Watchsmith Reviews

by Tommy_122

I’m so sorry but I’m so confused? I downloaded Watchsmith and there are absolutely no instructions on what to do and it’s not easy to figure it out on your own. I tried the tutorial video but there’s no volume and I’m not sure if it’s meant to be that way but I can’t figure out how to even get these watch faces on my watch at all. Information that should be clear, is not. And the format on customization is another story. I have no idea what I’m doing and absolutely nothing gives me a clear indication on what is happening when I customize the watch face. It would be way better to simply be able to view an example of the watch face after you customize it but I don’t see that anywhere.

Watchsmith is not user friendly at all, I’m super surprised that there aren’t many reviews mentioning that.

by GSTLJohnny

Watchsmith itself is pretty limited on what it can do and I don’t see why there needs to even be a premium membership at all... an app like this should have no need for a paid monthly subscription... the thought is just ridiculous.... but the main reason it’s only getting one star is because there is absolutely no instructions what so ever. I have no clue how to use Watchsmith at all and it’s not intuitive enough to figure out on your own. Also at the top of Watchsmith it says I do not have the Apple Watch app installed, when indeed I do... otherwise my watch would not work at all. Just a bad app on all fronts.

by _timharrison

I love the idea of having complications scheduled for certain times of day, and I admire what the developer has built here, but with what I can only assume are the limitations of WatchOS Watchsmith is extremely limited.

The reviews are all glowing. MacStories says you can “create your own Apple Watch complications.” But in reality, there are a limited set of complications available that are mostly just different looking versions of built in complications such as weather, calendar, time, date, battery percentage, activity, and not much else. So if you want some slightly different versions of the basic built in complications, that’s great, but I’m not blown away by it.

Like I said earlier, being able to schedule complications for certain times of day is cool, but I couldn’t even get that to work reliably. No matter how hard I tried it just wouldn’t show the complication I had scheduled.

Others are complaining about the price, but $2/month isn’t bad to me if it worked reliably. Unfortunately with the limited complications available and the unreliability I cant recommend Watchsmith.

Hopefully it improves over time and I can revisit it.

by Fltsdsurf

Showing shared calendars that are hidden in the calendar app. It makes the calendar tool within Watchsmith bloated and not useful. I’m seeing my wife’s and my calendar at the same time.

Something else killing the calendar complication = 24 timelines aren’t necessary for most people. For example, I only need to see 7am-7pm.

Weather location stuck on LA. Yes, I’ve added a location in Watchsmith . Doesn’t update; even with a force sync or phone watch restart.

The “how to” documentation needs help. I subscribed, but like other users, I need other apps added, otherwise it is very limited and defeating the entire purpose = I want one watchface that it use. I will pay for that, but not for 1/2 that. Adding AutoWake and AutoSleep would be a huge step in this direction.

by DominicHolmes

Really confusing app in general. For every screen I have more questions than answers. That would be fine and I would put in the effort to figure it out, but every complication is like a less-detailed version of other complications. It feels like quantity over quality.

Again — really cool idea but it needs a lot of professional design work. The entire point of Watchsmith is to show beautiful complications... that means they need beautiful designs

by Matt Pesci

I gave the developer $1.99 for the effort, but to have me renew a lot of work is needed. The complications are pretty spartan. The top info graph complication doesn’t show any data in the top text area for example. The weather complications are very limited and Carrot does better. The idea of being able to schedule the complications is great. I’d love to have the default activity rings during the day and have sleep-based rings take the spot at night. I hope the idea takes off, whether through Watchsmith or through Apple taking some of these ideas and implementing them for power use in the future. But the dev deserves credit for having the initiative and giving us something in the meantime, even if it seems not quite professionally designed and perhaps even half baked. Tapping a complication really needs to take you directly to the relevant data. The corner complications need to be designed to be in the corners, not just relocated circles. And the weather graph is phenomenal and the one thing from Watchsmith I really would like to keep.

by Hiram21Mason

Love the concept and am currently a paying subscriber. I really just wish that Watchsmith could follow my location just like so many other apps do. I live in a mountain valley and ten miles of travel can mean the difference of 20 degrees so... the weather function is really worthless to folks like me at the moment.

