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Tech bloggers just love to talk about Apple Watch, versus Wear OS, versus Samsung.  If you listen to them you’d never about Garmin with their various fitness trackers based on their in-house Garmin OS. Strangely, you hardly hear about them, but as I was preparing for the Mammoth March, it became clear that my beloved Pixel Watch would not cut it on a 8 hour 20 mile hike. That is why I looked at Garmin’s line for a replacement and found the excellent Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar.

One of the reasons I bought this smartwatch was its battery life. The advertised life of this watch is 28 days with typical use AND if you are on trail and have a ton of sun on the trail, the Solar Cell in it can extend the battery life from 28 to 35 days!  For all the watch can do, this is incredible.

Many of the reasons this has such an excellent battery life is it’s Sunlight-visible, transreflective, memory-in-pixel display. This is similar to an e-ink display where it only uses power when it is updating the screen.  Of course the solar cell helps with this as well, but no smartwatch that can do all of what the Fenix 7x can do has a battery life as close. Now that the new versions of the Fenix is out, you have the option for the mip display in the 8x and in the 8 you can have an AMOLED display as Garmin’s Epix line has been phased into the Fenix line of watches. Even with the Fenix 8, you will still get better battery life than ANY other smartwatch currently on the market, including the Apple Watch and any WearOS watch.  Garmin watches are that good at managing battery usage.

Another huge reason I wanted this is the GPS features are extremely accurate as it supports multiband GPS.  When you are walking in your neighborhood when you Zoom in you can tell if you crossed the street or looking at a trail you can see you move from one side of the trail to another.  It’s that accurate.  Since Garmin is a GPS company, this is to be expected but you also have maps on the watch display to and can use it to navigate when on a hike, run or bike ride.  I have frequently uploaded trails from All Trails into the watch and I was able to track and navigate my entire hike without needing to look at my phone.  This is phenomenal. I will say it would be nicer and easier if I was able to use the All Trails app to upload trails directly but it’s not difficult to do it from a browser before you hit the trail head so it’s a minor quibble.

Garmin has also added features like contactless payment with Garmin Pay. Garmin Pay has worked anywhere I have used Google Pay. You can add pretty much any card to it just like with the others.  This is one feature I loved with my Pixel Watch that I was afraid I may have to give up but I was pleasantly surprised when it’s worked flawlessly everywhere I used Google Pay.

Garmin can track exercises that are not cardio which is something I LOVE about it. I use it to track both my fitness bootcamp I do at my church and when I do strength training at the gym. It TRIES to count reps and sometimes gets them right but between sets it gives you the opportunity to adjust the rep count as well as add or adjust the weight.  It also will identify what muscle groups you worked and actually does a good job at this as I rarely will input the actual exercise I’ve done. At bootcamp it recognized when I did Jumping Jacks and counted them fairly accurately. Not perfect but good enough. If you want, you can spend time prior to hitting the gym and put what exercises you want into the app on your phone or you can select the workout from many Garmin provides but in the gym for strength training I select free strength training which does not require me to select what machine I am on and when at bootcamp since it’s primarily a HIIT exercise set (HIIT=High Intensity Interval Training)  I do that’s the mode I use.  Technically we do Tabata which is 20 seconds of high intensity exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest and you repeat this for multiple sets with the assistance of a music track. However it IS HIIT so this mode works great for Tabata workouts. You can get very detailed with your workouts if you’d like but the free modes are what works for me and I am very happy with it.

There are many other things that the Fenix can do that I don’t use. If you are a golfer, then Garmin has you covered as well. I have not tested this as I am not a golfer but it can even load courses into it so you can get the layout of the hole on the watch itself as well keep score. Again, I am not  into golf but if you are this is pretty cool.

The Fenix 7X Solar Sapphire comes with a silicone band which if you are like me you may not like.  With many silicone bands I tend to get a rash underneath the band and the Garmin band is much less reactive than others. However, it’s really easy to swap bands and I was able to find a Garmin compatible band similar to the Milanese bands on the Apple Watch for less than 20 bucks. This band is $18.99 and while it’s a bit fiddly to get on with the battery life I only have  to take it off and on when I take a shower so I can wash where the watch sits. I wish  all smart watch companies would provide band choices or at least one silicone and one none silicone band in the box with the watch. This would be really nice because the standard silicone rubber just isn’t great for everyone. At the very least make SKUs with a leather or metal option.

The durability of this watch is just awesome.  I wore it on the Mammoth March, in the gym, on many training hikes and it’s a hiker favorite with many thru hikers using it on the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. Garmin watches have withstood abuse that the Pixel Watch can’t. The only watch as durable is the Apple Watch Ultra which you HAVE to use with a iPhone and does not come close to the battery life of the Fenix 7X. If you are a hiker this is the best watch to use in my opinion just because Garmin KNOWS how to make GPS devices and has been in the game for far longer than Apple or Google.  If you want a watch for hiking in the woods like I did…go with a Garmin.

Garmin DOES have apps and custom watch faces as well. While not as developed as Apple Watch or WearOS there’s enough for me to be satisfied with. There’s a Bible app, there’s Komoot for hiking and many others. I’ve been satisfied with this as the main features are so good I don’t need to add many other apps to it to make it as useful as my Pixel Watch. If you are dependent on certain apps for your Apple Watch or WearOS watch then this may be a sticking point. However, for me I am very happy with the app support it has. Your mileage may vary.

