Infographic face missing Mail and Messages complcation

Ridiculous! They need to get these up there asap. I am sure I am not alone when I say that I am sure others, like me, rely on having email and messages on the face.. and I want to use the new faces..... UV Index is not more important than communications.

I hadn't realised that the new Infographic Modular face is even further restricted (in terms of available complications to display) than the Infographic face. To me this seems to suggest that they simply haven't yet designed how these apps will work within these two different formats - which is good news, in that they presumably will become available in due course.

However it still seems unlike Apple (as said above) to launch Watch 4 with these faces as a key selling point before some of the more obvious complications are fully developed for them...

I have noticed that it's not just that the infographic Watch face is missing Apple's native messages, email, and phone apps. Additionally, certain complications on the infographic screen do NOT include data that IS included on other Watch faces. For example, the app Pedometer++ includes the actual number of steps and miles you've walked during the day on all Watch face complications BUT the infographic Watch face. On the IG Watch face, Pedometer++ only shows an icon with a progress ring. Far less helpful and far less INFOrmation. The highly acclaimed (and my personal favorite) fitness app, WorkOutDoors, has a complication for every Watch face but the Infographic Watch face. Both Apple and developers are apparently lagging in getting the infographic screen up to date...making it, at this time, a big letdown. To be honest, I wish Apple would just offer a Watch Face with, say, spaces for 8 complications...3 on the bottom row, 3 on the middle row, and 2 plus the time on the top row. And no need to tell me this is not the place to post suggestions for Apple as they don't read these posts. I know that. I have already sent the 8 complication suggestion to Apple's feedback site and I suggest if others would like this type of Watch face to let Apple know too. Cheers.

Mr Luigi - that's an interesting point. So it's not just about the absence of some complications from these new faces, it's also the absence of usefully displayed data from some of those that are available. Which, again, points to Watch 4 having been launched before the complications for these faces were fully thought through...

In the case of third party apps, maybe the developers just weren't given a long enough lead time - but this surely can't have been the case for native apps such as Mail and Messages.

Having been on the other side as a programmer, it is also plausible that the complication developers had everything working, until last minute changes were needed in the supporting Infograph faces. That's the kind of surprise which nobody wants with only a few days before release but it happens.

Branta_uk said...Having been on the other side as a programmer, it is also plausible that the complication developers had everything working until last minute changes were needed in the supporting Infograph faces. That's the kind of surprise which nobody wants with only a few days before release but it happens.

Hi Branta_uk! There may be some truth to that. I mentioned in my original comment that the fitness app WorkOutDoors does not have a working complication for the Infograph faces. That really surprised me because the developer of WookOutDoors has consistently impressed me with his programming expertise and the dedication he has shown to keeping his app, in no uncertain terms, a work of art. It's hard to imagine HE dropped the ball on this one.

I am relieved to hear that the omission of mail and message complications is an oversight that will be corrected. I have the message complication on everyone of the watch faces that I use. I really like the infogrsph faces but that are not as useful to me without the message complication.

XTopherM - I'm sure you're right - on all points. But based on your theory, it still seems odd to me that the two 'headline' new modular faces are inconsistent in the complications they cannot show. Specifically, if the list in the link above remains correct then it looks as if the new Infograph Modular face cannot show 'Alarm, Digital Time, Monogram, Reminders, Stopwatch and Sunrise/Sunset' whereas the new Infograph face can.

I can't quite see why the circular complication 'slots' in the Infograph Modular face (which appear identical in format to those in the centre of the Infograph face) wouldn't be able to handle these. Or is it that this subset of complications can only be specified in the new corner 'slots' which are unique to the Infograph face? But then that doesn't make sense either because I have 'Stopwatch' set as a central circular complication on Infograph..but cannot option it at all for the circular complications in Infograph Modular. Odd.

@J90JGD - the positions and complications might look similar, but behind the scenes they are probably different objects, or more accurately they will be two different subclassed objects derived from the same parent class. Because of the extended functionality and positions in the new faces it is likely some (all?) of the complications had to be re-coded from scratch rather than importing from the older faces, and the gremlins had a surprise waiting in final QA.

Branta - OK, I see what you mean. You would imagine that when they design a new face they would require that it accommodates a minimum number of the most used 'objects' or complications. Looking at the list of faces and available complications in the link above, it's striking how apparently random the range of availability is across the various faces, old and new.

Naively I just assumed that all faces would accommodate any of the apps that support complications (subject only to the number of complications available in any face). Judging by this thread I'm not alone....let's hope they sort soon, as everyone here seems to agree.

Obviously 5.0.1 is out and it still not there. This is just frustrating. Each new release seems like nobody is actually stepping up at Apple and saying "Hey! What they heck, you did this dumb thing, resolve it now!" You know like before Steve Jobs passed. Very sad.

In a 1-5 scale of problems where 1 = device will be bricked, and 5 = spelling errors in a dialog, a few complications are about a 4. There are probably other issues which will be taking priority as MUST be in the next planned release package. Apart from an emergency release like 5.0.1 which was critical to resolve charging problems (potentially bricks devices) the schedule should be maintained, with a full test process Before it ships. A few missing complications is not a showstopper, doesn’t make the device unusable or corrupt data.

One thing you can be sure about. Steve Jobs would have fired anyone stupid enough to rush an untested build out of the door as a reaction to screaming and whining from users with an overinflated sense of American Entitlement.

The new infograph complications was one of the main reason I upgraded from series 3 to 4.

Now I come to find that the complications that I use the most are not available. Those are very basic complications for productivity.

Mail - I need to quickly glance at my watch to see if I have mail messages

Messages - quickly access the message app and see if I have any unreplied messages

Find my friends - Find out where my wife and kids are at any time

I really hope that Apples fixes this because I'm forced to use the old modular face which doesn't hold as many complications.

Yeah, what a load of total rubbish. Might as well have just kept my series 1.

Still using the same face instead of the new ones. What a useless upgrade, expensive too. Get the mail and messages complications back and do it quickly. Idiots!

Yes!!!! This is exactly how we all feel. I upgraded from series 3 to 4 just for the two new faces and wished i wouldve known that my most relied upon complication - the basic and native MESSAGES app - isn’t supported!!!! Ridiculous!!!