Yep. I hope this teaches people that automatically assuming the worst about Apple is just a sign of a default set of assumptions that are well worth reconsidering.
How are they receiving notifications on their watches if their phones are off?
If the theatre has a wifi network you’ve previously joined, then the watch can join the network on its own.
Also, it’s a rare person who completely powers down their phone or puts it into airplane mode in a movie theatre; most just set it to silent / do not disturb.
Well indeed, and that’s why I rarely go to the cinema any more. Anything that encourages people not to do so is a bad thing in my book.
I’m left circling back to my main issue. Why do you need notifications in the middle of a movie? I don’t care if its on your watch or on your phone.
There are limited examples I could create, being the son of a firefighter makes this particularly easy, but generally you shouldn’t. If you’re not a surgeon, paramedic, or other critical type emergency person, turn it off.
Well first and foremost, forget notifications. The Apple Watch screen will light up if you move your arm in a way it thinks might mean you want to look at it. Even if your phone is off, even if the watch is in do not disturb. It’s not as obnoxious as a phone screen lighting up, but I’ve been self conscious about it before. This solves that. Worth it for that alone.
And I’m also sympathetic to people who do need to get notifications, if they want to see a movie and handle the notifications responsibly.
I’m a DBA (sorta) and every four weeks I’m on call. That means responding in the unlikely event that there’s a severe problem with a server. Rare enough I wouldn’t let the possibility stop me from going to a movie, but important enough I still need to be able to respond, and not just in two hours when I check my phone again.
Now this doesn’t have anything specifically to do with my watch, because it’s not synced with the separate on-call phone I carry those days, but it’s a situation where I’m watching a movie but do need notifications, and I take both seriously. So the on-call phone is on vibrate but silent, face down in my lap or the cup holder of the seat, so I can hear the vibrate, and get up and leave the theater to check the message/answer the call in the event something actually happens.
That’s a pretty specific scenario both in the need to stay aware of my phone, and in the care I take not to disturb others. But any feature like this that would (theoretically) help me out with that situation—and with no downside for anyone else in any case—looks like a win for me. I think the individual would already have to be likeminded in their determination not to disturb others, this feature isn’t going to make people more considerate, but it can be more convenient for people who are already trying to be considerate.
[quote=“CraigM, post:26, topic:127863, full:true”]There are limited examples I could create, being the son of a firefighter makes this particularly easy, but generally you shouldn’t. If you’re not a surgeon, paramedic, or other critical type emergency person, turn it off.
[/quote]
Apple invents a way to make the moviegoing experience more bearable for firefighters, surgeons and paramedics. Apple ruins it for everyone else in the process.
What are you talking about? Apple Watches are already out there. This makes it better for everyone in the theatre.
Yeah we covered this. Theater mode for the Apple Watch will not make considerate people into jerks, or jerks into considerate people.
But it will make the watch more useful and convenient for considerate people.
There is no downside to this feature. It’s an improvement that might have limited appeal at worst, but it’s an improvement.
Nobody actually turns off their phones, do they? You know you can flip that silence switch and keep it on and sit in the movie theater not bothering anyone…
I can’t remember the last time I turned my phone off for any other reason than to reboot it, and that’s like once every quarter.
Yes I do. Vibrations are annoying. As are bright screens.
And I turned my phone off just this morning, as I was covering a trial, and phones aren’t allowed to be on in court (even on silent) .
But do we agree this theater mode is okay or not? I can’t change how screwed up some of my friends are politically, so I’m throwing all my weight behind convincing everyone in this thread how right I am about a feature on my watch.
I don’t agree it’s OK. I don’t think it’s the end of the world or anything, but I’m not going to support anything that doesn’t reinforce the norm of phones off in cinemas.
Pistols at dawn!
I shall be your second. Huzzah!
JIIIIIHAAAAAAADDDDDD!!
Wait, sorry, this is an Apple phone-related thread. I have no stake here! ;-)
REPORTED. And perhaps we should lock this thread, too? I’m guessing it’s also high on Google Search for referrals to Qt3. Especially since Theater Mode turned out to be a very benign feature for Apple Watch users. I turn it on regularly, especially when putting my kids to bed!
That ain’t going to happen until the last cinema is shuttered.