Charmingly ironic bug: several times a day, timers set on the Apple Watch… don't actually ring on time!
In this situation, the timer sounds only after I *look at* the watch. Presumably an accidental consequence of sleeping the watch face when not in use.
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A funny example of how cross-cutting software architecture is hard. It's pretty reasonable to assume that notifications can be delivered with "fuzzy" timing when the device is idle or asleep; easy to quantize to 5m or whatever and claim big power gains; except oops, timers.
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Jokes about an expensive watch failing to actually keep time aside, this relates to the story of when I knew for sure that I needed to leave Apple.
I'd been working on iOS for a few years, and it seemed the "experimental age" of the platform was mostly over…
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I wanted to work on new computing paradigms, not incremental updates, but I'd heard whispers of a watch project in the works. At last—I thought—an opportunity to help define a new platform with new contexts and affordances! After a year of pestering, I got access to the project.
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First thing I did was devour the wiki. On the front page was the framing eventually used to announce the watch, the three pitches:
1. It's the most accurate timepiece ever made.
2. It's your personal fitness companion.
3. It's an intimate communication device.
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Boy, did that knock the wind out my sails. The most accurate timepiece ever made? That's a tentpole? My cheap plastic watch keeps time well enough for me. Fitness companion could be interesting, but there didn't seem to be any significant new ideas relative to Fitbit, etc.
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The third point about intimate communication were by far the most interesting—Digital Touch to tap a loved one on the wrist from afar, or to draw a little ephemeral message on their wrist. And a dedicated button for it! Alas, this was rapidly deprioritized and reassigned.
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I felt such intense let-down about this project—it seemed like it had such potential as a new platform! That was a real nadir for me at Apple. I was gone a few months later.
Anyway, that first pitch ("most accurate timepiece!") makes the timer bug even funnier.
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(Bug aside, the watch is fine. There's a lot of thoughtful craftsmanship on display. Its modest ambitions were a problem for me as a creative, not as a consumer.)
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