Technologies

Apple Watch 10 Years Later: The Feature That Changed Everything for Me

Here’s a look back at the turning point that made the Apple Watch into a powerful health tool and what’s kept it relevant in the face of competitors for a decade.

I wasn’t immediately sold on the Apple Watch. But five years ago, it alerted me to a serious health problem, earning it a permanent spot on my wrist. Ten years after its launch, the Apple Watch still stands apart, even as a flood of other wearables and fitness trackers have hit the market.

It took several years for the Apple Watch to find its footing beyond just being an iPhone companion. Over the past decade, similar health tracking devices from companies like Samsung, Google and Oura have since ramped up competition. A March report from Counterpoint Research revealed a 19% drop in Apple Watch shipments in 2024, due to heightened competition and less frequent upgrades. Despite that, the Apple Watch has held onto its spot as the best-selling smartwatch in the world, with a lineup that now includes the Series 10, Ultra, and SE.

For many people, including me, it’s become a way to make data personal and meaningful. It’s an easy way to keep tabs on loved ones. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s been a literal life changer.

A very memorable ‘one more thing…’

Rumors about the Apple Watch, or «iWatch» as most people called it, had been simmering long before its launch. In 2014, fitness trackers and smartwatches like the Fitbit, Jawbone Up and Samsung Galaxy Gear Watch had already been on sale and were vying for a spot on people’s wrists. I liked testing these early trackers and watches because they got me outside of the office, but sooner or later, the novelty would wear off, and I’d retire them to my desk drawer. I wasn’t much of a watch or bracelet wearer to begin with, and most early smartwatches didn’t offer me enough incentive to keep wearing them.

Then, in September 2014, Tim Cook unveiled the Apple Watch during a keynote for the iPhone 6 (it arrived in stores on April 24, 2015). I remember holding the Apple Watch for the first time in the demo room after the announcement and thinking it was the best-looking smartwatch I’d ever seen. But that wasn’t much of a compliment considering most pre-Apple Watch wearables lacked fashion appeal and had a more utilitarian vibe. The Galaxy Gear screamed «nerd gadget» with its bulky camera on the strap and a mic on the clasp. The cult favorite Pebble Watch looked more like a plastic toy than a timeless piece. (Sorry, Pebble fans.)

That first Apple Watch appealed to me on a couple of levels. It was Apple’s first new product category since the 2010 launch of the original iPad. It was also the first major tech event that I covered as a journalist. Ultimately, in my Apple Watch review for CNET en Español, I concluded it was a nice iPhone companion, but I wasn’t sure I needed it.

The turning point: When my heart skipped a beat

By the time the Series 4 rolled around, features like LTE and onboard GPS helped the Apple Watch begin to break free from its dependence on the iPhone. I still wasn’t wearing it every day, but one feature changed that.

«We did have this turning point with the Series 4, where we had a little bit of a leap forward in the sensors. We had the advanced motion sensors that allowed us to offer fall detection, and we had the electrical heart sensor that allowed us to offer the ECG app,» says Deidre Caldbeck, senior director of product marketing for the Apple Watch and Health.

This coincided with the release of other heart features like high and low heart rate alerts, and irregular rhythm notifications, which use the optical sensors in the watch to notify users to possible signs of atrial fibrillation, a potentially life-threatening heart condition.

In December 2018, I was at the UCSF Medical Center with cardiologist Dr. Gregory Marcus, testing the new electrocardiogram feature for a CNET story — comparing it with a full-fledged, medical-grade electrocardiogram at the hospital. The last thing I expected was for the Apple Watch to catch something abnormal about my heart rhythm.

But it did.

I had 12 leads from the hospital’s EKG monitor attached to my body while I simultaneously took an ECG reading with the Apple Watch, using my index finger on the digital crown. Marcus signaled to something on the machine — a small irregularity disrupting my heart’s otherwise steady, melodic rhythm. I looked down, and the same out-of-place little wave popped up on the Apple Watch’s screen. My heart was literally skipping a beat.