Conclusion

While the Garmin 7x Sapphire Solar is expensive, it’s worth every dollar depending on your use case. If you want something to track your daily workout it can work but at it’s cost you may be better served with a Wear OS watch or Apple Watch if you are an iOS user. If you are going to go on a trail for hours or on a ultra run or a long bike ride then this is the watch for you that will last your whole hike, walk, run or ride and the other features are just the cherry on the top. Gamin doesn’t get enough respect in the wearable market and I am hear to tell you it should.

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My previous phone was a Pixel 6 Pro and while it was still going strong it was time to upgrade so I decided to stick to the Pixel line and get the Pixel 9 Pro XL as I love big screens and I cannot lie! I have had the phone for about a month and a half now. Unlike other sites, we like to make sure that we truly use the phone before we write our thoughts about the device and now that I have had some time with the phone I feel I truly can share what I think is great about the phone as well as what I think needs improvement.

First, let’s look at the specs of the phone:

• Screen size: 6.8-in Super Actua (LTPO OLED) display with a 120 Hz refresh rate
• Processor: Google Tensor 4
• RAM: 16 GB
• Battery: 5060 mAh
• Ports: USB Type-C
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 ax) with 2.4GHz + 5GHz+ 6GHz,2×2 + 2×2,HE160,MIMO, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC
• Operating system: Android
• Wireless network technology generations: 4G, 4G LTE, 5G
• Dimensions: 6.41 x 3.02 x 0.34 in
• Rear-facing camera: Pro triple rear camera system: 50 MP wide | 48 MP ultrawide with Macro Focus | 48 MP 5x telephoto lens | Super Res Zoom up to 30x¹³ and optical quality at 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x
• Front-facing camera:
  42 MP Dual PD selfie camera with autofocus
  ƒ/2.2 aperture
  103° ultrawide field of view

Hardware Thoughts

I, personally, have been pretty happy with the Tensor chips since they have been released and while many articles out there have been dismayed by the power of the Tensor chips in general and in the Tensor G4. I am very happy with the chip in my day to day use. I, personally, do not play a lot of games on my phone because I find mobile gaming to be lacking in many respects. There’s more to my opinion than I want to share here but the dreadful revenue model of todays games is a big reason why I just don’t game that much on my mobile phone. However, I DO take pictures, edit them and also video on my phone and the Tensor G4 is more than up to the challenge. That is also helped by the included 16 GB of ram on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. If you, like me, are coming from the Tensor G1 that was in the Pixel 6 Pro then you will be very happy with the upgrade here.

The 6.8 inch Super Actua display is gorgeous and the 120 Hz refresh rate makes the phone buttery smooth when navigating the Pixel Interface. Google also finally seemed to nail the adaptive brightness functionality on the phone so I have yet to turn it off as I did on the Pixel 6 Pro as it keeps the screen visible enough 90 percent of the time. Plus when bringing up Google Wallet to show a QR code for a ticket or to make a payment the screen automatically gets brighter so it’s easier to scan the code. Then when you switch back it settles back to the adaptive brightness. It’s an amazing screen and probably one of  the best they have ever had in a Pixel device.

The battery is 5,060 mAh and I have yet to run out of battery when away from the house for a day. I have taken this on 4 mile hikes, to the gym and out all day shopping and not ever had to panic or pullout a battery bank to top off. Granted, as the weather is getting worse in Ohio I have not been out in the woods for an all day thing lately but it would probably be fine. I will always carry a battery bank with me just in case because being a scout taught me to always be prepared!

Now I went for the 9 Pro XL primarily for the excellent camera system. The rear camera system is one of the best and I have been very pleased with the quality of the shots from rear cameras. The front camera I am kind of confused though. It says it’s 48 Megapixel but you cannot shoot a 48 Megapixel picture with that camera. It saves them as 10 Megapixel jpgs. Maybe this will change with Android 15? I don’t know but even if it doesn’t it still is an excellent selfie cam and is more than sufficient for posting selfies on social media. For some reason they could not put the same selfie cams in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and if they had it may have made me go with the fold with the exception that even this far along I can STILL see the crease in the folding screen. It HAS gotten better with each release but until I don’t notice it and it’s as durable as a slab phone I probably will stick to my system of a Pixel Pro XL and a tablet for my ultramobile setup with my current tablet being a iPad Pro 11 inch with the M2 chip in it.

The feel of the phone is very premium to me. The phone has a more iPhone like frame and feel with the frame feeling very rigid and premium. It does have a substantial bump for the camera system on the back but when you put a case on it becomes a nonissue for me. As nice and durable this phone feels I will never be one of those who carry it sans case and I recommend the same for you.

Android 14 and not Android 15?

There are many who are disappointed with the Pixel 9 series not shipping with Android 15. Yes it’s kind of a bummer that this did not happen with this release but this week Android 15 was released for the Pixels and there was much rejoicing! As for me, I am perfectly content with allowing Google to get it right versus rushing it to completion so the 9 series could ship with it. Now that they have shipped Android 15 I have to say I did not notice much of a difference between 14 and 15. This is now because Android has become very mature and the Pixel version of it is the best version and the closest to being stock Android without it being stock. After using Android 15 for a few days I have to say Google made the right call.

