Apple Watch

Hey can we get Gospel a Library on the new watch - due out early 2015 - need to get the watch SDK!

Glad to see I'm not the only Apple fan boy on this forum. Did you order your new iPhone 6 Plus last night?

I will be receiving delivery of my Apple Watch in the next 2.5 weeks, How is the LDSTools Watch App coming?

Before the church goes to building an app for the watch, I think they'd want to see how widely used it is - as well as what practical things could be done with it. No doubt Apple will sell a number to the self-professed fan boys, but I think it remains to be seen how well it's adopted by the church members as a whole.

I'd also suggest that no development would happen until the developers have their own iWatch. And I don't think any of them get advanced units. So it will have to wait until it's available to the public.

I'd also point out that Android wear has been available for some time now, but I've not seen any suggestion that anything LDS is/has been developed for them.

I agree with russellhltn that we're not likely to see anything anytime soon, but I'm interested in hearing your ideas of how a watch app could be uniquely used as a companion to the phone app, apart from just making a scaled-down version for a smaller screen. What unique features would you put into the app that would be especially helpful in a watch?

Most of what I can think of would be extensions of LDS Tools, not GL. Features I'd like is to see the name of the person calling me (if the incoming number matches a name in the directory). And an extension of the calendar so I can see upcoming events. On the GL side, there are random gospel messages. Or perhaps a scripture chase function where you quote a scripture and it finds the reference. In all cases, this may be more of allowing existing apps to talk to the watch rather than a true watch app.

Keep in mind that in most cases a wrist-worn device will need to use a connected smart phone for any data communication or to hold a database of any size. So the value of a watch app is for quick answers that save you from digging out the phone. Anything more elaborate - well, that's best on the phone anyway.

I've had a Microsoft Band since October, so I do have some experience with a smart watch.

I would agree that the best use case for the Apple Watch or any other watch would be as an extension to LDS Tools. Some of the things that would be usefull would be.. Maps to find someone's home in the ward, HT/VT Reminders, Member Info such as Calling, Phone, Address (to maps) and LDS.or Profile Pics. You know.. I have a meeting in 5 minutes with Bro. Martin and I can't put a name to a face.. Quick tap of the wrist and there he is.. Now I feel better.. The church will likely get some fresh ideas from the commuinty as we will see LDS Related Apps being created initially, and as time goes on.

I would like to see a scripture or quote of the day app. And also watch faces when that is opened up - temples pics or quotes or something like that.

Remember that you can subscribe to Ward and Stake calendars already - https://www.lds.org/help/support/calend ... p?lang=eng

Once they sync with your paired iPhone, the Ward and Stake calendar events become accessible on your Apple Watch.

Not being able to listen to the scriptures/conference talks is the only draw back to when I go running without my phone with me. Gospel Library on the Apple Watch, with the ability to sync audio to the watch, would be a dream come true!

I can second this!

acmurray wrote:Not being able to listen to the scriptures/conference talks is the only draw back to when I go running without my phone with me. Gospel Library on the Apple Watch, with the ability to sync audio to the watch, would be a dream come true!

I third this. I would love to not need my phone with me while I exercise and would still like to be able to use the gospel library!

To Whom It May Concern,

Thank you for the tremendous amount of work you put into developing tools for members of The Church of Jesus Chris to build faith in the Savior.

Without being 3 years since this was discussed, the benefit to cost ratio has well been established; a simple app that is accessible through the Apple Watch will increase our ability to follow the Lord’s invitation to, “Come, follow [Him]”.

Please, accept the humble request of His saints to make this happen. I am happy to offer assistance in the development.

I would love to have gospel library on my Apple Watch. I feel the same as those who have expressed a desire to listen to scriptures or talks while running.
I thought of a simple solution, at least in the meantime. What if the church could put the Book of Mormon on audible? Audible is on my watch and I can listen to other books while I run and do chores. or another option is to have Book of Mormon as an audio book on iTunes? Is it possible to download conference talks on iTunes and then listen to them on my watch as if it were a song? I don’t know how to do this but I’ve wondered if this is possible. Just wanted to add my comments to say that gospel library on Apple Watch would be a dream come true.

veronicaluna wrote:What if the church could put the Book of Mormon on audible? Audible is on my watch and I can listen to other books while I run and do chores. or another option is to have Book of Mormon as an audio book on iTunes? Is it possible to download conference talks on iTunes and then listen to them on my watch as if it were a song? I don’t know how to do this but I’ve wondered if this is possible. Just wanted to add my comments to say that gospel library on Apple Watch would be a dream come true.

Audible produced their own recording of the Book of Mormon, which is available on Amazon. Audible also has a recording of Saints (produced by the Church).
You can also download audio from the Church's Media Library.

I would also love to listen to conference talks while running using just my Apple Watch. Thanks for all of your hard work!

I’ve also been trying to find a good way to listen to general conference just from my Apple Watch while running (I leave my phone at home). Any solution to this would be amazing! - James

JoshFoth wrote:I would also love to listen to conference talks while running using just my Apple Watch. Thanks for all of your hard work!

jpierce21 wrote:I’ve also been trying to find a good way to listen to general conference just from my Apple Watch while running (I leave my phone at home). Any solution to this would be amazing! - James

Listening while exercising is a good use case for an Apple Watch version of Gospel Library. I'd recommend sending that as feedback in the app under Settings > Send Feedback.

acmurray wrote:Not being able to listen to the scriptures/conference talks is the only draw back to when I go running without my phone with me. Gospel Library on the Apple Watch, with the ability to sync audio to the watch, would be a dream come true!

+1 It seems they are no longer sending general conference through podcast feeds, so now my running routine of listening to conference is broken. If they decided not to publish to the RSS podcast feeds because conference is available through the gospel library app then it would really be great to get the audio available through gospel library to download (most important) or stream to the Apple Watch.

Any news or update on conference talks becoming part of a podcast channel?
It would be huge to be able to select different talks through the podcast app and upload them to your Apple Watch while exercising without your phone.

Some easy way to load General conference onto my apple watch would be amazing!!

Agreed! Please!!

johnlukevinc wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2024 4:00 pm Any news or update on conference talks becoming part of a podcast channel?
It would be huge to be able to select different talks through the podcast app and upload them to your Apple Watch while exercising without your phone.

!:

zgmorris13 wrote: Tue Dec 25, 2018 3:23 pm I can second this!

acmurray wrote:Not being able to listen to the scriptures/conference talks is the only draw back to when I go running without my phone with me. Gospel Library on the Apple Watch, with the ability to sync audio to the watch, would be a dream come true!

fillmoresr wrote: Sat Apr 13, 2024 3:10 pm Some easy way to load General conference onto my apple watch would be amazing!!

Agreed! Please!!

Please keep in mind that nobody who has any decision-making authority will see this. Please use the feedback link or button (on the main Church website page if nothing else) to register your request into a channel that might have influence.

Not sure about individual talks, but I did find a podcast of full sessions.