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Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram: Here's which secure messaging app you should use

Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram: Here's which secure messaging app you should use

If your choice of encrypted messaging app is a toss-up between Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp, do not waste your time with anything but Signal. This isn't about which one has cuter features, more bells and whistles or is the most convenient to use: It's purely about privacy. And if privacy's what you're after, nothing beats Signal.

You probably already know what happened. In a tweet heard 'round the world last January, tech mogul Elon Musk continued his feud with Facebook by advocating people drop its WhatsApp messenger and use Signal instead. Twitter's then-CEO Jack Dorsey retweeted Musk's call. Around the same time, right-wing social network Parler went dark following the Capitol attacks, while political boycotters fled Facebook and Twitter. It was the perfect storm -- the number of new users flocking to Signal and Telegram surged by tens of millions. 

Read more: Everything to know about Signal

The jolt also reignited security and privacy scrutiny over messaging apps more widely. Among the top players currently dominating download numbers, there are some commonalities. All are mobile apps available in the Google Play store and App Store that support cross-platform messaging, have group chat features, offer multifactor authentication and can be used to share files and multimedia. They all also provide encryption for texting, voice and video calls.

Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp use end-to-end encryption in some portion of their app, meaning that if an outside party intercepts your texts, they should be scrambled and unreadable. It also means that the exact content of your messages supposedly can't be viewed by employees of those companies when you are communicating with another private user. This prevents law enforcement, your mobile carrier and other snooping entities from being able to read your messages even when they intercept them (which happens more often than you might think). 

The privacy and security differences between Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp couldn't be bigger, though. Here's what you need to know about each of them. 

Getty/SOPA Images

• Does not collect data, only your phone number
• Free, no ads, funded by nonprofit Signal Foundation 
• Fully open-source
• Encryption: Signal Protocol

Signal is a typical one-tap install app that can be found in your normal marketplaces like Google Play and Apple's App Store and works just like the usual text-messaging app. It's an open-source development provided free of charge by the nonprofit Signal Foundation and has been famously used for years by high-profile privacy icons like Edward Snowden.

Signal's main function is that it can send -- to either an individual or a group -- fully encrypted text, video, audio and picture messages, after verifying your phone number and letting you independently verify other Signal users' identity. For a deeper dive into the potential pitfalls and limitations of encrypted messaging apps, CNET's Laura Hautala's explainer is a life-saver. 

When it comes to privacy, it's hard to beat Signal's offer. It doesn't store your user data. And beyond its encryption prowess, it gives you extended, onscreen privacy options, including app-specific locks, blank notification pop-ups, face-blurring antisurveillance tools and disappearing messages. 

Occasional bugs have proven that the tech is far from bulletproof, of course, but the overall arc of Signal's reputation and results have kept it at the top of every privacy-savvy person's list of identity protection tools. The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times (which also recommends WhatsApp) and The Wall Street Journal all recommend using Signal to contact their reporters safely. 

For years, the core privacy challenge for Signal lay not in its technology but in its wider adoption. Sending an encrypted Signal message is great, but if your recipient isn't using Signal, then your privacy may be nil. Think of it like the herd immunity created by vaccines, but for your messaging privacy. 

Now that Musk's and Dorsey's endorsements have sent a surge of users to get a privacy booster shot, however, that challenge may be a thing of the past. 

Getty/NurPhoto

• Data linked to you: Name, phone number, contacts, user ID
• Free, forthcoming Ad Platform and premium features, funded mainly by founder
• Only partially open-source
• Encryption: MTProto

Telegram falls somewhere in the middle of the privacy scale, and it stands apart from other messenger apps because of its efforts to create a social network-style environment. While it doesn't collect as much data as WhatsApp, it also doesn't offer encrypted group calls like WhatsApp, nor as much user data privacy and company transparency as Signal. Data collected by Telegram that could be linked to you includes your name, phone number, contact list and user ID. 

Telegram also collects your IP address, something else Signal doesn't do. And unlike Signal and WhatsApp, Telegram's one-to-one messages aren't encrypted by default. Rather, you have to turn them on in the app's settings. Telegram group messages also aren't encrypted. Researchers found that while some of Telegram's MTProto encryption scheme was open-source, some portions were not, so it's not completely clear what happens to your texts once they're in Telegram's servers. 