A word about Gemini

The Pixel 9 series comes with a full year of Gemini Advanced. This gets you access to their next generation AI 1.5 Pro, 1M token context window, capable of handling uploads up to 1,500 pages, priority access to new features, you can run and edit python code directly in the interface, 2 TB of storage from Google One and you can use Gemini in whole full G suite of applications.

I have been experimenting with Gemini quite a bit and I really like the live chat sessions I have had with it and it pays attention to what you asked it previously so it’s ALMOST like a conversation but it really isn’t as you know you are talking to a machine. It is very handy and I feel in many ways it is much better than the Google Assistant. So much so I wish it was fully available in Android Auto as well but it isn’t. In fact it almost feels like the assistant has  gotten dumber as a result of this. I used to be able to hit the microphone on Android Auto and ask it questions about random things when I am driving but since I got this phone I have noticed the assistant just feels less than Gemini.

As for the integration with G-suite…well I don’t know if I will EVER use it to help write e-mails but it’s nice that it is there for that.

As time goes on I expect Gemini to grow more capable but for now it’s a useful toy and I will leave it at that.

Conclusion

With every phone release you cringe a little until you actually see it. You are afraid that Google may have messed it up. That is not the case here. Google has knocked this release out of the park especially if you have a Pixel 6 Pro and were patiently waiting for an upgrade. If you have a Pixel 8 or better, you may want to hold off for the Pixel 10 series. There is much expectation for the upcoming Tensor G5 being the first fully custom SoC made by TSMC for Google and being the first 3 nm Tensor chip. This could mean the Pixel 10 series will have a significant speed increase between the Pixel 9 series and the 10. However, if you have an older Pixel and you need an upgrade and are, like me, then go for it!  You will like it.

Today’s AI is not what you – or the rest of the technology world – actually thinks it is.  While it is very much artificial, it is by no means intelligent, conscious, self-aware, or even self-thinking.  Yes.  There are some very life-like robots out there, but nothing advanced enough to be considered AI.  This is just very advanced machine learning (ML) and large language model (LLM) computing.

That’s not to say that any of this isn’t sophisticated.  Just look at what those life-like robots can do, including Hanson Robotics’ Sophia.  Even that robot isn’t true AI, though it can process visual, emotional, and conversational data and has spoken on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The United Nations General Assembly, and (very controversially), a commencement speech at New York College’s 2024 graduation ceremonies.

So, is this artificial intelligence?

Very simply put – no.

It’s not, despite how freaky some of the interactions Sophia or other life-like robots may have with users, it’s still just an interactive response to human input.  It may seem like the robots are alive, but they don’t yet new, independently, cannot outgrow the parameters of their programming, and can only respond to queries (or human interaction) with the sum of their programming, be it the full sum of human knowledge or just part of it.  These robots cannot create or ideate new, independent thoughts.  They can only mimic or predict the odds of something being chosen, used or selected based on the data on their “hard drive” and a very powerful probability engine.

Is it stupefying?  Is it freaky that they can “see,” measure the tone, timbre, and tremolo of your voice to detect stress, agitation, etc.? That they can read or “sense” your facial expressions and predict what you might be feeling based on vocal recognition, and all the other inputs you are subconsciously providing it with??

Oh, HELL yeah!  Its freaky, like it was the very first-time human beings were able to start a fire or turn on an electric light or take a still or moving picture.  Epiphonal advances in technology are always seen as incredible, or shocking, or frightening to some people, even those of us who are technology experts.  Regardless of our level of experience or expertise, we’re still only human…

Ok, so if this is not REALLY “artificial intelligence”, just very sophisticated behavioral mimicking, and analysis, and what not, how does it do what it does?  As I mentioned, this is really machine learning or a type of computing that allows computers to learn and improve from data it has access to without explicit programming.  It uses algorithms to analyze immense amounts of data, identify patterns, to create a model that can make predictions. The more data a machine learning system is exposed to, the better it becomes at making predictions.

How much data is required?

LOTS.

No, more than that.  I mean, LOTS!!

We’re talking petabytes or exabytes of data (a Terabyte is a trillion bytes. Peta- means a thousand trillion.  So a Petabyte is 1,000 Terabytes.  An exabyte is 1,000 petabytes); and the more data, the better.  When I say that ML and AI systems need the “sum of human knowledge” (estimated to be 463 Exabytes by 2025) to work properly, I really do mean it.  The more examples it can work into its predictive model – and again, that’s all ML is really doing – predicting with a margin of error (no matter how large – less data – or more accurate – more data) – what a user is looking for, wanting, or desiring – the better chance it has of providing the “answer” you’re “looking” for.

For example, “AI-based” image creators need examples upon examples, upon examples of previously created images – be they man-made or ML generated – in order to be able to generate an image that satisfies what you want to “create.”  The amount of processing power needed to predict where each pixel is placed and with what color and hue that satisfies the needs of the engineered prompts used to start the ML action is HUGE.  (Remember – machine learning cannot ideate on its own. It can only predict what you might want from it, based on all the examples it can access, and then again, with some margin of error.)

