All Sections

Apple’s grand plan to solve Watch battery life is…use it less?

Apple has apparently strongly advised developers working on Apple Watch apps that their software should be used for no more than ten seconds at a time, according to Bloomberg Business. Is this a last-ditch attempt to get decent battery life from the troubed wearable?

Apple has been inviting high-profile firms to its Cupertino headquarters for a number of weeks where, under extreme secrecy, they are being coached and assisted as they code what will be the first apps for the company’s premier wearable.

Companies like BMW, Facebook and US-based Starwood Hotels have all been making regular trips to Apple’s HQ and, having signed NDAs and been stripped of anything digital, they’ve been set to work in a top-secret area alongside Apple’s boffins.

While none of those invited to these mysterious workshops have officially commented (no doubt to avoid the wrath of Apple for breaking those NDAs), some loose details have still slipped out surrounding the device and what Apple has in mind for launch-day applications. One of these tidbits according to Bloomeberg is that Apple has ‘suggested’ that apps should be used for no more than ten seconds at a time. And if that’s true, then it’s something that we immediately suspect could be motivated by the Watch’s less-than-stellar battery life.

The Apple Watch was officially unveiled back in September 2014 and the release date, which was supposed to be in time for the holidays, has been pushed back to Spring owing to alleged problems with the device’s battery life.

Apple has reportedly stated that the device will be good for up to four hours usage on a single charge, and apps which require more screen-time will likely eat into that margin voraciously. The Watch will also have to go mano-a-mano with devices like the new Pebble Time Steel, which will cost less than Apple’s wearable and offer users a full ten days of usage on a charge.

We’ll know more about the Apple Watch – and whether or not the company’s smart folk have managed to eke a whole day’s battery life out of it – at the second Watch launch event on March 9th. Until then, it’s back to speculatory business as usual.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *