{"id":11739,"date":"2022-09-25T15:17:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-25T19:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/?p=11739"},"modified":"2022-12-22T15:31:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T20:31:32","slug":"apple-motorcycles-riding-with-iphone-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2022\/09\/25\/apple-motorcycles-riding-with-iphone-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple + Motorcycles – Riding with iPhone & Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
I never thought I\u2019d be able to blend two of my favorite things in a post sent to motorcycle riders but here we are talking about Apple & Motorcycling. It\u2019s not all fun and games, don\u2019t worry I have some gripes as well but if you are an Android user or, for some reason, not a motorcycle rider, you can stop reading. I may cross-post this to my blog for added visibility to the technology folks who read my writings over there. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Apple hosts an annual event where they release new products that are consumer centric and portable, namely iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch. That event occurred a couple of weeks ago and contained the usual once a year refreshes of some products I rely on but don\u2019t really love. I love the Macintosh. If you asked me to pick just one Apple product, it would be the MacBook Pro 16\u201d and formerly, the MacPro. I could get by with a flip phone and mechanical watch and Windows powered tablet but I can\u2019t live without the Mac. I do wear an Apple Watch full time and despite owning all 7 generations of it, I only use it for notifications and answering calls when I\u2019m under a motorcycle doing an oil change. I sleep and shower with the watch on and charge it 2-3 hours during the day while at my desk to 100%. The iPhone is with me when I leave the house but mostly lives on the charger. It charges at my desk, in my car, on my bike and I don\u2019t carry it around with me. At night, when I\u2019m on the couch, the phone is still at my desk. Despite this, I\u2019ve owned nearly every iPhone since 2007 and upgrade every year. AirPods, I\u2019ve lost more than I care to admit so I\u2019ve bought a LOT of AirPods, first the original then the Pro models and the Max. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Finally, Apple\u2019s amazingly complex optical image stabilization that\u2019s in all but one of their iPhone cameras still is not safe to use on motorcycles. This technology isn\u2019t fully compatible with our vibrating motors and Apple has yet to find a technical breakthrough to make it work. Motorcycle riders are still asked to not mount their phones to their bikes. I do but via a vibration damping mount but still, it just seems like we aren\u2019t at the top of the product team\u2019s list when it comes to technical improvements. This issue isn\u2019t exclusive to Apple\u2019s phones but they could work on a fix with their resources.One very welcome improvement is iPhone\u2019s always-on screen. The screen drops to a very low power output setting and changes its refresh rate to once per second (versus 60-120FPS usually). This saves a ton of power. But it means for me, someone who is constantly getting calls, emails and messages can alleviate a natural and trained anxiety I have about missing a message from my boss and the phone, docked to my handlebars is always on without being unlocked and at a high brightness. I like that my phone is always showing me notifications and it is something you can turn off if you\u2019d like. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u2026and then there\u2019s the new Apple Watch Ultra which I\u2019ve purchased because of course I did since my $900 Titanium Apple Watch purchased 10 months ago was no longer \u2018new\u2019 and thus sold to someone on eBay for $750 since you can\u2019t purchase it anymore. The new Apple Watch Ultra seems like an overlander \/ adventure rider\u2019s dream. Highly accurate GPS, tracking features with one button waypoint markers so you can press a big orange button to mark a spot like where you\u2019re camping or where you left your friends and 36 hours to 1 week of battery life depending on usage along with being more resilient to extreme cold and heat and having a brighter screen that looks great outdoors oh and don\u2019t forget the massively loud emergency alarm you can trigger if you get lost that can be heard from miles away. Every motorcycle rider should get one of these but there\u2019s one big issue. No, it\u2019s not the lack of motorcycle crash detection that someone should absolutely test but it won\u2019t be me. Instead, it\u2019s the design and size. See, the Ultra is HUGE. It\u2019s twice as large as the current Apple Watch. The Digital Crown is larger but covered by a bumper that protects the crown and is likely harder to use with motorcycle gloves and that new big orange button you have to mark your location and other tasks, well that\u2019s going to be obscured by anyone wearing riding gear such as a long sleeve jacket or gloves. The size of the watch means it will make it hard to use with tight gauntlet gloves and the screen will still suffer from fake presses while wearing large gloves. I already have issues fitting my 45MM Apple Watch under large gloves and this is 49MM and twice the height (thickness) with straps that are even larger. About the only things going for it would be the emergency alarm and long lasting battery at least when it comes to the appeal it has to motorcycle riders.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I think the Ultra is going to be a cool watch and I can\u2019t wait to use it but I think maybe motorcycling just isn\u2019t the top of many designer\u2019s list of use cases to appeal to. I\u2019ll give it a go and maybe all of my assumptions are going to be dead wrong when it arrives in a few days.