobooks/play-audible-on-apple-watch.html

Apple Watch is abysmal for running.

If you are a serious runner, stay away from it.

I bought the Apple Watch 3 and Garmin Vivoactive HR and wore both for 2 weeks and returned the Apple Watch.

Have since moved on to a fenix 5 Plus and can't believe how much better it is than the VA HR, yet alone an Apple Watch that couldn't compete with the VA HR for running.

If you want a serious running watch, stay away, if you want something to send text messages or play with the walkie talkie feature and charge every 2 days, go with Apple Watch.

If you want to offline play Apple Music on Apple Watch, you need to convert Apple Music to MP3 or M4A, I have ever used this UkeySoft Apple Music Converter to remove DRM from Apple Music, and then convert songs to MP3. After get the DRM-free Apple Music, I can use iTunes to sync the converted Apple Music to Apple Watch and iPod Nano.

https://www.convert-apple-music.net/music/play-apple-music-on-apple-watch-without-iphone.html

For Spotify users: How to Stream Spotify Music on Apple Watch

https://www.convert-apple-music.net/tutorials/stream-spotify-music-and-apple-music-on-apple-watch.html

Most of these responses are from people who obviously never used an Apple Watch. Just plain wrong info getting put out.

First, the GPS is absolutely fine on its worst day and dead on most days.

The cellular feature is perfect. No, it’s not for day to day calls, but when your out on a long run it’s nice to know it’s there. Also the cellular means you get texts too. I love this on a long run. I just reply back with text to speech while running.

For music. So far only Apple Music streams on the watch without WiFi. You can also download and listen off line.

I’ve had an AW since gen 2. Only thing it sucks for is intervals. With no buttons that’s a limitation.

If you are also like fitness and sports. I am using iPod nano. My secret is to convert my favorite Apple Music tacks to MP3 using UkeySoft Apple Music Converter. This is the format commonly used for iPod nano or iPod shuffle. I can now listen to Apple music for free offline. I hope it will help you. Read also: Guide to Play Apple Music on iPod Nano/Shuffle

sounds like the garmin 245 is coming out soon, so you might want to hold off until it is released so you can compare the two.

I have a Garmin and AW4. Have been experimenting with the Apple it over the last month including a marathon (for music), and can conclude its not the best for running - yet. Battery life, visibility, cold weather performance, and using touch screen on the fly are limitations compared to my trusty Garmin 225.

I still wear it daily though for music and messaging while running on the other wrist. I'd still probably get one for the health aspects - ECG, heart rate sampling through the day/night, and HRV. I think with a couple more apps and/or OS updates it could be really good for everything. The hardware is there.

But right now I'm waiting for the Garmin 245 to come out. If it doesn't get to bloated with features that ruins the battery life, I'm going to upgrade. Otherwise, will get a 235 on sale.

I have same problem with you ,I am afriad that I couldn't listening Spotify Music on the Apple Watch when I am running until I see this article.

How to Play Spotify Music on Apple Watch without iPhone

Firstly you will need a third-party Spotify Music Converter-Tunelf to convert music to Apple Watch supported formats like MP3 or AAC

Secondly Once all the downloading and conversion of Spotify music is completed, you’re promoted to transfer Spotify playlists to Apple Watch. Then you could stream Spotify music to Apple Watch without iPhone when you’re going out for a jog.

Hope it works for you

I'd say the best way is to download the songs in advance and play them on your watch. This won't even consume your cellular data. I get the songs from Spotify with TunesKit Spotify Music Converter and put them in watch and run with those workout songs. I'd never have to worry about those app glitches or running out of data stuff.

I thought the GPS got a decent review by DcRainmaker. It's only bad if you carry your phone, then it uses the phones GPS which is worse (rather strange!)

I use it with a Stryd though, so the GPS is only for drawing fun lines on Strava.

I recently got an Apple Watch 5 LTE. I can't tell you about the phone because I haven't used it yet. I have used it with my Fitbit Ionic for some runs and with my ElemntBolt bike computer for cycling, and the GPS has been fine.

As for the battery, I need to charge it daily. Fortunately, it doesn't take long to charge.

I don't listen to music when I run, so I cannot comment on that feature.

I expect that for pure sports watches the Garmin Fenix, Suunto, Coros, and a few others may be better than the Apple as a sports watch. But for my amateur sports needs, it is a good sports watch and it also looks good and works well for business and daily wear. I also got it for some of its special health features, which likely are irrelevant to a young person.