Apple got watch software completely wrong from the start

This would have never happened if Steve Jobs was still alive. I've heard and seen this phrase overused since the Apple co-founder and former CEO passed in 2011. Everything software-related at Apple seemed to go down the crapper after he passed. I never thought I'd ever write those words myself, but that day has come.

Remember how bad Apple Maps was when it launched? It was so awful Tim Cook had no choice but to fire then iOS head Scott Forstall over the disastrous app. Apple got the Apple Watch software completely wrong from the start.Remember, in iOS 7, how the font was so thin that Apple eventually had to make it bolder again?

Or how buggy, confusing and janky Apple Music is? Or how iTunes on Mac became so confusing to use the company finally restored a persistent sidebar — yes, a friggin' sidebar — in a recent update to make the app easier for users to understand?

There's no Apple product that better epitomizes how the company has lost its way on user interfaces than the Apple Watch.

It's time to face the music: Apple got the Apple Watch software completely wrong from the start.

Lost focus?

Apple is a closely watched company scrutinized on a level that no other company — tech or not — has ever been the subject of.

Its upcoming products as well as their design and engineering processes are developed under government-like secrecy before Tim Cook and company get to unveil them.

Apple is frequently lauded for its harmonious melding of hardware and software — the perfect integration between the physical and digital that is necessary to produce such delightful products that people don't just like but feel genuine love for. In businessspeak, Apple controls the whole "stack," the entire "widget" and has all the pieces for a vertically integrated company to create complete experiences.

The Apple Watch's activity screen.

Under Jobs, Apple's products melted hearts because of his intense ability to maintain focus. Apple chief design officer Jony Ive is said to share the same focus as Jobs. Together the pair changed the world with its revolutionary products, saving Apple from the brink of collapse in 1997.

"Designing something requires focus," reads a line of text in "Intention," a video created by TBWA/Media Arts Lab and played during the WWDC 2013 keynote. "The first thing we ask is what do we want people to feel? Delight. Surprise. Love. Connection. Then we begin to craft around our intention. It takes time...there are a thousand no's for every yes. We simplify. We perfect. We start over until everything we touch enhances each life it touches. Only then do we sign our work."

The eloquent video has been removed from Apple's YouTube channel, but you can easily find it online.

The most famous line, a side jab at its competitors, is: There are a thousand no's for every yes. That is Apple. That is focus. That is boiling down a device and software to its very essence — what makes sense. And not launching it until it is complete and feels right. Only then is Apple proud to let the world use it.

Jobs wasn't just a CEO, he was considered a visionary, even an artist. Apple, by his principles, is made up of artists who don't just create products, but works of art.

While there's no doubt in my mind Apple and Ive and Marc Newson, who both helped design the Apple Watch, nailed the hardware, they dropped the ball on watchOS, the software that gives the smartwatch purpose. Kevin Lynch, Apple senior vice president of technology in charge of the wearable, also shares some of the blame.

It's embarrassing for Apple, but even more for Ive because after Forstall got canned, he was put in charge of both hardware and software, which was supposed to make their integration even more seamless.

The Digital Crown was lauded as a revolutionary UI innovation when Apple first launched the Apple Watch.

It's sad because I legitimately believe Ive and company thought watchOS (1 and 2) actually was the manifestation of simplification, perfection and focus.

"You see an organization of apps, while new, is somehow familiar," Ive says in a video introduction of the Apple Watch at the device's debut in fall 2014. Ive then goes on to eschew the innovative Digital Crown. "It's also the home button."

"Glances let you swipe through information efficiently," Ive says a little later in the video. "And pressing the button below the Digital Crown instantly shows you friends you can contact in just seconds. And with Digital Touch, we've developed an entirely new way for you to connect intimately with others — you can get someone's attention with a gentle tap, you can send a quick sketch, or you can even share something as personal as your own heartbeat."

Ive was convincing (when is he ever not?) enough to get me to buy an Apple Watch. But again, he and Apple missed the software mark by a mile.

When the company has to release 11 "Guided Tours" — like this one on how to change watch faces and this one on how to make phone calls — videos to teach Apple Watch owners how to use something, you pretty much know the product has failed at being intuitive.

Fixing mistakes

Now Apple is correcting the mistake. All of the features Ive introduced in that video have either been removed or downplayed in watchOS 3, which will be available this fall.

Glances, the bite-sized info panels activated by swiping up from the watch face (and only from the watch face) and then swiping left and right, are gone, replaced by a better Control Center of quick settings.

The friends list, activated by pressing the side button will be replaced by the new recent and favorite apps Dock, and the messaging, calling and Digital Touch features will be integrated into the Messages and Phone apps.

Ive's pride and joy, the home screen of apps you see when you press the digital crown, isn't dead, but it's not the poster child for the Apple Watch anymore. Apple's even scrubbed the apps screen from its website. There's not a single picture of that screen on any of the Apple Watch images. (I looked.) It's a good move: The watch's apps screen isn't really a proper home screen the way it is on iPhone and iPad; the watch face is the real home screen.

Furthermore, even how you switch watch faces was a dud. Apple praised how Force Touch, the harder pressure-sensitive press, could be used to bring up a row of watch faces to switch between. And what do you know: watchOS 3 lets you quickly switch watch faces on the fly simply by swiping left and right on the watch face itself — no Force Touch necessary. You'll still need to Force Touch to customize complications and colors, but not to change faces.

In essence, watchOS 3 backpedals the entire first year of the Apple Watch. And it is, according to those who have installed the developer beta, exactly what the Apple Watch should have been at launch — fast and easy to use.

Broken trust, but it's repairable

Though Apple hasn't revealed how many Apple Watches it has sold within the first year, it's estimated about 12 million have been sold to date. That's 12 million people who Apple is telling: "Our bad, fix coming soon!"

I'm all for forgiveness, especially for a loved one. I considered Apple a loved one — I wouldn't keep buying its phones and computers and tablets if I didn't. But watch OS 1 and 2 has left a really bad impression on me, even though I know my $750 Apple Watch will finally be fast and useful by the end of the year.

Still, it's better for Apple to admit it messed up and provide a solution than to simply charge ahead on the back of a bad idea. And all Apple Watch owners will get the fix: Apple could just as easily have said, "Yeah, we messed up, but here's Apple Watch 2. It's all better! You'll need to buy the new one, but all fixed!"

"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes," Jobs once said. "It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."

Apple under Jobs wasn't perfect by any means, and it won't be under Cook either. But now it's clearer than ever that we can't blindly trust Apple to really get software and UI design, especially for new categories. In other words, Apple is now like every tech company.

Source:Techgig