This is why as of this writing, new “AI-computers” require a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) dedicated to processing the request and the amount of data needed to satisfy it.  (Its also why ARM-based – vs. Intel-based – computers are better suited to AI. The amount of heat generated, and electricity/battery power required is better suited to the ARM platform, which runs cooler and manages power consumption much, much better.  But… I digress…)

Claiming ML/AI Generated Content as your Own

Right now, the US Copyright Office will deny any copyright requests of AI generated, or even AI-assisted material by persons submitting it for registered ownership.  You can’t claim the “raw” generated ML/AI results as your own because in their opinion, an engineered prompt is not long enough, not specific enough, and/or doesn’t represent enough human ideation and original work to warrant registered ownership.  In fact, they have ML/AI applications of their own to help them identify works submitted to them that contain what they consider “an inappropriate amount” of ML/AI generated results.

Here’s a couple of great examples:

AI Artist Loosing Millions from Stolen Work

A well-known AI artist who won a painting contest in Colorado using a Midjourny-generated creation claims he is losing millions from people stealing his work.  The artist claims the US Copyright Office is reluctant to register his AI-generated art collection with a copyright.  Their refusal has allowed repeated instances of his work being stolen without attribution or compensation.  His lawyers are arguing that his prompt engineering and scene-selections/ selection skills should be considered creative input and human authorship, which would allow him to claim ownership and register his copyright.

AI Generated Music

I’ve been writing and playing original music since the age of 14.  I’m nearing 60 now, and that my friends, is a lot of experience in recording studios, band rehearsals and live performances. As a serious amateur, I can tell you that I’ve played in live performances in Nashville, TN – Music City, USA – as well, and I feel that anyone who can hold their own there, knows what they’re doing.  Nashville isn’t (necessarily) kind to those wannabes who can’t keep up.

So when I say I’ve been playing with “AI” music generation apps and that I’ve had them produce at least 3-5 hit songs from the 70 or so I’ve generated, I mean that these are HIT songs.  Yes, the work may be derivative – meaning that it might sound like other music on the radio right now – but when you wake up in the morning and you start humming one of them out of nowhere, you just might have something.

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Yeah!  We sure do!

The iTechGear Weekly is published every week and is recorded on Sunday evenings.  It covers tech news and items of interest from Apple, Windows, and the Mobile/ Linux worlds.  We have a Pick of the Week – brought to you by one of our truly awesome hosts – every week to help you resolve tech issues or make your mobile and tech lives all the easier, and beginning with Episode 81, we now have a Tip of the Week as well!  We’ll cover any and all types of computing tips for iOS, Android, Windows, Linux and macOS.  We’ll have general smartphones, wearables, and mobility tips, too.  Check it out!  It might solve a problem you don’t know you have.

If you want to check out the iTechGear Weekly- and we sure hope you do – You can find on:

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• Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter!
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Yeah!  We sure do!

The iTechGear Weekly is published every week and is recorded on Sunday evenings.  It covers tech news and items of interest from Apple, Windows, and the Mobile/ Linux worlds.  We have a Pick of the Week – brought to you by one of our truly awesome hosts – every week to help you resolve tech issues or make your mobile and tech lives all the easier, and beginning with Episode 81, we now have a Tip of the Week as well!  We’ll cover any and all types of computing tips for iOS, Android, Windows, Linux and macOS.  We’ll have general smartphones, wearables, and mobility tips, too.  Check it out!  It might solve a problem you don’t know you have.

If you want to check out the iTechGear Weekly- and we sure hope you do – You can find on:

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You can also listen on the web!  You can visit the show’s website here if this is your desire.

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If you read a lot of articles online or watch a lot of reviews on YouTube Tube, you’ve no doubt heard that many bloggers/vloggers consider iPadOS to be the way part of using an iPad.  And in some ways, that can be true.   Many feel that iPadOS 18 didn’t change things up enough or because Apple didn’t make the device more Mac-like it’s somehow a negative, but I actually don’t feel that way.   Don’t get me wrong, there are still improvements I’d like to see in the iPadOS, but in general, it has developed and improved slowly and continuously, and I’ve been pleased with the progress over the last few years.  I really don’t want them to change too much, too quickly – that never seems to work out well – look at the old example of Windows 8.  That wasn’t a terrible release, but it got horrible reactions and reviews because it was too much of a departure from what people expected Windows to be.  So Apple, keep changing things slowly and we will be just fine!

So, what’s coming up new in iPadOS 18?  A few things.  There will be, as expected, more AI improvements, but currently, they’ve added a calculator (finally!), and it supports the ability to write your math equation out and have it provide the answer or a graph, for example, by interpreting what you wrote.  It’s really a very cool feature!

There is a new kind of floating sidebar that is appearing in many of the Apple first-person apps (I expect to see it in other apps as we get close to the final release) and it makes selecting certain options easier and less intrusive than before.

The Settings App has been reworked a little to arrange things in, what Apple hopes is a more logical arrangement.   I think it mostly achieves that, but,as with any user-interface type changes, I think you need to try it for yourself to determine if it’s more intuitive for you.  One big change I’ve noticed is that App settings are kind of pulled out to the top layer in a new category called “Apps”.  It took me a minute to realize that this is where the app settings moved, but, after using it a bit, it really does make more sense than the previous setup – at least to me, it does!

