Apple VPs Kevin Lynch and Deidre Caldbeck recently sat down for an extensive interview with Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, discussing the upcoming watchOS 10 update (via 9to5Mac).
During the interview, the executives addressed the topic of third-party watch faces on Apple Watch. Lynch emphasized that the watch face serves as the home screen, and Apple aims to ensure reliable and consistent performance across the system.
Caldbeck further explained that Apple’s control over the faces guarantees their functionality even after major watchOS updates.
Apple argues that allowing third-partywatch faces could lead to compatibility issues if changes are made to the operating system, like the upcoming watchOS 10 redesign.
The redesign introduces a new swipe up gesture to reveal a tray of user-selectable widgets, and the company wants to ensure the watch faces remain fully functional.
The executives also highlighted the flexibility Apple offers in customizing watch faces, noting how users can already enhance their faces with complications from third-party apps.
Lynch and Caldbeck also discussed the evolution of the widgets system in watchOS 10, which builds upon the concept of Glances from watchOS 1.0. He then talked about the design decisions behind Force Touch in the original Apple Watch and its subsequent removal.
“Because the screen is so small, we wanted a way to add features that you only need occasionally without taking up valuable screen real estate,” explains Lynch.
“So we came up with the idea that you can press harder to access additional functions. That solved our problem. But it created a new one: you didn’t see where to call more functions with it, and you had to know exactly what you were doing. That’s why we looked for alternatives. And now that the screens are significantly larger, we have a lot more ways to display information and additional features.”
For the full interview (published in German), you can visit the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper’s website at this link.