Please consider this. ^

by ChefLionfFoot

A great concept where your complications can change on your watch at times you set during the day according to your needs. However it is very limited in what complications are available (not all your app complications are compatible) and most are locked anyway and require a subscription $2 a month or $20 a year. Not worth it right now but maybe down the road.

by 8 Bit Snow

Bless this developer for the time and effort he puts into the slow and painful process that is developing for the Apple Watch. That alone is worth throwing money his way!

Only negative thing I can ever say about this amazing human being’s products is... why does he always use fonts that just look weird and very un-iOS feeling? Using the system font isn’t a bad thing.

And now I feel terrible for typing that because I’ve listened to his podcast for years. And this developer just seems like he’s probably one of the top 10 kindest people on earth.

;-)

I look forward to seeing how Watchsmith evolves!

by Wal9000

Has a lot of capabilities but mainly I’m using it to add a digital clock on analog faces.

Some annoying limitations imposed by Apple, like the slot above the time on Infograph Modular only being able to show the date, not a real “Narrow Text” complication as is used in the same position on the Siri face.

Thankfully you don’t need to open the iOS part of Watchsmith once it’s set up how you like it. The lack of dark mode and “unusual” choice of font and support make the UI feel less native than other apps that I know are wrappers around a webpage, but clearly the author knows how to write native UIs for Apple’s platforms. 🤷🏻‍♂️

by JDB

One problem was that I had to reinstall a couple of times for the complication for the weather to update my location. It worked eventually but it seems like it needs work but it could be a watchOS bug.

The other suggestion is for a HomeKit module. Take a look at HomeRun for a good simplistic UI/UX.

I anticipate updating this rating to 5 stars soon.

by CJ S.

I'm not going to talk about the amazing part of Watchsmith. It does what it says it does and it does it well. It's the type of thing that is so amazing, Apple will probably just copy and integrate.
My gripe is that when I go to bed, the watch goes on the nightstand. That's when my this app complications just freeze. I will wake in the morning and this app will tell me I'm at the 40% battery from bedtime when it is really fully charged. And the complication isn't supposed to be showing battery at that time. The only thing I can do, which is now my daily routine, is reboot the watch.
It's frustrating, but this app is so amazing it is worth it.

by Sharon224

I was hesitant to purchase a premium subscription for Watchsmith, but am so glad that I did. The weather complication where I can see more than one day’s data is worth it alone. It’s more informative than what is offered by Apple. Also, the ability to schedule when the complications appear throughout the day is wonderful. In addition you can click on a complication and get more information rather than go into my list of apps. I am excited to see what the developers are able to add to this in the future.

by FM_M

Apple has left a lot of room for functionality in what’s presented on the face of Apple Watch, and this app adds in a big heaping scoop of low hanging fruit. Better and ingenious ways to display information the Watch already has, yet either doesn’t make full use of, or doesn’t offer options for how *you* want to see it.

I’ve been using this app almost since it first came out, and my Watch wouldn’t be the same without it!

by Mackie Cheese

Absolutely awesome app. Makes the complications so much more useful. Having them change by time (location would be a great option too) makes them much more relevant. Turning activity on or off based on when you work out or expect to have rings filled and change to next one is so amazing.

Developer: Could you add third party support? And I would like to see “top info graph” added to “meridian” face as well. Having more options to change would be nice. Keep up the good work.

by Drew In CA

Finally found an app to give me digital time in a small round complication! Would like to see a larger font, bolder font if that’s a possibility. The DDin font is larger, yes, but hopefully it is possible to get a font that truly utilizes the total space available.

Other than that, great job and will be supporting this developer!

by Egougar

I love this app, however, I have one complaint. The battery level reported by the Battery % complication is not updating properly. For example, my watch is fully charged, 100%, but the this app complication in the Infograh top position is showing a battery level of 90%.

by Mattavsamsungtv

David Smith has really out done himself with Watchsmith! Being able to have a scheduled complication that perfectly reflects the data I need at that time of day is just epic. No longer do I have to pick a face that can handle 4 complications just to get more data.

I will agree with some reviews that the interface isn’t super intuitive. However once I discovered how everything worked it’s been easy to schedule the complications I need. The scheduling interface works exactly how you want hold and drag to rearrange the time zones. Drag the endpoints to adjust how long a complication will last. Tap on the complication to edit what appears and how it looks. Interact with the interface how IOS has taught you and you’ll find it “just works”.