Telegram has seen several breaches. Some 42 million Telegram user IDs and phone numbers were exposed in March of 2020, thought to be the work of Iranian government officials. It would be the second massive breach linked to Iran, after 15 million Iranian users were exposed in 2016. A Telegram bug was exploited by Chinese authorities in 2019 during the Hong Kong protests. Then there was the deep-fake bot on Telegram that has been allowed to create forged nudes of women from regular pictures. Most recently, its GPS-enabled feature allowing you to find others near you has created obvious problems for privacy. 

I reached out to Telegram to find out whether there were any major security plans in the works for the app, and what its security priorities were after this latest user surge. I'll update this story when I hear back.

Angela Lang/CNET

• Data linked to you: Too much to list (see below)
• Free; business versions available for free, funded by Facebook
• Not open-source, except for encryption
• Encryption: Signal Protocol 

Let's be clear: There's a difference between security and privacy. Security is about safeguarding your data against unauthorized access, and privacy is about safeguarding your identity regardless of who has access to that data. 

On the security front, WhatsApp's encryption is the same as Signal's, and that encryption is secure. But that encryption protocol is one of the few open-source parts of WhatsApp, so we're being asked to trust WhatsApp more than we are Signal. WhatsApp's actual app and other infrastructure have also faced hacks, just as Telegram has. 

Jeff Bezos' phone was famously hacked in January of 2020 through a WhatsApp video message. In December of the same year, Texas' attorney general alleged -- though has not proven -- that Facebook and Google struck a back-room deal to reveal WhatsApp message content. A spyware vendor targeted a WhatsApp vulnerability with its software to hack 1,400 devices, resulting in a lawsuit from Facebook. WhatsApp's unencrypted cloud-based backup feature has long been considered a security risk by privacy experts and was one way the FBI got evidence on notorious political fixer Paul Manafort. To top it off, WhatsApp has also become known as a haven for scam artists and malware purveyors over the years (just as Telegram has attracted its own share of platform abuse, detailed above). 

Despite the hacks, it's not the security aspect that concerns me about WhatsApp as much as the privacy. I'm not eager for Facebook to have yet another piece of software installed on my phone from which it can cull still more behavioral data via an easy-to-use app with a pretty interface and more security than your regular messenger. 

When WhatsApp says it can't view the content of the encrypted messages you send to another WhatsApp user, what is doesn't say is that there's a laundry list of other data that it collects that could be linked to your identity: Your unique device ID, usage and advertising data, purchase history and financial information, physical location, phone number, your contact information and that of your list of contacts, what products you've interacted with, how often you use the app, and how it performs when you do. The list goes on. This is way more than Signal or Telegram. 

When I asked the company why users should settle for less data privacy, a WhatsApp spokesperson pointed out that it limits what it does with this user data, and that the data collection only applies to some users. For instance, financial transaction data collection would be relevant only to those WhatsApp users in Brazil, where the service is available. 

"We do not share your contacts with Facebook, and we cannot see your shared location," the WhatsApp spokesperson told CNET. 

"While most people use WhatsApp just to chat with friends and family, we've also begun to offer the ability for people to chat with businesses to get help or make a purchase, with health authorities to get information about COVID, with domestic violence support agencies, and with fact checkers to provide people with the ability to get accurate information," the spokesperson said. "As we've expanded our services, we continue to protect people's messages and limit the information we collect." 

Is WhatsApp more convenient than Signal and Telegram? Yes. Is it prettier? Sure. Is it just as secure? We won't know unless we see more of its source code. But is it more private? Not when it comes to how much data it collects comparatively. For real privacy, I'm sticking with Signal and I recommend you do the same. 

