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 elegant, 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 I got a text or email
Credit: DenPhotos/Shutterstock.com
I’ve grown up in the digital age, a time when everyone is reachable at all times. I, too, have been reachable at all times. Just about every job I’ve held, I had some form of work communication on my phone and would stay in touch with bosses or coworkers about work-related things throughout the day, even when I wasn’t on the clock—it’s just how the culture is.
In early 2025, I stopped wearing my Apple Watch at home, and it was one of the best decisions I had ever made. Later in 2025, I uninstalled “work” apps from my phone, like Slack and Asana. Both of those decisions completely changed my life. Why? Because I was finally in control again of who could contact me and when.
The problem is, I started working out for the first time in years toward the end of 2025, and that meant I was wearing my Apple Watch a lot more again. Sure, I still didn’t have those work apps on my phone, but I became “always available” in other ways again, and I hate it.
I use my Apple Watch for tracking fitness more than anything else
I started wearing my Apple Watch again, but only for fitness tracking
Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek
While I started wearing my Apple Watch again for fitness reasons, wearing the Apple Watch still brings the same baggage with it—notifications, dings, taps, and feeling like you need to respond the moment your wrist vibrates.
While I know in my head that I don’t have to, the compulsion is still there. I know that I can turn off all notifications on the Apple Watch, and I have turned most off, but I keep things like text on because then I can see if my wife texts me.
If I wasn’t doing daily walks and tracking my steps, I wouldn’t be wearing my Apple Watch anymore, even when I leave the house. Sadly, years ago when I went all-in on Apple Watch, I left my traditional watches in the dust. I still have them, somewhere, but I don’t wear them—and I won’t go back to wearing them, either.
The fitness tracking capabilities of the Apple Watch are just too good not to use, and that’s a problem. Nothing really exists that integrates as deeply as the Apple Watch on the fitness side of things, but with the traditional design that I want.
My ideal smartwatch existed years ago, but was never perfected
The Withings ScanWatch 2 ticks almost all of my boxes
Withings has long made a normal-looking smartwatch that features a lot of health tracking capabilities, but it’s still a bit too techy for my liking if I’m going with a non-Apple Watch. The ScanWatch is a great piece of tech with a bit of elegant retro styling thanks to the manual dial face.
The problem is, it still has too much tech in it. There’s still a screen, which means that notifications will still be a problem. When it comes to tech, I’m an all or nothing kind of guy. If the tech is there to use, I’m going to use it.
So, my ideal smartwatch is something like a Withings ScanWatch 2, but with no digital screen. Fossil made the Grant Q, which is basically what I’m looking for, but the software support was never all that great.
I want Apple to tackle this, but I doubt they ever will. A smartwatch that has an elegant traditional face, no screen, but all the sensor tech 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 that you had with a product than they did on getting you addicted to the product itself. At one time, Facebook and Twitter (now X) had chronological timelines by default, instead of hiding these behind layers of menus. Those timelines allowed you to do what the sites were made for: keep up with friends.
Years ago, I would check my Twitter feed first thing in the morning by using a third-party app I was on the team for. The app would remember where you last were on the timeline, and then allow you to scroll to the present time. So, I would scroll through the people I followed, interact with them, and then move on with my day.
Now, the algorithms are designed to keep you hooked for hours on end, and smartwatches are just part of that formula. A smartwatch is more about how it can bring you back to your phone than just to be a way to tell time and track fitness metrics, and I really hope that changes someday.
Heart Rate Monitor
Yes
Color Screen
Yes
The Apple Watch Series 11 offers the ability to sense high blood pressure and a sleep score similar to many health app competitors.
Brand
Withings
Heart Rate Monitor
Yes
The Withings ScanWatch is a hybrid smartwatch with an array of smartphone-connected features.
