This post is also available in: 日本語 (Japanese)
Smartwatches were said to be the next big thing after smartphones, but they haven’t become as popular as expected. However, you can see many people wearing Apple Watch on the streets, and I think people are gradually becoming more aware of them. In this article, I’ll explain how the Apple Watch and other smartwatches are useful in terms of playing instruments such as the guitar.
- If you want to use smartwatches to play an instrument, you have two choices: Apple Watch or Wear OS
- Features and apps to help you play an instrument on your Apple Watch or smartwatch
- In the past, there have been plans to launch a smartwatch for guitar practice
- Apple Watch and smartwatches are currently not that useful for playing instruments
If you want to use smartwatches to play an instrument, you have two choices: Apple Watch or Wear OS
When it comes to smartwatches, the Apple Watch has a large market share and many people are already using it.
The current latest versions are the high-end Apple Watch Series 7 and the low-cost Apple Watch SE.
From the point of view of playing an instrument, there is no difference between the two, so you can choose the one you like based on price and other factors.
In contrast, the Android camp has released a smartwatch running Wear OS.
In terms of market share, it’s not even close to the Apple Watch, but if you’re using an Android phone, this is a better option.
There are other products on the market called smartwatches and smartbands, but many of them don’t allow you to add apps or don’t have much variety, so I think these are the two best choices if you want to use them to help you play your instrument.
Features and apps to help you play an instrument on your Apple Watch or smartwatch
Let’s take a look at some of the features and apps that are actually available on Apple Watch and Wear OS that can help you play instruments.
Becomes a tuner and metronome
There are a number of apps for the Apple Watch and Wear OS that can be tuners and metronomes for guitars and other instruments.
For example, the following apps:
It’s easy to use, just launch the app on your smartwatch.
This is more convenient than using a tuner or metronome on your iPhone or Android phone because you can use the device you have at hand.
Also,The metronome can also transmit the rhythm by vibration, ensuring that the rhythm can be grasped by the ensemble or duo/trio/quartet/and more.
You can start recording and adjust the recording volume (gain) on the phone side
The Apple Watch has a voice memo feature that lets you record and play back your voice memos.
You can’t expect the sound quality to be as good as it should be, but it’s convenient for light recording.
There are also apps thatallow you to connect a high-quality microphone to your iPhone, control the start of recording from your Apple Watch, and adjust the volume (gain) of the recording.
For more information on high quality microphones that can be connected to iPhone and Android, see this article:.
With the Apple Watch, you can place the mic and smartphone where you want it and control the recording while you hold your instrument.
In the past, there have been plans to launch a smartwatch for guitar practice
Unfortunately, so far, smartwatches don’t seem to be revolutionizing instrument playing.
In the past, there were plans to launch a smartwatch for guitar practice.
The device is called “Wristruments” and it shows you the frets to press on the display to help you learn and play the guitar.
Unfortunately, the Wristruments did not reach its crowdfunding goal and seems to have disappeared.
However, I thought it was a good idea to display the score on the arm for guitar playing. It’s difficult to look at the fretboard and the music sheet alternately, but if the music sheet is displayed on the arm, it’s closer to the fretboard and might be easier to play.
Unfortunately, there are no apps for displaying music scores on smartwatches at the moment. As you can imagine, the display is too small to be practical.
Apple Watch and smartwatches are currently not that useful for playing instruments
After much research, I’ve concluded that the Apple Watch and smartwatchesare not that useful for playing instruments.
When it comes to composing, there are a few more useful apps, but in terms of performance, unfortunately, it only seems to be useful for tuners, metronomes, and recording.
However,the smartwatch itself is not a useless device, as it can be used fordaily life and exercise..
I’m hoping that someone will come up with an awesome idea and make an app for playing instruments.