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Source

https://pemudij.pops.my.id/

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I visited Samsung's Galaxy S22 metaverse event, but it felt rushed and incomplete

I visited Samsung's Galaxy S22 metaverse event, but it felt rushed and incomplete

Samsung's Galaxy S22 reveal event wasn't just a standard livestream this year: It also took place inside a metaverse -- and I was genuinely excited to check it out. I've attended previous Samsung events in VR and found them to be more enjoyable than most other branded virtual experiences. The infamous 2016 photo of Mark Zuckerberg walking down an aisle while everyone around him is wearing a Gear VR headset is undeniably silly, but the demonstration of what could be possible from home was actually compelling.

By comparison, this 2022 Unpacked event had surprisingly little to do with Samsung and served more as an example of what not to do when using the metaverse to host a product launch.

If you saw Samsung announce an event in the metaverse and thought it meant putting on a VR headset and sitting in an audience, you're not alone. Instead, Samsung built a version of its New York event space in Decentraland, a cryptocurrency-focused virtual playground. It's technically possible to enter Decentraland with a VR headset, but the experience is barely functional and requires a lot of technical knowledge. Using your web browser alongside your mouse and keyboard, as intended by the creators, you enter Decentraland as an animated avatar you can modify, and move yourself to the Samsung 837X space to participate. 

Arriving at this space the day before the event revealed a brightly lit building and a faux pizza shop. The doors were all closed and there wasn't much to see, but there were already people lined up to see what Samsung had to offer. When I checked in again, 30 minutes before the event was to start, a handful of people waiting outside had climbed to nearly 100 that I could see. Decentraland runs 10 servers and you can only see the people on your server, but as I moved around before the event each server seemed similarly full. Roughly 1,000 people were waiting for Samsung to open the doors and show us the Galaxy S22 Ultra. 

Unfortunately for a lot of those servers, the doors didn't open on time. Many people were unable to actually enter Samsung 837X before the event started. Everyone outside the metaverse was enjoying a strange crossover with the popular TV series Bridgerton at the start of this event, while I and dozens of my fellow metazens were changing servers to find one that worked. Once a server with open doors had been located, the next challenge was finding the room inside this virtual building where the announcement event was actually streaming.

The three unlockable clothing packs you could use to equip your metaverse avatar if you completed the minigame inside Samsung's event.

Russell Holly/CNET

Inside Samsung 837X, you are presented with three rooms and a host of smaller activities to enjoy. Samsung had made special clothing for your Decentraland avatar you could only get by completing a quest in this space. Most of the space was dedicated to this quest, but in the back you could find a theater with the Unpacked event streaming. The room was a fairly generic virtual theater with a big curved screen showing the event already in progress outside of the metaverse. I was nearly 10 minutes late, and now watching a smaller version of the livestream with animated characters dancing around inside of a web browser on my laptop.

A few minutes into watching this presentation, it became clear the real reason most people were here was to unlock the virtual clothes tied to the Samsung quest. The app told me there were 96 people in the space, but the room only held 37. The novelty of the Samsung-made space was much more important than the unveiling of a new phone and tablet for a majority of those who regularly visit Decentraland.

It's difficult to feel like this approach to an event is anything other than a step backward. Back in 2016, Samsung offered the ability to watch a Galaxy Unpacked event from inside its VR headset. You put the headset on, opened the app and picked one of several positions to watch the stage from a 360-degree streaming camera. Being able to turn your head and see the audience made you feel like you were actually sitting in the audience. Not a lot of people owned those headsets at the time, but it felt like you were in a packed room and could enjoy the show.

The Samsung Theater, where I could watch the Galaxy S22 Ultra unveiling.

Russell Holly/CNET

In fairness, this 2022 event was fully virtual, so there was no live space to warp into as there was during pre-pandemic product launches. But Samsung could have made it possible to walk through a virtual store, get a closer look at the phone from every angle, or maybe even preorder the next phone using cryptocurrency. There could have been Samsung staff on hand in the space to answer questions or talk to people about what they're upgrading from and how the cameras on this new phone might have been better.

Samsung had an opportunity to make this space actually feel like a virtual version of its 837 store, but instead built a terribly rendered virtual forest to showcase its intent to plant 2 million trees as part of its sustainability efforts. For comparison's sake, the real Samsung 837 store not only sells Samsung devices but opened with a cafe on site and, at least pre-pandemic, held a running club that promoted its fitness trackers.

