Smart watches?

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I experienced a feature on my apple watch today that is now my all time favorite. I walked my dog down to the mailbox which is located about .5 mile away. As I walked back within site of the Shop, my watch made a new sound. I looked down and saw the following message: "XXX" left behind. This item is no longer detected near you. It was telling me my iphone was no longer near me! I patted my pocket and sure enough, it was not there. 1.) I don't normally carry my cell phone in my oversized safety vest pocket. 2.) I picked up a bunch of branches in the road beyond the mailbox. 3.) Sure enough, my phone was on the side of the road.

Somehow, at some point, I had turned on the "Notify when left behind" feature when setting up some Find My features.

I found an article online how to set up this notification so you can verify you have it set up on your apple watch and iphone or ipad. https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-use...behind-iphone/

[Jim Becker]

'Glad you found that feature, Mike. I've been remiss in setting that up for Professor Dr. SWMBO as she frequently leaves her phone sitting "wherever". It probably doesn't help within a short circle of BT coverage, but for those times when she moves farther from it, she'll feel "the tickle".

[Bruce Page]

I get that message every time I go to the gym and leave my phone in the locker. It is a cool feature.

[Michael Weber]

Just got a used Apple series 8 yesterday mostly for the heart, blood ox, sleep and other health monitoring abilities. After getting it charged and playing with it last night I’m just hoping I can get it all figured out at my age.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Just got a used Apple series 8 yesterday mostly for the heart, blood ox, sleep and other health monitoring abilities. After getting it charged and playing with it last night I’m just hoping I can get it all figured out at my age.

Michael, I bought a Samsung smartwatch. It took me about a week to figure out what I wanted to use. It'll take just a short time, I am sure!

[Brian Elfert]

I experienced a feature on my apple watch today that is now my all time favorite. I walked my dog down to the mailbox which is located about .5 mile away. As I walked back within site of the Shop, my watch made a new sound. I looked down and saw the following message: "XXX" left behind. This item is no longer detected near you. It was telling me my iphone was no longer near me! I patted my pocket and sure enough, it was not there. 1.) I don't normally carry my cell phone in my oversized safety vest pocket. 2.) I picked up a bunch of branches in the road beyond the mailbox. 3.) Sure enough, my phone was on the side of the road.

I got an iPhone 14 in July and suddenly I started getting those alerts about my iPad being left behind all the time. Apparently, if my iPad isn't on my home WI-FI my iPhone will monitor the location. I get the iPad alert so often is like the boy who cried wolf. I work in downtown Minneapolis. I will leave my iPad at my office desk and will get alerted when I walk down to the lobby of the office building to get lunch. I will put my iPad in the trunk and go into a store and get the alert. This week I even got an alert when I was about five feet from the iPad. I was at an event where I camped for two weeks this past summer. I would leave my iPad in my tent during the day and got the darn alert at least once a day. (I was not worried about the iPad being taken. I was close enough to see my tent much of the time, but not close enough to still be in range of it.)

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I get the iPad alert so often is like the boy who cried wolf.

If you scroll down towards the bottom of that link I included above, you will see a way to flag specific locations so you will not be notified - such as your work.

[Earl McLain]

For those of you who have opted for the Samsung 6--anyone also using United Healthcare's Rewards program for Medicare Advantage? UHC offers direct-connect with FitBit & Apple, other platforms require syncing with the phone app (she has a Google Pixel 8)--so i'm thinking it should connect to her Rewards through her phone. Our status with Xfinity will provide $300 off the Samsung (which means we spend too much with Xfinity already!!), and i'd like to get her the fall protection.

Shoot, for that matter--i really should be the one that gets that feature--due to her dementia she would not likely be able to call for help if i were injured, and that is a definite concern in our home. I try to remind her of the number for 911 each morning, but that message is not sticking with her yet.

[Brian Elfert]

I live alone and do a lot of work around my property that could result in a fall. I would like an Apple watch for the fall detection capability, but I also want to be able to wear it at night to monitor my poor quality sleep. The standard Apple watch has only an 18 hour battery life. The Ultra has much better battery life, but man $800 is a lot of money. My iPhone 14 didn't even cost $800 after a trade-in credit for my iPhone 8 Plus.

[Jim Becker]

Brian, Apple Watch charges very quickly, so you can wear at night and charge while doing your morning routine, etc. My series 8 lasts a lot longer than 18 hours, although I've never quantified it.

[Brian Elfert]

Apple's website says up to 18 hours battery life for the Apple Watch 9. I find most battery life estimates are based on ideal conditions, and don't last that long in real life. I am glad to hear it lasts longer for Jim. The Watch Series 9 takes 75 minutes to charge from 0% to 100%, or 45 minutes to charge to 80%.

[Bruce Page]

Brian, I have the 9. As Jim said, it charges very quickly, as in an hour or so.
A full charge easily lasts all day. Mine's usually at +50-60% after wearing it all day.

[Bryan Rocker]

Several years ago I purchased an Apple smart watch for my wife, not to track her health but to give her a good workng watch. She still wears it to this day and it has never failed to work. It syncs to here Iphone just fine and it has been a good data gather for a number of health issues including heart rate and others. If I were to replace it I would buy one that would do O2 levels, and maybe blood sugar levels. as well. Prior to her apple watch, she purchased several android cheap ones, they ALL are inferior to the apple watch.