The control panel (quick settings) you get by pulling down from the upper-right-hand corner has also been reworked a bit.  Things are now available in kind of a tab/categorization arrangement.  Again, it takes a minute to get used to the changes, but overall, it does seem to be more sensible and allows the setting to kind of expand in a way that wasn’t possible before.

Using the iPad for Productivity

I do want to touch briefly on the topic of using the iPad for productivity tasks.   I do mine in conjunction with my day job (as well as a laptop), but there is an opinion out there in the world that it can’t do the job or that it does those things poorly compared to a MacBook or a Windows PC.   That could be the case, depending on the specific tasks you need to do, but in general, I would say this is a false narrative.  You have to do things a bit differently than you do on a traditional desktop-based computer, but the way it handles multiple apps and productivity tasks is perfectly usable and workable for most things.   It is not reasonable to present the discussion as “computer” vs “iPad”.  They are different devices with a different approach to work and we assume, just because it’s been around for years, that the desktop approach used by laptops/desktops is the only (or even the best) way to do things.  The net is full of videos of people taking an “iPad challenge” where they switch to the iPad for a week or a month and then come to the conclusion that it just doesn’t work well when all they did was try to use it the same way they used their traditional desktop.  That’s never going to work and always going to end it disappointment, I think.

In my opinion, you need to approach the iPad in one of two ways:   One – treat it, as it was originally intended, as a companion to your desktop/laptop computer.  Especially if you have an Apple computer, the companion features you get using continuity (an Apple device integration feature if you aren’t familiar with it) are amazing.   The other approach you can take – two – is to view it as a unique device with a unique way of working and explore how features like Stage Manager actually work and what they can do for you and then decide if that’s the way you want to work.  I happen to use a combination of both approaches, and it’s worked amazingly well for me.

An example I’ll give compares the productivity approach of the Samsung Tab S Ultra series to the iPad approach.  Samsung’s productivity/multitasking approach is called Dex, and it provides a really good desktop metaphor – similar to a Mac or Windows desktop (with a few limitations), and it works pretty well.  But it only supports a single screen (either your device screen OR your external monitor not both for display), whereas the iPad will allow you to use BOTH the device screen and an external monitor at the same time (again with a few limitations).  To me that’s more productive.  I use that feature during our weekly podcasts so I can see the Zoom chat while I am looking at the show notes and the websites/external articles are discussing.  That ability to split things up is really helpful and something Samsung Dex can’t currently do for me despite it supporting a desktop metaphor.  The M4 in the iPad actually now has the ability to support multiple external monitors, but that is NOT executed in iPadOS and I’m not sure what it would take for them to get there, but I’d love to see it!

Summary

So to bring it all back home again, I have to say that, overall, I think the M4 iPad Pro 13” is the best one they’ve ever made.  iPads are my primary (but not only) computing device, getting more use than any other one I own (except possibly my phone), but it’s changes are evolutionary and iterative, not revolutionary.   I know that people hoped we’d get more changes in iPadOS 18 and that has left some people, especially tech-bloggers disappointed, but not me.  I am really happy to be working with this device.  It’s the best one they’ve ever made and iPadOS, which is on a slow, evolutionary path, had definitely brought great new features to every iteration of the OS so far.  That said, let’s see what Apple does going forward!

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Let’s start this conversation by making it clear that I am absolutely a fan of the Apple iPad series of devices and I have owned quite a few of them since they came onto the market in 2010.  My last iPad was the 2020 M1 iPad Pro (12.9″).   I used the device heavily, every day.  I used it more than any other computing device in my stable of devices, including my laptop computers.  It’s really just hard to beat the combination of size and performance that the iPad offers.

I’ve been focused on the larger (12.9: / 13”) iPads because I need to be able to read technical documents on a regular basis and this size iPad makes it easy to properly view full 8×11 pages when I need that, or even read novels using the 2 page side-by side format.  And when it comes to reading content, it’s more convenient than on a similar-sized laptop, because I can treat it like a tablet without the keyboard.   So that’s among my primary use cases.   But web browsing, watching movies, and creating content like this article you are reading now are also ways that I utilize an iPad.

So now there’s the new M4 iPad Pro models.  In the past few weeks, I have been working with the new 13″ M4 iPad Pro model and I have to say, I like where they’ve gone with the device.  Let’s talk about a few of the improvements in context.

Watching movies and reading books…

As I mentioned, I watch a lot of movies on my iPad as well as reading a lot of books and technical documents.  The movie experience on the new M4 iPad Pro is amazing on this device compared to its predecessors.   The dual-layer OLED screen is absolutely gorgeous.  Blacks are black and the lights are brighter than ever before.   It is one of the best media viewing devices I have ever worked with.  Although some would point out that the 4:3 aspect ratio of the iPad isn’t as good as Samsung’s Tab Ultra 16:10 ratio (because it doesn’t fit wide-format movies as well), I never found that to be a big deal for me, but I wanted to point it out because it may be important for some people and how they want to use the device.   At this point, I should also point out that I’m not going to spend a lot of time on specs in this write up because this is more of an impressions document than a full-blown review.

