{"id":423569,"date":"2026-01-19T16:39:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T16:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/423569\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T16:39:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T16:39:23","slug":"i-stopped-using-the-apple-watch-and-came-back-two-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/423569\/","title":{"rendered":"I stopped using the Apple Watch \u2014 and came back two years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Someone<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

There was a time I despised smartwatches \u2014 yet another screen tied to the wrist, always trying to grab my attention. That was getting too much for an analog watch person. Smartwatches felt way too nerdy to me, like a cyborg-ish human laden with tech from top to bottom.<\/p>\n

My tech reviewing side ensured that I was never completely detached from smartwatches, but I haven\u2019t had one tied to my wrist full-time in more than two years. My last full-time smartwatch was a Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. It worked superbly well, and I was quite a fan of its clicky rotating bezel<\/a>, but once I ditched it, I didn\u2019t look back \u2014 until recently.<\/p>\n

I paired an Apple Watch with my primary iPhone out of sheer curiosity and not with my mind made up to use a smartwatch full-time again. But now the situation is such that I regret ever quitting smartwatches.<\/p>\n

Have you ever quit using a smartwatch?<\/p>\n

44 votes<\/p>\n

Yes, and I haven\u2019t gone back<\/p>\n

11%<\/p>\n

Yes, but I returned later<\/p>\n

9%<\/p>\n

No, I\u2019ve always worn one<\/p>\n

75%<\/p>\n

Never used a smartwatch<\/p>\n

5%<\/p>\n

Why did I let go in the first place<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brady Snyder \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

My previous smartwatch was becoming too much to handle every single day. After a point, I found it frustrating that the watch buzzed every waking moment \u2014 and on top of that, both the watch and the phone lit up at the same time, showing the same information, forcing me to dismiss everything on both devices.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, I had not one but two devices to charge. While traveling, I had to remember to carry another cable because smartwatches don\u2019t have a universally accepted charging standard like USB Type-C<\/a> on phones. And then there were all the data and health metrics constantly being thrown at your face. I had just crossed the data fatigue line when I gave up on smartwatches back then.<\/p>\n

The grand comeback<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Cimino \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Two years isn\u2019t a short time. It gave me enough of a breather to rethink smartwatches and even rekindle my relationship with them. Now with a clear mind, I decided to just play around with one again, but with zero commitments. Since I\u2019m using an iPhone these days, it had to be an Apple Watch \u2014 that\u2019s some sort of rule, I heard.<\/p>\n

Why Apple Watch<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel watches have come a long way since the early days. I\u2019m honestly a fan of what Google has been doing with Gemini on smartwatches. That said, I still reckon that, as a smartwatch, the Apple Watch offers a more polished experience even if it may not match Wear OS\u2019s flexibility.<\/p>\n

For instance, I\u2019m fond of the Apple Watch\u2019s rings that nudge you to stay active throughout the day. They\u2019re encouraging enough to take you over the line without acting like a pushy trainer \u2014 the kind that bothers you so much that you want to take the watch off and throw it away. And I also find it extremely adorable when the Apple Watch tells me to leave a loud environment while I\u2019m watching an action-packed sequence in a movie theater.<\/p>\n

First week with a smartwatch \u2014 Round 2<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Cimino \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

I only had faded memories of what it was like to wear a smartwatch full-time, so I was essentially starting afresh. I went in with zero expectations and came out genuinely impressed.<\/p>\n

My biggest complaint with my phone (but more so with myself) is how often I pick it up just to check a notification and then end up scrolling through Instagram Reels for minutes, sometimes hours, before I snap out of that zone. The smartwatch helped cut that down right from the first step of that loop.<\/p>\n

I formed a habit of intentionally \u201cforgetting\u201d my phone, leaving it in my room while sitting with family in the living room or during meals.<\/p>\n

Since notifications now appear on my wrist, I only pick up the phone when something actually needs my attention and requires a bigger screen, like replying to an important Slack message. These interruptions no longer break my workflow the way they used to. It has made me noticeably more productive.<\/p>\n

Within this first week, I also formed a habit of intentionally \u201cforgetting\u201d my phone, leaving it in my room while sitting with family in the living room or during meals. It\u2019s so freeing that I don\u2019t need to lug around my phone everywhere \u2014 that\u2019s when I realized the value of cellular smartwatches.<\/p>\n

Looking out for my well-being<\/p>\n

\"google<\/p>\n

Taylor Kerns \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

My primary reason for wearing a smartwatch isn\u2019t health tracking<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s notifications. Health and fitness come second, though they\u2019re still important. What I use the Apple Watch most intently for is sleep tracking<\/a>, especially given how messed up my sleep schedule tends to be.<\/p>\n

I can sleep and wake up without being mindful of the time, knowing the watch will track everything accurately without my intervention. It logs my awake times far more precisely than I ever could manually. I\u2019ve found Apple Watch sleep tracking to be more consistent and accurate than what I\u2019ve experienced on other devices.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a smartwatch person now<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Cimino \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Even though I picked up an Apple Watch for the reasons above \u2014 and because I use an iPhone as my primary device \u2014 I\u2019m not here to convince you to buy an Apple Watch. I\u2019m here to make a case for smartwatches in general.<\/p>\n

Just like smartphones matured over the last half-decade, smartwatches have quietly grown up. You may not see flashy upgrades year after year, but coming back to one full-time after so long made the progress obvious. I now rely on my smartwatch for overall well-being, which, for me, also includes not picking up my phone as often as I used to. And you can achieve that with pretty much any good smartwatch today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Battery life is no longer a deal-breaker. While I\u2019d still love multi-day battery life, I\u2019m fine charging daily or every other day.<\/p>\n

Battery life, once the biggest downside, is no longer a deal-breaker. While I\u2019d still love multi-day battery life, I\u2019m fine charging a smartwatch daily or every other day, given how much value I\u2019m getting out of it.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the entire point of my return to smartwatches. The Apple Watch is adding to my life instead of taking something away from it. Yes, it\u2019s another device I\u2019m carrying, but it also replaces an existing one \u2014 and does so without getting in my way.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n

\"google\"google<\/a><\/p>\n

From where I stand, the future isn\u2019t smartphones; it\u2019s wearables. Smartwatches are going to play an increasingly important role going forward, especially as smart glasses begin relying on them<\/a> to track hand gestures for control. They\u2019re primed to become the next frontier of AI and gesture-based interaction. And honestly, it feels like I\u2019m coming back at just the right time.<\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Maring \/ Android Authority There was a time I despised smartwatches \u2014 yet another screen tied to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[16556,64,63,213,215,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-423569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-apple-watch","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-gadgets","12":"tag-smartwatches","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}