Watching Video Will Come To The Apple Watch (Not Just The Ultra)

We will not be like Dick Tracy and do video calls on the Apple Watch any time soon if ever and I’m fine with to given privacy issues - I don’t want or need a camera on my watch. But I would like to be able it watch old Dick Tracy cartoons and the one movie starring Warren Beatty on my Apple Watch. It’s going to happen. And I think it will happen soon. 

Why? Have you seen the screen size of Apple Watch these days? As a proud owner of 44 mm (1.73”) Series 6, the screen is plenty big for my aging eyes  once in a while, some video will play on my watch  it’s small but watchable  in a pinch if you happen to be waiting in line and have a minutes to kill. 

Short form videos would be an excellent example of why we should be allowed to watch videos on the watch.

Folks are are fortunate enough to have the Apple Watch Ultra on their wrists have unanimously noted how big and bright the screen in at 49 mm (1.93”) and a few have even suggested that they would love to watch videos on their Ultra.

There are already ways to watch video on the Apple Watch but it would be great if Apple brings more support to WatchOS. So far, I've only found on one app that lets me watch video. Here is a sample with a Youtube video playing on my watch.

Here are some interesting notes from watching the video on the Apple Watch:

• It works. It's not too small for general viewing. If there are words or anything that needs to be read, you can forget about it. For that it's too small. 
• I recall watching video on my iPod. It was not too small then. The screen on the watch is smaller but not by much.
• It is for a short duration. Some Youtube videos. Short form videos. In fact, I suggest that I am not sure if I will be able to get through a whole sitcom. However, you never know. If you're at the DMV and all you have is your Apple Watch, maybe an episode of The Big Bang Theory might help pass the time.
• Battery will be an issue. No need to really get into this. I did not watch the Youtube video long enough to see the impact on the battery life. I think it could get ugly. 
• So will be storage. Apple has not increase the storage of the watch for a while now. The original Apple Watch through the third generation has 8 GB. I recall having to delete a lot of stuff in order to update the OS. Interestingly, the Series 4 was the only one with 16 GB while Series 5 and on has 32 GB. Yeah, that could do for a movie or two but not much more if you have podcasts, music, and apps installed. If Apple eventually go 64 GB, sure why not but that's a lot of apps that currently felt limited. I think it would help to have more map, photos, or other information stored on the watch. With 64 GB, I would want to be able to store and watch videos. Even if I am not watching, if I can listen to the audio, that is fine with me.
• The video was pretty crisp. Not like watch TV on those old portable TV from the 90s. I had expected that but I was very impressed with the quality despite it being small. 
• Apple will need to provide a more robust framework for video viewing on the watch. A couple of things will have to happen for this to go forward with official support - the chip in the watch has to be faster and more efficient. I feel the current chip in the Apple Watch will strain to show videos while doing other tasks in the background. 

Only Apple knows if it will bring video watch to the Apple Watch. And if Apple has that on the roadmap, only Apple know when it will make it happen. Meanwhile, there are a lot of folks who are interested in this feature, even now with the current tech in the Apple Watch. 

I have a lot of videos on my Apple TV and iTunes account. I would love to be able to download them and have them readily available to watch or just to listen to the audio in the background. More and more, I am leaving my iPhone at home because my watch is more than enough to allow me to stay in touch with messages, emails, and calls. 

Would be nice to have a few of my videos along with me if I happen to be bored somewhere and having a video to watch would sure help pass the time.