At the time, I freaked out about what all this could possibly mean. But after some research and a follow-up visit, Marcus concluded that my premature ventricular contraction wasn’t serious or permanent. It was likely triggered by sleep deprivation and stress. I was a new mother to a 1-year-old, after all.

My story took on an unexpected personal turn, and I was left feeling completely different about having Apple’s tech strapped to my wrist. If it was powerful enough to surface such a nuanced heart condition, what else could it show me?

By Christmas of that same year, I had bought an Apple Watch for both my parents. They’re in their 70s and live in El Salvador. I figured if I couldn’t be there physically to watch them, I’d at least want them to have an Apple Watch to let them know if something was off.

It turns out that stories like mine helped Apple see beyond the Apple Watch’s innovative tech and drive the company in a direction steeped in health, wellness and early detection.

«What really inspired and motivated us to do more and to continue to pull on those threads and push the boundaries of what this device could do,» Caldbeck said, «[was] hearing stories from users about learning something about their health that they wouldn’t have otherwise learned because they’re wearing this device throughout the day.»

The Apple Watch as a diagnostic tool

Recently, I caught up with Marcus, nearly seven years after my original story, and talked with him about how he now uses ECGs from devices like the Apple Watch to help diagnose heart conditions in his patients.

«When a consumer or user obtains an EKG, it’ll get some sort of read — possible atrial fibrillation, normal, etc. That is not sufficient,» Marcus said. «Those recordings can be saved, usually as a PDF, and sent to a health care professional. The health care professional can make a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation using those EKGs.»

Marcus’s praise also came with a warning. Sometimes, having all this information, especially for heart rate alerts, can cause patients to worry unnecessarily, even if they are otherwise healthy and show no other symptoms.

«If you’re going to screen a huge population, almost by definition you’re going to have some number of false positive results,» Marcus said. «False positive results are going to lead to unnecessary anxiety, unnecessary testing, maybe unnecessary treatment.»

A jumping off point into other vitals

ECG and heart rate notifications were just the beginning. Now, the Apple Watch can flag signs of sleep apnea, overall mobility, hearing health, menstrual cycles changes and cardiovascular trends to name a few.

For years, I’ve tracked workouts with the Apple Watch and relied on the Move rings to hold me accountable for how much (or how little) activity I had throughout the day. Over time, Apple added more advanced metrics like VO2 Max, Cardio Fitness, Heart Rate Zones and Training Load, which allowed me to get more out of my workouts and stay focused on long-term health goals. The Training Load feature helps me decide when to exercise. Heart Rate Zones and notifications push me during the workout. And VO2 Max and Cardio Fitness scores give me a benchmark to work toward. As a mom of three who’s hard-pressed to carve out even 30 minutes for myself, that kind of focus the Apple Watch brings has been key to making my workouts more impactful.

I may have had a few choice words for the Apple Watch when it alerted me that my Fitness Score dipped days after birthing a human. But it was the push I needed to get back into post-baby shape after my pregnancies. I’m happy to report I’ve reclaimed my «high» score that I still wear with pride.

These features aren’t exclusive to the Apple Watch. In fact, Apple isn’t always the first to roll them out. But I appreciate how the Watch translates them into something relevant, so they don’t get lost in the endless sea of data.

Turning a chore into something seamless

The Apple Watch has affected my life in other ways too. I used tech to track my menstrual cycle well before it debuted on the Apple Watch in 2019. For my first baby, I used a smart thermometer to share basal body temperature readings (an indicator of ovulation and fertility) to my iPhone. It wasn’t seamless, since it required me to remember to do it before getting out of bed, but it beat the old-school pen and paper method.

Once the Apple Watch introduced cycle tracking, I ditched the thermometer and started logging everything on my wrist. Initially, it may not have been as accurate since it didn’t track temperature changes. But the convenience of having the tracking on my watch helped me stay consistent and accurately pinpoint my fertility window.

Apple added two sensors to the Watch Series 8 (and newer), which allow them to track subtle changes in body temperature. The combination of cycle tracking and recording these subtle temperature shifts helped me better confirm ovulation, and it may have played a hand in welcoming baby No. 3.