The complications are awesome alone; however, the watch app is actually a really nice hub for all kinds of Apple Watch data: heart rate, weather, calendar, workouts, etc. It’s so nice to have a central location on my watch for all these items to exist.

Great job Mr. Smith can’t wait to see how this evolves.

by Twinpeaks_sf

_DavidSmith is really pushing the power of Apple Watch complications with this new app! Time-based triggers allow your complications to change throughout the day — for me, it’s weather when I wake up, my calendar throughout the workday, and my activity rings to close out the evening. There are various options for customizing the look and feel of each, including typeface, color, and overall style.

For those begrudging the subscription model, most elements are included for free. Those that require you subscribe include weather and other data which costs real money to provide to customers. It’s up to you whether you see this as valuable, but I’m a happy subscriber to get this data as well as to show my support for one of the most innovative watchOS developers.

I know there’s many more complication designs and other tricks coming up his sleeves, and I’m glad to support Underscore’s work.

by Crabbing_chris

Updating my review based on the recent version 1.2 update. Love the tide clock added option! Really useful at a glance reference in an area where knowing tide levels are critical for safety on the water. Kudos to the developer for listening and acting on user suggestions.

Watchsmith has superbly innovative features. I love the ability to conditionally change the complications depending on time of day. I happily made the annual in-app upgrade to get the weather and tide feeds. Having an at a glance tide reference on my wrist is so helpful for boating in the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Kudos to the developer for an outstanding app and his responsiveness to a question I submitted.

by Sfrachel

You have to buy to even try the full version. If you want to try a completely slimmed down version than you may want to try it. I read a review on a tech site but they didn’t see them mention the limited trial you get. Not worth it.

by Kcbrez009

I’m done with the subscription model these software development companies are trying to force down our throats. If Watchsmith could turn water into wine, I’d subscribe. Short of that, I’m not interested. It’s a shame too. I was really excited about this product when I read about it on 9to5 Mac.

by Slicc

Tired of subscriptions. Not entirely useful for the “free” version. I’m not willing to subscribe monthly to a complication selector that I can do myself for free with little effort by hard pressing on the watch face.

Now if this allowed you to create your own complications then that would be cool. But I don’t see that. :/

by MusicDevine

Weather paid? I was excited until saw this when setting up. Seems to me workouts or something else could be paid for if you must go that route. I get it. But, weather? Thanks, but no thanks.

by JoshObermeyer

Hello,

I absolutely love Watchsmith and its capabilities! It is a very much needed third party addition to the device! So, so thankful to finally see something like this on Watchsmith Store!

However, this has to be a solid 4 star rating because none of the corner complications are not curved text to match the rest of the watch face complications. It’s very distracting. A good example would be the digital time complication, it makes the text much smaller and harder to read. Please fix this if at all possible!!

Thank you!
Joshua

by AuGlove5

I trust this is a nice app, so I’m giving it 4 Stars, but it is not easy to use. So un-user friendly that I have had it for a week and have not been able to use it

by Muffo87

The idea is very original and Watchsmith has a lot of potential for customization!
Would it be possible to add also work week numbers to the options available?

by NathanBLawrence

If you, like me, find yourself frustrated by the rigidity of having to fit Apple’s complication model into your daily routine and needs, this is the solution.

David is brilliant, this is brilliant as usual, and I’m grateful to have it.

by Raman Pfaff

This is what we’ve needed for ages. I’m already addicted to the little activity dials. Looking forward to further development!

by ChristopherMN12

This is the first of its kind app. Very, very ingenious.

It pushes and defines a new boundary on how complications are used on watchOS.

My favorite use so far has been to put the digital time on a watch face that is analog only. I’ve been testing, and the complication has stayed up to date.

The only issue I have seen is that on my series 5, with the watch faced dimmed, the complication seems to update but is always 1 minute behind. I assume this is a result of when the dimmed face updates complications. Even so, digital time on any watch face that is within a minute or so of real-time is excellent for me.

I’m looking forward to experimenting with the time-based complication swaps. I’m so used to switching between faces that I’m not sure if and how I’ll use that feature.

David cares deeply about his apps, and I look forward to seeing how he can improve on this. I subscribed for a year without even thinking twice. After a year, I’ll re-assess. David is one of the few app developers I’d auto-subscribe to before demonstrating continued support for an app.

I don’t know David personally, by the way. I’m just familiar with his prior apps and his podcast.