I love my Apple Watch, but I wish it wasn’t so smart. If I could design my ideal smartwatch, it would look super “dumb,” but stylish, and have all the sensors that the Apple Watch has.
I used to love it, but now I hate being always available.
Sometimes I don’t want to know that I received a text or email.
I have grown up in the digital age, a time when everyone is accessible at all times. I have also been available at all times. In almost every job I’ve ever had, I had some form of work communication on my phone and stayed in touch with bosses or coworkers about work-related topics throughout the day, even when I wasn’t working; That’s the culture.
At the beginning of 2025, I stopped using my Apple Watch at homeand it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Later in 2025, I uninstalled “work” apps from my phone, like Slack and Asana. Both decisions completely changed my life. Because? Because I was finally back in control of who could contact me and when.
The problem is, I started exercising for the first time in years at the end of 2025, and that meant I was back to wearing my Apple Watch a lot more. Sure, I still didn’t have those work apps on my phone, but I’m back to being “always available” in other ways, and I hate it.
I use my Apple Watch for fitness tracking more than anything else
I started wearing my Apple Watch again, but only to monitor my fitness
While I started wearing my Apple Watch again for fitness reasons, wearing it still comes with the same baggage: notifications, bumps, taps, and the feeling that you need to respond the moment your wrist vibrates.
Even though I know in my head that it’s not necessary, the compulsion is still there. I know I can turn off all notifications on the Apple Watch and I have turned off most of them, but I keep things like text messages on because then I can see if my wife texts me.
If I wasn’t taking daily walks and tracking my steps, I wouldn’t wear my Apple Watch anymore, even when I leave the house. Unfortunately, years ago when I opted for the Apple Watch, I left my traditional watches in the dust. I still have them, somewhere, but I don’t use them, and I won’t use them again.
The Apple Watch’s fitness tracking capabilities are too good not to use, and that’s a problem. There’s really nothing that integrates as deeply as the Apple Watch physically, but with the traditional design that I want.
My ideal smartwatch existed years ago, but was never perfected
The Withings ScanWatch 2 meets almost all my requirements
Withings has long made a normal-looking smartwatch that features plenty of health tracking capabilities, but it’s still too high-tech for my taste if I go with a watch that is not Apple. He Scan It is a great piece of technology with an elegant retro style thanks to the manual dial.
The problem is that it still has too much technology. There’s still a screen, which means notifications will still be an issue. When it comes to technology, I’m an all or nothing person. If the technology is there to use, I will use it.
So my ideal smartwatch is something like a Withings ScanWatch 2, but without a digital display. Fossil made the Grant Qwhich is basically what I’m looking for, but the software support was never that good.
I want Apple to address this, but I doubt they ever will. A smartwatch that has a sleek traditional face, no screen, but all the sensor technology that the Apple Watch offers is exactly what I want, but I’m afraid I’ll never get it.
More companies should focus on the watch experience
There was a time when companies focused more on the experience you had with a product than on getting you addicted to the product itself. There was a time when Facebook and Twitter (now X) had chronological timelines by default, rather than hiding them behind layers of menus. Those timelines allowed you to do what the sites were created to do: keep up with your friends.
Years ago, I would check my Twitter account first thing in the morning using a third-party app I was on on my computer. The app will remember where you were last on the timeline and then allow you to scroll to the current moment. So, I would scroll through the people I followed, interact with them, and then continue with my day.
Now, algorithms are designed to keep you hooked for hours and smartwatches are just one part of that formula. A smartwatch is more about how you can get back to your phone than just being a way to tell time and track fitness metrics, and I really hope that changes one day.
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- Heart rate monitor
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Yeah
- color screen
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Yeah
The Apple Watch Series 11 offers the ability to detect high blood pressure and a sleep score similar to many competing health apps.
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- Brand
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Withings
- Heart rate monitor
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Yeah
The Withings ScanWatch is a hybrid smartwatch with a variety of features connected to a smartphone.
