I’m not sure I want to put my Apple Watch back on

This post was edited with the help of an AI model. I don't do that anymore, but I've added a notice to this post for transparancy.

Since upgrading to the Apple Watch Series 10, I’ve got a serious problem: contact dermatitis.

Never happened with my Watch Ultra. Nor with the Series 5 before it. But this one? I’ll spare you the grisly details; suffice to say, every so often I have to stop wearing it for a few days, just to let the skin breathe and heal.

My most recent break has been the longest yet: over a week. That’s when I started thinking — I can’t keep going like this without trying to fix it. I began hunting for protective film covers for the sensor array under the Watch. I was seconds from hitting “order”. Then I paused. And asked myself: do I actually want to go back to wearing a smartwatch?

Ten years of feature creep

I’ve worn a smartwatch for nearly a decade.

It started with a Pebble, then a Pebble Time. Then Android watches. In 2019 I switched to iPhone and naturally got an Apple Watch. Since then I’ve had one continuously.

In 2013, the appeal of smartwatches was simple: notifications, music control, telling the time. Over time the watch evolved: I now leave my phone behind and can still get messages, calls, maps, podcasts, and even record workouts.

That’s convenient, except somewhere along the way, I stopped asking whether I wanted an internet-connected device strapped to my wrist all the time. I always thought I loved the cellular independence of the Apple Watch as a way to disconnect from my phone — but looking back, that might be the crux of the issue: escape becomes impossible when you’ve got the internet on your body.

Apple Watch ⌚️ or Apple Watch 👀

The big selling point these days is health & fitness tracking. Wear it pretty much 24/7 and it learns everything about you: sleep, fitness, movement. It can tell you when your heart rate is elevated, whether you might have sleep apnea, and how fit you are.

Here’s the thing: it’s great at measuring, awful at guiding.

I’ve got six years of data in the Health app and I’ve learnt almost nothing useful from it. No sudden revelations; no helpful hints.

I’m healthy enough. Sleep’s usually fine. If it’s not, I already know why — travel, wine, stress. But I’m not training for an Ironman. I go to the gym, walk the dog, go for a run sometimes.

Without a coach interpreting the numbers, most of these stats are meaningless. If you’re broadly healthy, the watch becomes: “We’ll keep an eye on you” — which is okay… except that feedback without coaching just feels like judgement.

What I actually miss

Going a week without the Watch has surfaced the few things I genuinely miss:

All fixable. A dumb watch, a £4 kitchen timer, and a good old alarm clock cover this ground. So I’m going back to basics for now.

Conclusion

The watch isn’t evil. It’s clever. But clever doesn’t always mean necessary. For me right now — a generally healthy person, not chasing extremes — it might be doing less than it promises, and more than I signed up for.

So I’ll experiment with non-smart, low-tech alternatives. I’ll report back. If nothing else, my wrist will thank me — and maybe my brain too.