Continuing to look at media consumption, I read a lot on my iPad – I read both novels and a lot of technical documents.  For novels I use the Kindle app and Apple Books.  Both are really excellent reading apps.  For technical documents, I use either the built-in preview or Adobe Reader for PDF documents.  In all cases, the experience is great, crisp and sharp, but I have to say, this is the first device I’ve used that I actually found it necessary to turn the brightness down when reading black lettering on a white background.  Now, to be fair, I recently went through cataract surgery, so I think everything is brighter than before, but this is beyond that.  This thing has amazing output – yeah both indoors and outdoors.  I should note, that I haven’t spent any time with the nano-texture screen, so I can’t really speak to that, but I did spend some time with it in the Apple Store and for me, those screens slightly dim and ever so slightly blurred the image and text wasn’t quite as sharp – to my old eyes.  So I encourage you to go see the difference for yourself because your mileage may vary.

So what else has been improved?….

The M4 Processor

The most obvious thing that has changed, is that the new iPad Pros are the first Apple devices using the new M4 chip set.  If I’m being honest, the difference in performance, in everyday use, isn’t all that different between the M1 and the M4 chip.  Now, having said that, we don’t know what the impact of the Apple Intelligence features coming out later this year will be yet.   The new chips are also more power efficient.  This meaning that you get similar, if not better, battery life, even though the battery size is a little smaller than before.

The dual-layered OLED screen

I think I’ve already mentioned that this screen is gorgeous.  It’s bright and vivid and it’s really easy for me to say it’s one of the best screens I’ve ever seen – certainly the best I’ve seen on a tablet.  There have been some reports of the whites not being quite white or there being a pattern you can see if you use a magnifying glass.  I checked this in the store and now in daily use and I’m not noticing anything like any of that at all.  I’m not saying it isn’t true, because obviously some folks have shown evidence of what they’ve seen, but I haven’t seen it and I feel like it isn’t something that was likely to impact my daily use at all.  So maybe it’s certain devices only or certain environmental circumstances that cause these things to appear, but in my working with it they haven’t.   It’s simply a great screen.  Resolution is similar to past iPad Pros, but just brighter and more vivid and I think it’s a pleasure to use.  But again, if you are sensitive to those kinds of things, I strongly suggest you go take a look at one in person at your local Apple Store or other iPad retailer.

The new Magic Keyboard

I was a big fan of the last generation Magic Keyboard.  It wasn’t perfect, but, for me, I really liked it a lot.  I’m not a fan of those keyboards that mimic the MS Surface Pro kickstand approach, because that approach can really only be properly used on a solid desktop or table, whereas the Magic Keyboard also can be used on a lap pretty easily.   Is there a drawback?  Yes.  The range of tilt is limited because of the base weight of the keyboard vs the weight of the iPad itself.  The iPad is heavier so you can’t tilt it back very far before it’s falls backward, so they limit its ability to tilt back.  This means, for some people. They can’t tilt the device as far back as they want/need.  For me it’s not an issue, but again, your mileage may vary.   The old (2020) 12.9” version of the keyboard weighed 710 grams (1.6 pounds) (compared to the 2020 iPad’s weight 641 grams (1.41 pounds)).  The new keyboard is around 660 grams and the new 13” iPad is only around 579 grams – so both are much lighter so flipping backward is almost easier to happen than before.  Again, it hasn’t caused me any problems at all, but you should check it out for yourself if you are at all concerned.

So size and all that aside, the new keyboard has a metallic top and the whole thing feels more rigid than its predecessor.  The trackpad has haptic feedback and is MUCH more like a MacBook trackpad.  And lastly, the keys are now a little more “clicky” with slightly more travel now.  It’s overall all a much improved experience in my opinion.  Keyboard feel is very subjective, of course, but the overall effect is a more laptop like feel to the whole thing and if you like that, then you’ll likely enjoy the new keyboard.

Camera Changes

The cameras are a little different in the new iPad Pros.  The user-facing camera has moved from the short edge to the long edge meaning that if you use a video chat like FaceTime or Zoom, you are now centered in the image and you won’t look like your staring off screen when you are chatting.   On the down side, the big news is that the wide angle lens has been removed, but the general opinion (mine included) is that people don’t take a lot of pics with the iPad so it may not be a big deal for most people.  For me it isn’t, but again, your mileage may vary.

The Apple Pencil Pro

There is a new flavor of the Apple Pencil – the Pro.  The big difference with this is really the new squeeze function.  In apps that support it, it provides a number of functions, but usually a mini menu.  In at least one app, Notability, the squeeze function will cause the pen function to shift from pen to eraser, and the back to pen when you release the squeeze.  So, in this app, there’s no need to double-tap the pen and switch to an eraser.  It’s really cool and it makes note taking a LOT easier since it’s easier to erase on the fly without losing your train of thought as you switch between pen(cil) / eraser.  I really like this!   Additionally, the new pencil pro has a sensor so it behaves differently when you rotate the pencil.  If you are using a supported on screen tool like a paintbrush, it will behave differently as you rotate the pen, just as a paintbrush would behave differently as you rotated it.  I haven’t used this feature very much myself, but it seems like a great addition.  These improvements have already made me use it more and more for note taking than before.