This could have been a lot of fun, but instead felt rushed and incomplete. It was a halfhearted attempt in a long line of cultural zeitgeist moments from Samsung, and felt more like an online version of the Yo! Noid game from Pizza Hut in 1990 than it does a glimpse at an often-promised metaversal future.

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Source

https://pombumi.costa.my.id/

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Best Travel Coffee Mugs

Best travel coffee mugs

If you're serious about your coffee, then you know just how difficult it can be when you have to skip your morning pick-me-up. If you're in a hurry, you can always take your morning cuppa on the go with you, but you'll want to make sure it stays piping hot until you have a chance to actually enjoy it. Fortunately, there's a huge market for reusable, portable and environmentally friendly travel mugs out there, so regular coffee drinkers can partake without sacrificing any of the function or pleasure. Plus, lots of coffee shops will give you a discount for bringing in your own cup, so you can earn a little cash back along the way. 

Like a lot of people, you've probably already made the switch to a reusable water bottle, so a reusable coffee mug for your hot coffee or hot tea is the next logical step. But are you in the market for a stainless steel mug? For a ceramic travel mug with a flip lid? There are many travel cups to choose from.

That's why we've tested out all the leading brands to determine the best travel coffee mug for you. Whether you're looking for something that fits into a standard cup holder or an accessory with modern flair, these stylish travel mugs will keep your tea and coffee hot for hours, and a cold beverage chilled for just as long.

Read more: This $25 Device Makes Iced Coffee in a Minute

Amazon

Coffee drinkers rejoice! Imagine the amazing insulated power of a Yeti cooler -- they're the standard for fishermen and people who like the outdoors -- but as an insulated coffee mug in the palm of your hand. This double-wall vacuum insulation stainless tumbler has great insulation. It keeps your morning coffee piping hot and safe well into the afternoon and the genius magnet sliding lid comes apart when it's time to throw it all in the dishwasher to clean (yes, this baby is dishwasher safe), should that be an option. This vacuum insulated coffee mug is also the perfect size for most car cup holders when you're driving through the great outdoors -- or just, um, to the office. Yeti Rambler tumbler is a stainless steel travel mug and is also available in a standard mug size with handle.

Amazon

If you're picky about your coffee, you probably have opinions on reusable coffee mugs, too. This durable super-chic to-go mug comes in neutral shades and has a stainless steel insulated cup that keeps coffee or tea safe at the same temp for up to six hours. Yasssss. The lid spins off to reveal an opening that you can sip from at any angle and the sleek design on this coffee travel mug is totally museum-worthy.

Amazon

No shame if you're the coffee drinker who gets more coffee on your clothes than in your mouth whenever you're carrying a cup on the go. Thankfully, this one has a spill proof lid. (Maybe you've heard of Contigo's Autoseal technology? It's good. Real good.) This reusable coffee canteen, which holds 16 ounces of your favorite brew, will keep your coffee safe and leak proof. It's also slim enough to fit in a car cup holder, which means even the bumpiest of rides won't threaten the heat of your morning joe. You can practically take this cup of coffee with you anywhere.

Amazon

This attractive 18-ounce insulated tumbler comes in a ton of amazing shades and designs, but it's not just a pretty face: This insulated travel mug is made from durable stainless steel and is triple-walled with insulation so that you'll never get condensation on your hands. But also, did we mention that it's p-r-e-e-e-e-e-t-t-y? Use this gorgeous and reusable coffee cup around the house to drink hot or cold beverages and find one that matches your decor (yes, that's a thing). Heads up, you have to purchase the lid separately if you want to take this one on the go.

Amazon

This is the travel mug for when your work bag is already loaded with notebooks, an iPad, your laptop and a million random receipts from heaven knows where. Made out of super-light, leak-proof BPA-free silicone, this travel coffee cup collapses to just 2.5 inches thick, meaning you can tote it practically anywhere without adding bulk to your bag. Plus, when your beverage needs a heat, it's microwave-safe. Hot tip: This Stojo collapsible cup also comes with a straw for when the iced coffee season hits and you want to swap a piping hot drink like hot java to a cold drink like cold brew, cold coffee, or iced tea. The collapsible travel cup is simply convenient. This reusable cup and the silicone lid last a lifetime.

