A Day Of Apple Watch Without the iPhone

I spent a day without the iPhone but I was not completely cut off from my social life online and other connections.  I had my cellular Apple Watch 6 with me the whole time as my main driving device. I did have my WIFI only iPad mini with me as well but only for productive means (writing, drawing) if I had time.

I want to see if we can get to the point when we can rely only on our wearables and, if so, how far along are we.  And of course, we  far will get go with wearables and what forms they will take in the near future.  

It was the first time I am doing this so I have no idea how it'll work out. It was easy day.  A trip to the hospital to get my blood drawn and then lunch.  Afterwards, back home and then took a walk to do local errands.  In all that time, I received two calls.  I missed one while I was driving and another I ignored because it was a scam call.  

I texted a few times.  I asked Siri for updates on scores. And I was constantly checking to see where I am in closing the circles (calories, workout minutes, number of times I stood up).  My goal is average 11,000 steps for all of 2021.  

The battery life held up fine.  Rather, I did not worry about it because it was enough to last me through the day but I took it off twice for quick 15-20 minutes charges.  I also have a charger in the car that I leave in there on a permanent basis - I figure if I'm going to do this often, I ought to have an Apple Watch charger whenever I need it.  

Notes of interest:

• My screen time was reduced obviously.  I felt a bit cut off but there are apps I could have downloaded for news and such but I decided I did not want or need to stay connected.  I have Twitter on my watch but like all watch apps now, they're limited in this use because of the screen.
• I would not mind a bigger screen - a bigger case would accommodate a bigger screen as well as bigger battery.
• I felt liberated at times - it was the weekends.  I did not have to worry about work.  And for emergencies, I could still be reached or reach out.
• Anxious moments - I did not having any.  I felt something was amiss.  It was not having my iPhone with me.  Those moments passed.
• Photos and videos - I take photos at time.  I did not need take any that day but my wife and I went to food fair that night.  She took pictures and videos.  I have an old iPhone without a sim card in the glove compartment to take photos for emergencies.  

That was last Saturday. We are going to Venice Beach today and job up to Santa Monica and then down to Marina Del Rey.  It'll be my Apple Watch only again.  I'm looking forward continuing the wearable only experience.  I think we as a society today are just spending too much time attached to our mobile devices.  Instead of using them as tools, they've become crutches.  With them, we are on worlds, through social media and other apps, that are not connected to the real world around us.  

I also recognize that I do need to stay connected a bit.  This is why I want to explore how wearables can be useful tools and how we can avoid having wearables (AR/VR glasses) take over our lives.