In Summary – Some Plusses

The new iPad Pro has way more plusses than minuses, compared to its predecessor, but among the biggest are, of course, the new screen and the new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro.  The screen is brighter and more vivid than before.  The new keyboard has a more solid feel and now has a row of function keys (and includes an ESC key now).  The Apple Pencil Pro kept all the good things about its predecessor, but added an incredibly helpful “squeeze” function that can be programmed to respond in many, extremely useful ways.

In Summary – Some Minuses

The biggest minus for some people is going to be the removal of the wide-angle camera from the setup.  As I mentioned before, it doesn’t bother me, but if you depend on that, then that may be a really important, possibly unacceptable loss.   The other big negative, for some people, is going to be the price.  It’s not a cheap device.  Neither is the Magic Keyboard.  To be fair, top of the line Android devices are in almost the same price range, so the argument can be made that the pricing isn’t unreasonable, but it’s still very expensive.  If it’s too much for your pocketbook, as it will be for a lot of folks, you can definitely go with the iPad Air with most (but not all) of the same goodness, but at a more palatable price.

The Apps

There are three kinds of apps that I use.  First are the health related apps.  These are apps that are not specifically targeted at losing weight. Then there are the weight loss oriented apps. Then there’s the fitness tracking apps. We’ll start with the health related apps.

Livongo

I use Livongo which is an employer benefit. Livongo has programs for diabetes, weight loss and blood pressure. All of these work with free connected devices. They include a glucometer with free supplies, a blood pressure cuff and a scale. The nice thing about Livongo is all of their devices track in the same app and that app also provides tips on lowering your glucose and blood pressure. The downside to Livongo is I am not able to take this data and plug it in or share it on social media if I so desire but overall I have been very pleased with Livongo. One other negative I forgot to mention is that my cuff wore out and I had to find a replacement on Amazon. Livongo was of no help when the cuff itself stopped working. The sphygmomanometer was never the issue. Fortunately I was able to find an acceptable replacement on Amazon but your mileage may vary. The scale itself uses AA batteries and seems to be accurate when compared to other scales.

Unfortunately if your company doesn’t offer this as a benefit it’s not useful to you but if it is I say go for it as the free strips and supplies for the Glucometer are an awesome deal.

Google Fit

Google Fit is the standard fitness tracking app for WearOS devices with exception of the Pixel Watch. The nice thing here is even if you do have a Pixel Watch you can still use Google Fit as well instead of Fitbit. Google Fit supports most Wear OS watches and many scales like the Withing Scale which I also own. Google Fit is a basic fitness tracking app. It allows you to track steps, workouts and weight but not much else. It also keeps track of Heart Points as defined by the American Heart Foundation and that is one thing I love about it. It also let’s you tie in multiple apps and devices to help aggregate your tracking. For example, Fitbit (a Google Company) also ties into it but apps like Livongo do not. I also notice that Garmin devices don’t seem to tie into Google Fit. There’s only about 50 apps that do tie into Google Fit but that’s about it. Apple Health will tie into Google Fit as well so you CAN use an Apple Watch with Google Fit but I don’t know why you’d want to unless you live in both Apple and Android universes. If you are just getting into fitness tracking and have an Android device and a WearOS watch this is a good place to start. Google Fit is free.

Google Fitbit

I am surprised Google hasn’t just consumed all of Fitbit’s features but it hasn’t yet and right now it’s a stand alone app and the first one I have found worth paying for. Fitbit is the main app for it’s own fitness trackers as well as the Pixel Watches (both 1 and 2). Fitbit tracks exercises and it also attempts to do some of this automatically. For example, as I walked at a amusement park over my vacation on my Pixel Watch it popped up a notification that I looked like I was walking and asked if I wanted to start tracking. If tracking is all you need then the free version will be good enough, but the premium level adds workout video and audio sessions, readiness score, sleep tracking, mindfulness sessions, stress management details, a wellness report as well as recipe and meal hacks. I find the premium features to be worth it and the tracking is generally accurate.  I also like the goal setting in this.  I have mine set for 5 workouts per week and 11,000 steps per day. The basic level also tracks SpO2 (blood oxygen), breathing rate, heart rate variability and resting heart rate.  This is dependent on if your device supports it.  It also tracks weight via it’s own scales. My Withings scale is not supported. The Apple Watch is not supported with Fitbit and this hits one of my biggest criticisms of devices in that there doesn’t seem to be a standard way to move data from one app to another. While Fitbit is device specific it does have features that other apps have like food tracking but there are better apps for that that aren’t device specific. For me, the premium features are worth it currently but this may change. Premium is only $9.99 per month.

Noom

Noom’s primary purpose isn’t health tracking in and of itself. It’s either weight loss or mood depending on what you choose when you sign up. You can also switch from one to the other from within the app. I signed up for the weight loss program. It’s basic premise is teaching you about how to eat better and how weight loss is more than just what goes in your mouth. It teaches you that your diet has to be something you live with for the rest of your life.

