Custom watch faces... How do they work?

[henryga]

Hi all!



I have had my Ultra2 since it was released, and I am now interested in looking into different watch faces.

A little search and experimentation found a couple of things that I would love some guidance on.

• It appears that Apple never released the API for building watch faces directly like you can get in the Watch App. I am guessing that is the reason why there are third party apps? -- Is this correct?
• I have found several sites that require an app called Clockology but in my testing I found that the watch faces do not update like the built in watch faces. I believe that I have read all of the instructions and set my watch and phone accordingly, but they just do not work the same. I use my watch all the time I found it disconcerting to have to wait for the time to update (even though it was just a moment) and sometimes the custom clock face is not there even though I set the app to run the maximum amount of time -- Am I Missing something?
• Everyone wants money. If I pay Clockology for their "extra" fee -- will it improve performance of Clockology?
• Are there any other options/configurations that work better and are more reliable?
• I have heard there is an app called Facer, Is Facer that better and/or more reliable?

I would really appreciate any guidance. If I use a new watch face I want to work and do not want to have to always fiddle with it or wait to update like I seem to have to do with Clockology.

thanks for any help or guidance.



Gary

 

[BenGoren]

You’ve pretty much nailed it.

Apple only supports its own faces and does not offer any means for anybody else to create new faces. Everything pretending to be a non-Apple custom face is either an app (like any other watch app, such as Weather or Workout or Mail) that “just happens” to show the time in an attractive format, or creates a creative image to use for the Apple-standard “Photos” and “Portraits” faces.

The apps that show the time are no more deeply integrated into the operating system than any other app. For example, anything that would normally send you back to the main watch face will still send you back to the active face, not the pretty-looking clock app.

From the beginning, everybody expected Apple to open up watch faces with the rest of everything else. When Apple took their own sweet time in even hinting that such was coming, people started to get frustrated. When it became apparent that it’s never gonna happen, people got angry … and have long since given up.

The general consensus is that Apple wants control over what people other than the owners see on an Apple watch. That is, Apple doesn’t want somebody creating some ugly-to-Apple watch face that the owner likes … and then everybody else who sees that face thinks that Apple watches have ugly faces.

That might have maybe had a bit of merit in the early days … but smartwatches are everywhere now and most of them are made by Apple. Somebody sees somebody with an ugly watch face, and they’re going to think that person has bad taste, not that Apple makes ugly watches. Just like when people make ugly home screens for their iPhones or put ugly cases on them.

I still have hope that we might only be years away from Apple opening it up. But not much hope.

In the mean time … before WatchOS 10, I had Wayfinder basically permanently affixed to my Ultra. Now, with the stack at the turn of the crown, I’m using Contour and nothing else — a simple, elegant, minimalist but still cool face, but with far more complications practically instantly available than I could even thing about with Wayfinder.

You’ll probably be happiest coming to a similar acceptance … find something you like looking at in general, set up the stack for quick-access stuff, and grumble annoyedly into the void whenever you think of all the cool faces that others could make if only Apple wasn’t such a control freak.

b&

 

[henryga]

Thank you for your response!

After my short time owning the watch and 45 years in technology, I quickly came to the same conclusion as you, so eloquently described. - Thanks again.

As I was reading your response, another reason Apple may not open up the watch face design to third parties, may be security and the risk(s) that it would expose.

To make the watch faces work the way they do, there needs to be a lot of low of low-level integration between the Watch and the phone. Exposing those watch APIs without building the appreciate controls may expose the two environments (watch and phone) to security risks.

Apple may feel that if they build in the controls necessary, it may impact performance and functionality of the watch and Apple may not want to undertake that.

Who knows... only Apple knows for sure.....

thanks

Gary

 

[Howard2k]

There's also the marketing angle. Apple differentiated the Nike and Hermes models, and still does with the Hermes models. Neither Apple nor Hermes would want somebody creating their own Hermes (or Nike) type face.

Neither would, I assume, Apple like the Tag/Rolex type faces being propagated too.

And as mentioned, garish faces of any kind would also potentially reflect badly on the brand.