Amazon

This stylish sipper holds 12 ounces of your beverage of choice and is made in the USA from soda-lime glass, which means it's easily recyclable when you're done with it eventually. It's safe to microwave, in case you want your beverage piping hot and even though it's glass, it's lightweight enough to carry with you on your morning coffee run. Thankfully, the cork band keeps your hands safe from burning and the BPA-free leak-proof lid and plug are dishwasher-safe.

More for coffee and other beverage enthusiasts:

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'Stranger Things 4': Let These Incredible TikToks Tide You Over Until Vol. 2

'Stranger Things 4': Let These Incredible TikToks Tide You Over Until Vol. 2

The final episodes of Stranger Things, season 4 arrive tonight! It's been a couple of weeks between volumes and with the wait just about over, maybe some shorter content will help plug the gap. Noah Schnapp and more cast members from Stranger Things have been providing the content we need to tide us over to the new episodes.

In a video posted on May 29, two days after Stranger Things season 4 premiered, Schnapp appears in full Byers garb -- a plaid shirt and khaki-colored pants he wears on the show -- and does an understated dance to a hip-hop track. "Will Byers making a TikTok?," the caption reads. You can check it out below.

@noahschnapp

Will byers making a tiktok?

♬ no idea X poke it out X out west - VNDRE

If you've scrolled through TikTok over the past month, you've probably taken note of the Stranger Things chatter. Season 4 has inspired everything from a TikTok challenge where people reveal which song would save them from Vecna's curse, to an auto-tuned version of Eddie's plea to a possessed Chrissy in the first episode ("Chrissy wake up," the track starts off. "I don't like this…"). 

Seventeen-year-old Schnapp and his Tiktok-savvy co-star, 20-year-old Caleb McLaughlin, are adding their own entertaining videos to the mix, and it's exactly what I've needed during this gap between season 4 episodes. Neither actor is new to the platform -- McLaughlin has been on since at least 2021 and Schnapp since at least 2019 -- but they've both delivered for fans during the show's interim.

In his follow-up TikTok to the Will Byers dancing vid, Schnapp pokes fun at TikTok's adoption of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill, the 1985 song that saw a resurgence after the release of season 4. "Me scrolling on my For You page after May 27," appears on-screen, while he scrolls through numerous normal and sped-up versions of the song. In addition to the TikTok recognition, the track charted around the world.

Meanwhile, McLaughlin, the actor who plays Lucas, has spent the season 4 pause lip-syncing to Pass the Dutchie, another song highlighted in season 4, and introducing Stranger Things music-lover Max to his own 2022 single, Soul Travel. (McLaughlin, like several actors in the Stranger Things cast, is also a musician.)

All of these videos have individually crossed a million likes. So chances are I'm just recapping TikToks you've already seen. But if not, it's a fun way to spend some more time in the realm of Stranger Things. Schnapp has posted behind the scenes photos and videos of the cast, including some throwback pics from when they were all younger. McLaughlin's other videos also reveal how much fun the gang has together when TV cameras aren't rolling. 

Netflix users watched 286.8 million hours of Stranger Things season 4 in its first three days -- more hours than the second season of Bridgerton. The second half of season 4 debuts in a little over a week, on July 1. If you want a mood boost while you wait, head to the accounts of these two creative cast members.

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Apple Watch: It's been 5 years since my original review, and it holds up

Apple Watch: It's been 5 years since my original review, and it holds up

I'd love to say that when I first put on the Apple Watch, I'd never seen anything like it before. But of course, that's not true. By late 2014 I'd been surrounded by smartwatches for a few years. So when Apple announced it was making its own watch, my thought (as so often with Apple) was: finally.

The first smartwatch I reviewed at CNET was the Martian Passport, an analog watch that could make phone calls. It sounds so primitive now, but it was cool in early 2013. The Pebble Watch followed, and the Steel version became my favorite: It was like a Casio watch turned into a useful little pager-assistant. It was simple and had long battery life, and it was great.

