Category: Watch

apple aggravations — apple watch optimized charging

whbeebe1 Comment
Apple’s help about optimized battery charging

Up front admission: this is a first-world issue, but still, it’s an annoyance that’s changed how I use my Apple Watch.

Up until the past few days ago I wore my Series 7 Apple Watch nearly 24 hours/day in order to capture as much personal health data as possible. For example, I wore the watch at night to track my sleeping. The Series 7 with the latest WatchOS would track when you were in deep sleep, regular sleep, and REM sleep. It also tracked when you were supposedly awake. The phone also tracked when I was in bed by what time, and for how long, when the iPhone was in its charger.

That worked for nearly a year until late last week when my Apple Watch started to exhibit “optimized charging.” To fully understand why this annoyed me, it was my habit to charge my watch twice/day, once in the morning while eating breakfast, then again in the evening while eating supper. It took about an hour both times to reach 100% charge.

It all worked without a hitch until late last week when I happened to look down on the watch while it was charging one morning and saw the “bent circle” charging indicator showing that it was in optimized charging mode. It didn’t do this in the evening, but in the morning after I’d gotten up and put the watch on the charger. I put up with that for two consecutive mornings, each time tapping the watch’s screen to open up the charging dialog and telling the watch to finish charging now.

But when it happened a third day in a row, that’s when I finally went looking for what was happening. I found out about Apple Watch’s optimized charging on-line, and for once it was up-to-date. According to Apple optimized charging for the Watch has been available since Watch OS 7. For whatever reason it didn’t show up until that point late last week. I still have my Series 3 watch packed away, so I pulled it out, charged it to 100%, and updated the OS on it to version 8.8.2. That last release was a bug-fix release for the Series 3. WatchOS is now up to version 10.1. I purchased the Series 7 back in July 2022 when it was on sale because I felt a perceived  need for a watch that would continue to receive OS updates as well as provide all the latest medical monitoring features that the Series 3 couldn’t provide.

As of today I no longer wear it to bed. I’ve had enough aggravation, and so I’m just parking my watch on its charger and letting it go through the night on its own. If the Series 7 wants to go into optimized charging, it can do so while I’m asleep. I did check the battery life on my Series 7 as well as Series 3, and both are at 100% maximum capacity. That’s remarkable for the Series 3. If I’d not spent the money on the Series 7 I would still be using the Series 3 and just ignored the Watch OS version it was running. The Series 7 is still an enjoyable device to use, but the driving need I felt last year to purchase the Series 7 has dissipated.

and about those new apple watches

whbeebe1 Comment

Apple released both a Series 8 and an Ultra version, ranging in prices starting around $300 for the lowest-end Series 8 on up to $800 for the lowest-end Ultra. I know that many brands of watches can be quite expensive, heading in to the thousands to tens of thousands for special models. Apple has released Watch versions  in the past that also treaded into the thousands. My biggest problem with such expense is the lack of adequate battery life, especially for the Ultra. A battery life of 36 hours to 60 hours depending on operational mode is totally unacceptable for a Watch that starts at $800, especially one aimed at the outdoor extreme sport techbro. What minimum battery life between charges would I find acceptable?

At a minimum, I want at least 8 consecutive days, or 192 hours, with the same level of functionality I currently enjoy with my Series 7.

That would allow me to charge my watch once/week every Saturday or Sunday, or any other weekday that fit my schedule. It would allow me to wear my watch uninterrupted for a full seven days, 24 hours per day, to pick up my sleep patterns. These days I wear my Apple Watch Series 7 because I’m tracking as much of my health as possible, sharing that with my doctors. As it is I now have a schedule where I charge my Series 7 twice/day, once in the morning at breakfast for about 30 minutes, and once in the evening after supper, again for 30 minutes, before I head off to bed. That works out here at home, but that’s an untenable schedule while on a camping trip. Fortunately for me I have a ten-year-old Citizen Eco watch that’s solar charged and has been running continuously since the day I took it out of its box and put it on my wrist. In an ideal world I’d have a Citizen watch that had the same sensor suite as the Apple Watch, and that communicated via Bluetooth with my iPhone in place of my Apple Watch.

Before you say anything I’m aware of Citizen’s CZ Smartwatch for $400. The problem with the watch is two-fold: it was released running on the old and busted Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor instead of the 4000 and with Google Wear. If you want long battery life up to a week between charges, then the only function you can have active on the watch is the time, which makes it pointless to own. You might was well actually save a little money and purchase a low-end Apple Watch.

It’s been two months since I replaced my aging Apple Watch Series 3 with an Apple Watch Series 7 on sale from Amazon, and so far I have no regrets. Even on sale what I paid for the Series 7 was still more than I would have liked to pay; it still requires a recharge every other day (and I’ve outlined my charging regimen above) so it certainly can’t meet my ideal charging requirement. The Series 7 is a compromise between high functionality and battery life. While I’m certainly using it around my home, it’s not a device I’d use outside on long travel. I have ways to keep my iPhone recharged away from home, but that’s all I’m willing to support in that way.

Who knows. By the time I’m ready to replace the Series 7, perhaps Apple will produce my watch with my ideal battery life, but at a price much closer to my Series 7 than the Ultra.