What really keeps me coming back

The Series 10 currently on my wrist still feels (and looks) a lot like that original Apple Watch smartwatch I reviewed back in 2015. It’s kept the core features that make my life easier — like pinging my phone (which I use an embarrassing number of times), and that spares me from having to dig through my Mary Poppins purse for my phone or wallet at the checkout counter. And the battery life continues to be a pain point 10 years later, though at least I can now squeeze in a full night’s sleep before having to top it off.

Features like cycle tracking and cardio fitness resonate with me the most, but I know that my preferences will continue to evolve alongside the watch. Maybe once my kids are older and I start getting more consistent sleep, I’ll lean more into sleep tracking features or whatever new tool Apple has in store for the watch that year.

The Apple Watch’s real evolution over the past 10 years happened under the hood and isn’t about a single feature. What keeps me (and my family) coming back to the Apple Watch is the personal way in which it tracks the metrics that are relevant to me and steps in when it matters, whether with a nudge to get moving, a health alert or a literal call for help in an emergency.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Oct. 22

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 22.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s one of those with absolutely no empty spaces, just a grid of letters, which means if you correctly answer all the Across answers, you’ve solved the Down answers, too. Need help? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Roomful of students
Answer: CLASS

6A clue: Something to bring in a brown paper bag
Answer: LUNCH

7A clue: __ Harbor, sightseeing area of Baltimore
Answer: INNER

8A clue: Where many Stephen King novels are set
Answer: MAINE

9A clue: Beagle or bulldog
Answer: BREED

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Go bouldering, e.g.
Answer: CLIMB

2D clue: ___ New Year
Answer: LUNAR

3D clue: Redhead of musical/movie fame
Answer: ANNIE

4D clue: Something an actor might steal
Answer: SCENE

5D clue: Tear to pieces
Answer: SHRED

Technologies

These Small Tweaks Can Give Your Old Android a Big Speed Boost

Instead of buying a new phone, try clearing some space, updating your software and changing a few battery settings.

If your Android is a few years old and starting to feel sluggish, it doesn’t mean you have to rush out and buy the newest flagship model. Thanks to longer software support from brands like Google and Samsung, older models can still run smoothly, as long as you give them a little attention.

Before you start shopping for a replacement, try a few simple adjustments. You might be surprised by how much faster your phone feels once you clear out unused apps, optimize battery use and turn off background drains.

Whether you use a Samsung Galaxy, Motorola or OnePlus phone, chances are you can still improve battery life and overall speed without buying something new. Just remember that Android settings vary slightly from brand to brand, so the menus may look a little different depending on your phone.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Settings to improve your battery life

Living with a phone that has poor battery life can be infuriating, but there are some steps you can take to maximize each charge right from the very beginning:

1. Turn off auto screen brightness or adaptive brightness and set the brightness level slider to under 50%

The brighter your screen, the more battery power it uses.

To get to the setting, pull down the shortcut menu from the top of the screen and adjust the slider, if it’s there. Some phones may have a toggle for auto brightness in the shortcut panel; otherwise, you need to open the settings app and search for «brightness» to find the setting and turn it off.

2. Use Adaptive Battery and Battery Optimization

These features focus on learning how you use your phone, including which apps you use and when, and then optimizing the apps and the amount of battery they use.

Some Android phones have a dedicated Battery section in the Settings app, while other phones (looking at you, Samsung) bury these settings. It’s a little different for each phone. I recommend opening your settings and searching for «battery» to find the right screen. Your phone may also have an adaptive charging setting that can monitor how quickly your phone battery charges overnight to preserve its health.

Why you should use dark mode more often

Another way to improve battery life while also helping save your eyes is to use Android’s dedicated dark mode. Any Android phone running Android 10 or newer will have a dedicated dark mode option.

According to Google, dark mode not only reduces the strain that smartphone displays cause on our eyes but also improves battery life because it takes less power to display dark backgrounds on OLED displays (used in most flagship phones) than a white background.

Depending on which version of Android your phone is running, and what company made your phone, you may have to dig around the settings app to find a dark mode. If your phone runs Android 10 or newer, you’ll be able to turn on system-wide dark mode. If it runs Android 9, don’t despair. Plenty of apps have their own dark mode option in the settings that you can use, whether or not you have Android 10.