There were others, too: Samsung's first smartwatches were ambitious (a camera?). Google's first Android Wear watches arrived in 2014. Meanwhile, there were Fitbits and Jawbone trackers galore.

I say this to lay the groundwork for the Apple Watch and what its impact was. Like the iPhone wasn't the first smartphone, the Apple Watch wasn't the first smartwatch... but it made the biggest footprint. It was another step validating that a world of wearables was here to stay. 

I was able to wear the Apple Watch a month before it went on sale. I spent a ton of time with it, getting used to both how it handled phone calls, and the activity tracking rings. I looked at my heart rate measurements. I accidentally ordered an Xbox One with an early Amazon app.

The Watch was, much like the first iPhone, sometimes feature-limited. But it also had some features that already stood out.

My original review was updated a year later, which you can read here. Some parts have changed, clearly, and Apple has updated the OS. But I'll comment on what I wrote then, and how I felt, and how that's evolved. Quotes from the original review are in italics.

The gold Apple Watch, way back when.

James Martin/CNET

An excellent design, with luxury overtones

Apple wants you to think of the Apple Watch as fine jewelry. Maybe that's a stretch, but in terms of craftsmanship, there isn't a more elegantly made piece of wearable tech. Look at the Apple Watch from a distance, and it might appear unremarkable in its rectangular simplicity compared with bolder, circular Android Wear watches. It's clearly a revamped sort of iPod Nano. But get closer, and you can see the seamless, excellent construction.

The first Apple Watch came in aluminum, steel and ramped all the way up to a gold model costing more than $10,000. Compared to other smartwatches, it screamed luxury.

Certain touches felt luxurious, too: the fine-feeling Digital Crown, which spun ever so smoothly like a real watch part, for instance. The OLED display, which was a first for an Apple product, looked crisp and bright.

The most amazing part, maybe, were the watch bands. Apple created a really nice series of specially designed straps, from a steel link to a clever magnetic Milanese mesh that were extremely expensive and impressively engineered. 

Its watch face designs were great, too, and they integrated some information from the iPhone that aimed to add at-a-glance ease of use. There was a Mickey Mouse watch face that danced! The Solar face showing sunrise and sunset, and the astronomy face that showed planetary alignments and moon phases, felt like magic. I wanted more, but Apple's assortment of watch faces was limited, and it didn't allow for third-party watch face design. That's still the case now.

A lot of the Apple Watch reminded me of the strides Apple began with the iPod Nano, which also had watch mode... and a Mickey Mouse watch face.

Sarah Tew

New technologies at first: fantastic haptics, a force-sensitive display

All Apple Watches have a new S1 processor made by Apple, that "taptic" haptic engine and a force-sensitive and very bright OLED display, which is differently sized on the 38mm and 42mm models. The watch has its own accelerometer, gyrometer and heart-rate monitor, but no onboard GPS. It uses Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz Wi-Fi to connect to your phone or your home network. There's a built-in speaker and microphone, but no headphone jack.

As I wore the watch on the first day, I felt a rippling buzz and a metallic ping: one of my credit card payments showed up as a message. Apple's "Taptic Engine" and a built-in speaker convey both a range of advanced taps and vibrations, plus sounds. Unlike the buzz in a phone or most wearables, these haptics feel sharper: a single tap, or a ripple of them, or thumps.

Sometimes the feelings are too subtle: I don't know if I felt them or imagined them. My wrists might be numbed from too many smart devices. I set my alerts to "prominent" and got sharper nudges on my wrist.

The first watch introduced some ideas that eventually made their way to other iPhones. A "taptic engine" delivered on some amazingly refined vibration effects, ranging from a purr to a ping to a gentle tap. These were way ahead of what anybody else was doing -- and they weren't just a gimmick. The notification types associated with unique vibrations felt distinct. Sometimes, the vibrating taps on the first Watch weren't as powerful as I wanted. But with later updates, the haptics made parts of the interface seem real: virtual wheels, clicking as if moving with invisible gears.

The more advanced haptics made their way to the iPhone next, making us used to them now. Other phones, game consoles like the Nintendo Switch, and VR accessories, have evolved haptics since, but the Apple Watch was the first mainstream device that upped the haptics game.