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The last adventure-centric item from Apple though arrived just in the nick of time. They\u2019re adding 2 really great features for those of us who regularly spend multiple days off-grid. That\u2019s a satellite communication feature. I saw a lot of tech reviewers mention that this is only for extreme people and they can\u2019t imagine a use case for it. I picked up my new iPhone 14 Pro Max on release day a few days ago, charged it, put it on my motorcycle and went camping. An hour into my ride, my iPhone\u2019s cell signal bars showed \u201cSOS\u201d instead of Verizon. Yep, I was in satellite mode. I was in that mode for 2 straight days. The iPhone wasn\u2019t talking to any cell phone towers but it was ready, if I needed it, to walk me through an SOS broadcast to call centers that would dispatch help.IPhone 14 and 14 Pro will have 2 years of free SOS and I\u2019ve already cancelled my Garmin InReach Plan which was $30 a month. I don\u2019t need InReach tracking anymore thanks to my RLink which integrates with Revver) and I never used the InReach texting location to my wife so if iPhone can dispatch search & rescue and not charge me for the connection, that\u2019s a huge win. It also works to update your location in Find My so I can manually trigger a location share which I did with my wife when I got to the campsite. I pushed my location to her and she could see I was at a campground. We couldn\u2019t communicate but she knew I had arrived, something that the InReach did more passively via a Map Share Link that I share with her that\u2019s password protected.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This year\u2019s Apple product innovations are a step in the right direction. A more rugged watch with longer battery life and some features that may not work for most motorcyclists, crash detection that might work if you\u2019re on a motorcycle, a new satellite system that will save your life when you\u2019re off-grid and let you tell loved ones where you are when it\u2019s time to setup camp or when you get to the top of that mountain oh and finally, new AirPods which their most exciting feature is the ability to pipe people\u2019s voices in through your ears but eliminate loud noises such as horns, traffic, jackhammers and trains. Not a feature I need when in the woods but it will cause me to wear them more often in noisy areas when I am talking to someone but don\u2019t want a lot of outside noises other than their voice. Pretty cool tech!So there you have it. A newsletter about Apple and Motorcycles. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be able to pull it off. I hope you enjoyed it!<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I never thought I\u2019d be able to blend two of my favorite things in a post sent to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[148],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-my-bike","7":"cs-entry","8":"cs-video-wrap"},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-33l","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12206,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2024\/01\/03\/linked-devices-that-are-not-usb-c-in-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":11739,"position":0},"title":"Linked: Devices that are not USB C in my life","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"January 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"via MereCivilian: With that said, the following are my NON USB C devices (that I use regularly):\u2026 Interesting review and very Apple-centric. I\u2019m not in a big rush for USB-C but my list is probably pretty extensive given my outdoors sports devices that are very costly to replace if they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12872,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2025\/06\/22\/hobbies-the-10-year-itch\/","url_meta":{"origin":11739,"position":1},"title":"Hobbies & The 10 Year Itch","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"June 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"As a child, I had one love and it was surfing. 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From that post: The Apple Watch Edition line had been available since the launch of the original Apple Watch in 2015, and in recent years had offered titanium casings with an additional, exclusive watch band. The Apple Watch Ultra is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BestBuy1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BestBuy1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BestBuy1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BestBuy1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BestBuy1.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BestBuy1.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7114,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2017\/10\/04\/technology-my-first-plus-sized-iphone-model\/","url_meta":{"origin":11739,"position":4},"title":"Technology: My first Plus-Sized iPhone Model","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"October 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"3.5 \u2014> 4 \u2014> 4.7 \u2014> 5.5 Apple has added 2\u201d diagonally to my primary mobile computing device in 10 years. 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I\u2019ve been struggling with Amazon carts all weekend so it\u2019s Sunday and I\u2019m writing this in hopes to get a bit of clarity around what cables I need for day to day use and while traveling and perhaps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}