To turn it on dark mode, open the Settings app and search for Dark Mode, Dark Theme or even Night Mode (as Samsung likes to call it). I suggest using dark mode all the time, but if you’re not sure, you can always set dark mode to automatically turn on based on a schedule, say from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day, or allow it to automatically switch based on your location at sunset and sunrise.

Keep your home screen free of clutter

Planning to hit up the Google Play Store for a bunch of new Android apps? Be prepared for a lot of icon clutter on your home screen, which is where shortcuts land every time you install something.

If you don’t want that, there’s a simple way out of this: Long-press on an empty area of your home screen and tap Settings. Find the option labeled something along the lines of Add icon to Home Screen or Add new apps to Home Screen and turn it off.

Presto! No more icons on the home screen when you install new apps. You can still add shortcuts by dragging an app’s icon out of the app drawer, but they won’t appear on your home screen unless you want them to.

Read more: Best Android Phones You Can Buy in 2024

Set up Do Not Disturb so that you can better focus

If your phone routinely spends the night on your nightstand, you probably don’t want it beeping or buzzing every time there’s a call, message or Facebook alert — especially when you’re trying to sleep. Android offers a Do Not Disturb mode that will keep the phone more or less silent during designated hours. On some phones, this is referred to as the Downtime setting or even Quiet Time.

Head to Settings > Sounds (or Notifications), then look for Do Not Disturb or a similar name. If you can’t find it, search for it using the built-in search feature in your settings.

Using the feature, you can set up a range of hours when you want to turn off the digital noise. Don’t worry, any notifications you get while Do Not Disturb is turned on will still be waiting for you when you wake up. Also, you can typically make an exception that allows repeat callers and favorite contacts’ calls to go through. Turn that on. If someone is calling you in an emergency, odds are they are going to keep trying.

Always be prepared in case you lose your phone or it’s stolen

Is there anything worse than a lost or stolen phone? Only the knowledge that you could have tracked it down if you had turned on Google’s Find My Device feature.

To prepare for a successful recovery, here’s what you need to do: Open the Settings app and then search for Find My Device. It’s usually in the Security section of the Settings app.

If you have a Samsung device, you can use Samsung’s Find My Mobile service, which is found in Settings > Biometrics and security > Find My Mobile.

Once that’s enabled, you can head to android.com/find from any PC or mobile device and sign in to your account. Samsung users can visit findmymobile.samsung.com to find a lost phone.

If you have trouble setting any of this up, be sure to read our complete guide to finding a lost Android phone.

Assuming your phone is on and online, you should be able to see its location on a map. From there, you can make it ring, lock it, set a lock screen note to tell whoever has it how to get it back to you, or, worst-case scenario, remotely wipe the whole thing.

And always keep your phone up to date

As obvious as it may seem, a simple software update could fix bugs and other issues slowing down your Android device.

Before you download and install the latest software update, make sure your device is connected to Wi-Fi, or else this won’t work.

Now, open the Settings application and type in Update. You’ll then either see Software update or System update — choose either one. Then just download the software, wait for a few minutes and install it when it’s ready. Your Android device will reboot and install the latest software update available.

There’s a lot more to learn about a new phone. Here are the best ways to boost your cell signal, and here’s a flagship phone head-to-head comparison. Plus, check out CNET’s list of the best cases for your Samsung phone. More of an Apple fan? We have tips for boosting your iPhone’s performance, too.

Technologies

I’m Finally Using the iPhone 17 Pro’s Camera Control, Thanks to These iOS 26 Settings

In just a month, I’ve already used Camera Control on my iPhone 17 Pro Max more than I did in a whole year with the iPhone 16 Pro.

I was keen on using the Camera Control button when it first debuted on the iPhone 16 Pro. But in over a year of use, it caused more accidental swipes and presses than its intended use cases to take photos and adjust camera settings. I was frustrated with the experience and hoped that Apple would remove it from the iPhone 17 lineup. Instead, the Cupertino, California-based company made its touch-sensitive capacitive control surface more customizable with iOS 26. And I’m happy to report that it helped!

