Apple Watch needs to have Continuity with iPad, but iPadOS is holding it back.
I love running on my treadmill and watching videos on my iPad, and that setup is perfect to project my Apple Watch metrics onto the iPad. It makes perfect sense, and would allow me to be more intentional with my running instead of repeatedly looking at my watch.
This feature already exists on the iPhone when I noticed my biking workouts project real-time metrics onto the Lock Screen and the Fitness app. Gym equipment also connects with Apple Watch, giving you more accurate information.
There is a general lack of compatibility (or Continuity per Apple lingo), between iPad and Apple Watch, even at this turning point where all of Apple’s platforms have now unified their naming scheme. Apple Watch is already intimately linked to the iPhone, and provides crucially convenient features for Mac users such as Apple Pay and Auto Unlock with Apple Watch. I use both of these Mac features on my 12-year-old, 2013 MacBook Pro, and it still works flawlessly.
The iPad doesn’t have a true clamshell mode, so it would need to be updated before Auto Unlock with Apple Watch and Apple Pay could be a feature. Hopefully we can see an update in iPadOS 27 for more Continuity features starting with these two, and yes, projecting workout metrics to the iPad screen.
I love running on my treadmill and watching videos on my iPad, and that setup is perfect to project my Apple Watch metrics onto the iPad. It makes perfect sense, and would allow me to be more intentional with my running instead of repeatedly looking at my watch.
This feature already exists on the iPhone when I noticed my biking workouts project real-time metrics onto the Lock Screen and the Fitness app. Gym equipment also connects with Apple Watch, giving you more accurate information.
There is a general lack of compatibility (or Continuity per Apple lingo), between iPad and Apple Watch, even at this turning point where all of Apple’s platforms have now unified their naming scheme. Apple Watch is already intimately linked to the iPhone, and provides crucially convenient features for Mac users such as Apple Pay and Auto Unlock with Apple Watch. I use both of these Mac features on my 12-year-old, 2013 MacBook Pro, and it still works flawlessly.
The iPad doesn’t have a true clamshell mode, so it would need to be updated before Auto Unlock with Apple Watch and Apple Pay could be a feature. Hopefully we can see an update in iPadOS 27 for more Continuity features starting with these two, and yes, projecting workout metrics to the iPad screen.
The new Skechers sneakers with a hidden AirTag compartment won’t work like you think it will, but it could get rid of your parental clinginess.
Great summary of how AirTags work, and how they’re not good for pinpoint accuracy (via Jake Peterson from Lifehacker):
Contrary to popular belief, AirTags are not homing beacons that can update their location 24/7. Alone, these tags have no way of updating their location. They lack a GPS chip, or any way to communicate with the internet themselves. Instead, they rely on other devices to update their location for them.
Any Apple device connected to Apple's Find My network can update the location of your AirTag when it comes within Bluetooth range of the tracker. The whole system is passive and anonymous, so no one, not even Apple, knows which devices update the location of your AirTag. But it works: If you leave an item with an AirTag on a bus, for example, anyone on the bus with an iPhone can, unbeknownst to them, refresh your AirTag's location.
The magic behind how AirTags work is also the reason why they're not reliable for live tracking. Without another internet-connected Find My device within Bluetooth range, your AirTag won't be able to update its location. If your kid isn't within Bluetooth range of another person with such a Find My device, for example, you won't see their latest location—just the last known location where they were within range of a Find My device.
But even when they are in range, AirTags tend to be pretty sporadic in how often they refresh their location. As Lifehacker deputy editor Joel Cunningham discovered, sometimes locations wouldn't update for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Occasionally, the AirTag wouldn't update its location at all. So much for tracking.
I tried using an AirTag for tracking my son a couple of years ago (9 years old at the time) when he went on solo bike rides, but its performance was less than stellar to say the least exactly for the reasons stated above.
I was using it wrong.
Biking in the countryside didn’t bring enough Bluetooth traffic to get a reliable approximation of his location. A cheap iPhone SE 2nd gen is infinitely better and is our current solution.
I still think this idea has other benefits, especially for parents who are hesitant to let their kids be on their own and explore the world by themselves as they get older.
The AirTag (as poorly as it performed), removed a psychological barrier from us (mainly my wife), and made it ok to let our kids go out on their own and be kids. No direct supervision and an opportunity to experience life on their own.
Kudos for Skechers for trying. Who knows, maybe Skechers has some inside scoop on the next generation of AirTags having full GPS support?
Great summary of how AirTags work, and how they’re not good for pinpoint accuracy (via Jake Peterson from Lifehacker):
Contrary to popular belief, AirTags are not homing beacons that can update their location 24/7. Alone, these tags have no way of updating their location. They lack a GPS chip, or any way to communicate with the internet themselves. Instead, they rely on other devices to update their location for them.
Any Apple device connected to Apple's Find My network can update the location of your AirTag when it comes within Bluetooth range of the tracker. The whole system is passive and anonymous, so no one, not even Apple, knows which devices update the location of your AirTag. But it works: If you leave an item with an AirTag on a bus, for example, anyone on the bus with an iPhone can, unbeknownst to them, refresh your AirTag's location.
The magic behind how AirTags work is also the reason why they're not reliable for live tracking. Without another internet-connected Find My device within Bluetooth range, your AirTag won't be able to update its location. If your kid isn't within Bluetooth range of another person with such a Find My device, for example, you won't see their latest location—just the last known location where they were within range of a Find My device.
But even when they are in range, AirTags tend to be pretty sporadic in how often they refresh their location. As Lifehacker deputy editor Joel Cunningham discovered, sometimes locations wouldn't update for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Occasionally, the AirTag wouldn't update its location at all. So much for tracking.
I tried using an AirTag for tracking my son a couple of years ago (9 years old at the time) when he went on solo bike rides, but its performance was less than stellar to say the least exactly for the reasons stated above.
I was using it wrong.
Biking in the countryside didn’t bring enough Bluetooth traffic to get a reliable approximation of his location. A cheap iPhone SE 2nd gen is infinitely better and is our current solution.
I still think this idea has other benefits, especially for parents who are hesitant to let their kids be on their own and explore the world by themselves as they get older.
The AirTag (as poorly as it performed), removed a psychological barrier from us (mainly my wife), and made it ok to let our kids go out on their own and be kids. No direct supervision and an opportunity to experience life on their own.
Kudos for Skechers for trying. Who knows, maybe Skechers has some inside scoop on the next generation of AirTags having full GPS support?