It has food tracking, weight tracking either hand entered or via supported devices like my Withings Scale as well as exercise tracking using Fitbit or other supported trackers. It includes recipes that you can then just add to your meal tracking which is nice. These recipes follow the idea of tracking green, orange and yellow foods.  Green foods are usually low calorie dense foods and fill you faster, yellow are more calorie dense and orange are the most calorie dense. Veggies are green usually, meat and starchy foods are yellow and desserts are an example of a orange food. You want to eat more green and less orange and learning this one thing in Noom has been very helpful in my weight loss journey.

Noom best pricing is paying for it yearly and that is currently $209 per year. Also, it can be an employee benefit depending on your company or if your company is like mine that gives you money to spend for improving your health be it physical or mental it’s well worth using that money for Noom. For me, it’s totally worth it and I have yet to run out of things to learn but once I  do I may look to other apps for food tracking but right now Noom is what I use for that but as you can see it’s so much more than that. I find Noom instrumental to my most recent progress as it isn’t specifically one thing.  It’s a whole picture thing and I love that.  My only complaint is it loses connections with Fitbit and Withings regularly but it’s easy enough to tie them back in. That’s not reason enough for me to highly recommend Noom.

Devices I Use

I currently use a Withings Smart scale, a Pixel Watch, Livongo Scale, Glucometer and sphygmomanometer. We’ll take a look at each.

Pixel Watch

We were excited when Google first announced the original Pixel Watch which is the one I use for my fitness tracking. As previously mentioned, it supports Fitbit since Google chose to use that instead of rather in addition to Google Fit. Honestly I would rather Google look at consuming Fitbit into Google Fit. They literally can still make the Fitbit trackers if they wanted to. Either that or add the heart points to Fitbit and get rid of Google Fit.  I am confused at why they went this way but honestly Fitbit is better than Google Fit in almost every aspect so this was a good choice for Google.

So far I really like my Pixel Watch but the biggest issue it has is battery life. It can last all day if you aren’t actively tracking an activity. For example, the battery quickly is spent when I am on a 10 mile plus hike. The battery saver helps but I am training for a 20 mile hike and there is no way this will handle tracking the exercise in Fitbit and All Trails (my favorite trail app) at the same time and still not need a charge when I get home. In a normal day, the battery life is fine if you charge it before you go to bed so you can have a full night of sleep tracking. The design is very nice but it would be nice if they had different screen sizes. The Pixel Watch 2 wasn’t large enough of an improvement for me to upgrade.

Withings Smart Scale

I love this scale. The scale ties into Noom which is nice. It also can take step data from Fitbit or other trackers as well other than it’s own trackers. In fact, it seems to be the only company that allows this. That’s a great thing in that it doesn’t attempt to wall you in with your fitness.  Withings recognizes it’s not the only game in town and I like this a lot! Withings makes more than just scales and watches too. They also make a sleep tracking mat, a thermometer and a blood pressure monitor. They are also working on a urinalysis device too! What is clear to me is Withings is probably the most friendly company when it comes to integrating with devices that aren’t a part of it’s system. Withings also ties into Noom and other apps as well. I highly recommend a Withings scale. The one I have is the basic Body scale which is currently only $59.95. They have other scales that do much more analysis but this basic one is the one I like so far. If I choose to upgrade this it will likely be with another Withings device. Currently the app for the scale is free.

Future Devices

As I have shared on the show I am training for a 20 mile hike and am also looking to lose enough weight so I can go on backpacking trips without the need for Electric as I am currently using BIPAP for Sleep Apnea. What is clear to me is that my Pixel Watch will not have the battery life needed for this. So I am looked for a new watch. Garmin is the place to go with devices for hiking like I am planning to do. I have ordered the Garmin Fenix 7X Solar which has a great battery life PLUS integrated solar charging. So if I am on a hike it can also take advantage of the sun to help add to the battery life.  Look for a full review after the Southeast Ohio Mammoth March which is August 3rd.

Summary

What is clear to me is that where we are today is just the beginning. The single biggest issue is data integration. It’s hard to know what apps integrate with what devices and there doesn’t appear to be a sorely needed standard. With fitness/health tracking it rides a fine line with some devices like my Livongo devices having to honor Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPPA. This is what controls what data you can share with others or not and is why Livongo doesn’t allow me to share a reading on social media….but it does let me export this and share it with my doctor. Ironically the only way I have to share this with my doctor is in person as I do not have and will not get his e-mail address. I can share things via the MyChart app that only two of my doctors use but I don’t think any of them would take my data over data they collect. Either way, HIPPA is huge reason why the Apple Watch doesn’t have blood glucose tracking just yet.

However, I think that this will start to become less of an issue in the future. Eventually, there will need to be a standard so that we, the users, can get a better picture of our health at all times. Our life depends on it.

Yeah!  We sure do!

The iTechGear Weekly is published every week and is recorded on Sunday evenings.  It covers tech news and items of interest from Apple, Windows, and the Mobile/ Linux worlds.  We have a Pick of the Week – brought to you by one of our truly awesome hosts – every week to help you resolve tech issues or make your mobile and tech lives all the easier, and beginning with Episode 81, we now have a Tip of the Week as well!  We’ll cover any and all types of computing tips for iOS, Android, Windows, Linux and macOS.  We’ll have general smartphones, wearables, and mobility tips, too.  Check it out!  It might solve a problem you don’t know you have.

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