Siri is coming to Apple Watch apps

Reasons users dislike apple watch

(BI Intelligence)

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A new beta version of Apple’s watchOS — the operating system for the Apple Watch — revealed the company is opening up some Apple Watch apps to its voice assistant, Siri, according to Business Insider.

These include fitness apps, payments, rides, and messages.

While the software is still in development, this will eventually allow Apple Watch owners to do ask Siri to complete actions like ordering an Uber through their Watch rather than having to do it through their phone.

Voice assistant integration into the Apple Watch could improve the user experience. A pitfall of overall smartwatch industry is a lack of functionality. This is in part due to the smaller screen size, which limits what apps can show at any one time. Voice-integration removes the friction that might arise out of trying to navigate the small screen with their fingers. Adoption of voice recognition in smartwatches could make the devices more useful, even allowing them to eventually challenge the supremacy of the smartphone as a key to the connected world (that is, the car, home, workplace, etc.).

The move could indicate Apple’s strategy for the emerging voice assistant, which differs from rivals Google and Amazon. While the latter two companies are baking their voice assistants, Google Assistant and Alexa, into connected home hardware, Apple appears to be taking a more ubiquitous approach, turning Siri into the universal platform. Siri is now available on all four devices and operating systems — iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and MacOS. Moreover, as Apple’s wireless connected earphones continue to enter the market, Apple is positioning itself as a major player in the voice assistant market.

When they first broke onto the scene, smartwatches were touted as the next generation of devices set to transform consumers’ lives. And brands, service providers, and the healthcare segment were ready to capitalize on their “always on” nature, which promised to provide greater insight into consumer habits. But while the market initially grew rapidly, it has begun to cool off, as consumers become impatient with the technology's lack of distinct capabilities, such as LTE connectivity and device-specific apps.

In the next few years, the smartwatch market will likely see the addition of new functionality and increased capabilities, which will see the device shipments grow at an annualized rate of 18% through 2021 to reach 70 million units.

However, smartwatches are reliant on a number of factors in order to generate any sort of meaningful consumer demand. Until such a time, adoption of smartwatches will likely be sluggish, as consumers wait for vendors to produce products that can run independently from their phones and provide more useful functions.
So what does this mean for the device championed as the replacement for the smartphone? Should vendors manage to implement a lower price point, better functionality, and expanded use cases, there is a vast potential for accelerated global growth. Moreover, because of the low adoption rate thus far, there is still ample opportunity for new entrants to join the market, and capture mind share.

Laurie Beaver, research associate for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on smartwatches that examines all areas of the smartwatch market, including a five-year forecast, key growth trends, market leaders, consumer demand, and more. It also discusses the need for the inclusion of standalone capabilities in smartwatches, as well as the importance of bringing both better apps to the devices and greater consumer awareness of capabilities. Lastly, it explores the nascent smartwatch app market, including its shortcomings and how it can be improved.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Demand for smartwatches has cooled as consumers wait for better functionality. But early demand suggests the market could take off when functionality improves.

• Apple will continue to drive a large portion of the overall market, however, Android Wear devices will quickly catch up as emerging markets begin to adopt the technology.

• Health and fitness remain a dominant segment of the smartwatch market, providing healthcare workers and hospitals with savings opportunities. As technology and app development advances, the benefits of smartwatches within these segments will become even more robust.

• The future of the smartwatch market remains somewhat unclear, however, there is profound opportunity for businesses and developers to begin exploring the nascent smartwatch market. This will give them a head start against competitors.

In full, the report:

• Forecasts smartwatch shipments through 2021 for both overall device shipments as well as by operating system.

• Provides an overview of the main players in both hardware and software, and how they will size up in the future.

• Demonstrates the effect of Apple’s entrance into the market, and why it's unlikely to dictate future growth.

• Gives insight into what technologies need to be worked on in order to incentivize future growth, the effects they will have on the market, and how they can be used.

• And much more.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are several ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now

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