I’ve been using the iPhone 17 Pro since launch and spent 5 to 10 minutes customizing the Camera Control to my liking. The result? Minimized accidental swipes and more conscious usability.

I transformed my Camera Control experience by changing a few iOS 26 settings

When setting up a new iOS 26-supported iPhone, Apple includes a toggle (now turned off by default) called Light press to adjust Zoom, Exposure and more. This is what used to cause a lot of fake input earlier. I’m glad it is turned off by default.

Apple now also lets you customize the Camera Control further from the Settings menu. I tweaked settings there to personalize my shortcuts, functionalities and more.

For example, I’ve set the Camera Control to launch a Code Scanner on Double Click without requiring the screen to be on. This allows me to scan and pay at payment kiosks (my most frequently used mode of payment) without needing to open the payment app and then tap on a menu to scan a code. If I enter the Code Scanner without Face ID, it requires authentication before making the payment, so it is still as secure as ever.

Earlier, I had set an Action Button shortcut to open Google Pay, but I realized I still need a one-press solution to turn the phone to silent mode. Adding a Code Scanner shortcut to Camera Control frees the Action Button to be my Silent Switch again. Moreover, Code Scanner lets you select from multiple apps to pay a vendor, which could be useful for people who use multiple payment apps.

Secondly, I have turned off the Swipe gesture and selected only three controls that I use most often. Now, when I open the Camera app, I can lightly press on the Camera Control button and then swipe between my selected controls. It doesn’t register swipes from the get-go. This has reduced fake touches and my frustrating experience with the swipe gesture.

To further streamline my controls, I chose Exposure, Styles and Tone, and left out Depth, Zoom and Cameras. This way, I have access to hidden viewfinder settings with a single press-and-swipe gesture at my fingertips.

I also turned off the Clean Preview toggle, so I can still switch between cameras with a single tap, and switched on the Lock Focus and Exposure toggle for a light press-and-hold gesture.

Customizing these settings helped me personalize Camera Control and use it more often. Now, it appeals to me with the settings I need and the way I need them, instead of being an overcrowded mess. And you can personalize your Camera Control, too. Here’s how:

Change Camera Control launch functionality

You can use Camera Control as another Action Button to launch an app of your choice. The only requirement is that the app should have access to the camera.

Go to Settings > Camera > Camera Control.
Under Launch Camera, select the app you need.
Go back and select Single Click or Double Click to open the said app.

I rely on Double Click so I don’t accidentally trigger an app when taking out the iPhone from my pocket. In my opinion, it is the safer and more convenient choice.

Under the same Launch Camera menu, you can also choose if you want the screen to be on or off when opening the app. I have turned it off to save the extra step of scanning my face to access the said app.

Choose the Controls that you want to appear on Camera Control

Apple allows you to choose from six controls, namely, Exposure, Depth, Zoom, Cameras, Styles and Tone. I have chosen three because the other three are available as on-screen toggles in the viewfinder.

Go to Settings > Camera > Camera Control.
Under Controls, make sure Camera Adjustments is turned on.
Tap on Customize.
Under Gesture, turn on Light Press and toggle off Swipe.
Under Controls, choose the functionalities you need.
Now, turn off the Clean Preview toggle if you require the viewfinder toggles to remain accessible.

You can further adjust the Camera Control pressure by going into Settings> Camera > Camera Control > Accessibility.

Turn on Lock Exposure and Focus with Camera Control

This setting will help you lock the exposure and focus without needing to press and hold on the viewfinder. It can be beneficial when you need consistent settings, especially when moving the camera from one subject to another.

Go to Settings > Camera > Camera Control.
Swipe down to Lock Exposure and Focus.
Tap on the toggle to turn it on.

For me, Camera Control was a hot mess when it debuted last year because I was either using on-screen controls or the new button. That’s why room for more personalization and customizability has been a game-changer. I realized I could access on-screen toggles while adding hidden settings to one-tap access. On my iPhone 17 Pro, I now use the Camera Control to open my payments app, adjust Exposure and Styles as well as trigger Visual Intelligence when needed.