Things You Can Do Both with a Smartphone and a Smartwatch
It’s great when different devices become connected. A smartphone may instruct a thermostat to heat a house. A businessman may access his work from a laptop or tablet. Someone may synchronise what’s on their Iphone, Ipad and Mac computer.
These days many people possess both a smartphone and a smartwatch. Once again they can be paired up, connected and synchronised. Notifications that once appeared only on the phone may now be seen on the watch. Written replies may be sent from either device. Whilst some functions may be exclusive to the device, many are shared by both. We will now look at these in more detail.
Send Texts
Some people have large fingers and struggle to use their phone keyboard to text. When it comes to doing the same thing with a smartwatch, wrist size is a key. There are smartwatches that can be used for texting and websites that fortunately review them. When different products are seen side by side it’s easier to view the different specifications.
In this scenario, the display and screen size is very important. People also need to know if a product is compatible with their phone’s operating system.
Create Events, And Receive Reminders And Notifications
People can use their Iphone calendars to block out hours or days for specific activities. They may be meetings, medical appointments or birthdays. It’s also possible to create diary reminders. Smartwatches can do this too.
Just as a phone will tell its owner they have received a new message, a smartwatch can display a similar notification.
Oversee Your Health
Once again, we will use an Iphone as an example. It includes a built-in application that acts as a pedometer. It will say, ‘Today you did - steps’. It will then compare that achievement with the previous week and month. It will also confirm the number of flights of stairs climbed each day.
If a smartwatch has a built-in GPS system it will be able to track similar information. This is great for people who are serious about their walking, running or swimming (if the watch is sufficiently waterproof). Both phones and smartwatches have stopwatches that are also very useful in the area of exercise.
Use A GPS System
Iphones have a ‘Find My Phone’ application to use, should it become mislaid. Such technology can also be present on a smartwatch.
Both a smartphone and smartwatch can access Google Maps, thanks to the GPS. If a destination is entered, the programme can guide the person there. In some cases, a smartwatch without a speaker can guide its owner simply by using the vibrate function.
Store Media And Play It
Just as people can often select the memory size for their phone, they can choose a smartwatch that contains a specific capacity. This may be 4GB or even something as large as 32GB.
On an Iphone, music can be purchased and downloaded using Itunes. It can then be played using a specific app. If it is downloaded rather than streamed, the music will be available even when the person is offline. Smartwatches too, can store and play music to be heard using headphones or IPods.
It is also possible for someone with a smartwatch to observe a podcast or listen to an audio book in the same way as with a smartphone.
Charge The Device
Charging our phones has become a part of our everyday lives. Because of this, there are USB ports and charging stations on campsites, and built into rooms. Just as a phone is useless without power, our smartwatches will need regular juice.
Such technology as magnetic charging has been developed in recent years. Smartwatches are frequently powered up wirelessly, by simply laying them on top of a device.
Access Basic Applications
Whether it’s world clocks, timers, alarm clocks or weather app’s - all may be present using both phones and watches. Like phones, some smartwatches have cameras, although this is not always the case. Iphones have the Siri application which responds to vocal instructions. Smartwatches feature the Google Assistant.
In many ways smartphones and smartwatches mirror each other. The fact that they are connected and synchronised contributes to this. Interestingly though, Apple watches (series 3 and 5) are designed to work independently of the phones.
People enjoy choice and convenience. If they are walking along a road, they may prefer reading a text from their wrist rather than their phone. They may also like to receive phone calls from their watch whilst jogging. It’s a matter of taste and preference, but both serve a valid purpose.