Force Touch was another wild idea: Apple made its watch display force-sensitive, meaning a deeper press could work like pushing a button. Though this idea was refined further into 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S, 3D Touch was a technology that never became as necessary as expected, and current iPhone models have dropped the pressure-sensitive display tech completely.

The Apple Watch still has Force Touch, though, and I think it always will.

Digital Touch: I never used it much after that.

Sarah Tew

Lots of features. Too many features?

As you can see, this is a lot of stuff. Did I have fun using the watch? Yes, mostly, but there are so many features that I felt a little lost at times. There are so many ways to interact: swiping, touching, pressing harder into the display, a button and a clickable digital crown-wheel. Plus, there's Siri. Do I swipe, or click, or force touch or speak? Sometimes I didn't know where an app menu was. Or, I'd find getting back to an app I just had open would require an annoying series of crown clicks, swiping through apps, then opening the app again.

There's a reason I used the word "complicated" to describe my feelings using that first Apple Watch. Setting up bits of information, called complications, was slow and not always intuitive. Apps took a while to load, and were sometimes so slow that it was easier to check my phone instead. Quick glances and notifications, and phone calls, were fine. Apple Pay on the watch was clever, but would I use it? I wished the watch had more battery life.

I didn't like the overcomplicated feel. The design of the OS, and the card-like swappable mini-view apps that used to be on the Watch like a dock, changed over time. It's gotten better since.

Storing music on the watch, while it took a while to sync, was easier than attempts on Samsung Gear or Android Wear. Of course, I had to hunt for a good pair of Bluetooth headphones to connect with the watch.

Today I still forget to dive into and make the most of the apps on the watch. I just dusted off Walkie Talkie: it's cool. There's noise monitoring. One app lets me remote control my iPhone camera, which has been a huge help for my stay-at-home self-shot videos. The Remote app helps me when I lose the Apple TV remote every other day. 

Third-party apps, and the grid of options? It turns out I don't use them much at all. I don't dig down deep into the layers of functions. I prefer what's on the surface: watch faces, and their readouts. But I've come to appreciate the watch's surprising number of options and settings. It's better than not having them at all.

The rings were the beginning.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Fitness: The ring idea was just the beginning

The Apple Watch doesn't work any fitness miracles that the rest of the wearable world hasn't already invented, and it doesn't ship with any new magical sensors that change the game. But the Apple-made integrated fitness apps, Activity and Workout, are far and away the best fitness apps on any existing smartwatch that isn't a dedicated "fitness watch" (Samsung Gear, Android Wear, Pebble and the like). A clever three-ring method of tracking daily activity, which simultaneously measures and rewards daily calorie burn, active exercise and standing up, feels like a fusion of rewards and metrics seen on the Nike FuelBand, Jawbone Up, Fitbit and others. 

I appreciated Apple's complete-the-ring motivational activity tracker, which felt inspired by wearables like the Nike FuelBand (not surprising, since Apple's head of fitness, Jay Blahnik, arrived from Nike). For the red ring's daily goals, it's great. It felt too easy to complete the blue Stand ring, and it still does.

There are tons of fitness advancements Apple has made on the Watch in the last five years: GPS, resting heart rate, workout controls, social sharing, third-party app integration, swimming, modes for accessibility, activity trends -- and I haven't even discussed Apple's massive health aspirations like adding ECG, checking for falls, monitoring elevated or irregular heart rate or women's health tracking. There is some form of coaching and motivation, too. But I'd still love to see more of that. I hit a wall when trying to be fit, and there's only so much watches seem to help.

The first Apple Watch was more of a Fitbit. Now, it's more of a health companion. Those two worlds still feel like they need to dovetail and grow. There are missing features, too, like sleep tracking, which feels like the inevitable next step.

You still need an iPhone, just like in 2015.

Sarah Tew

It was, and still is, an iPhone accessory

Much like most other smartwatches, the Apple Watch isn't a standalone device -- it's a phone accessory. Android Wear, Samsung Gear, Pebble and others work the same way. But here, you must own an iPhone 5 or later to use the Watch. A few Apple Watch functions work away from the phone, but the watch primarily works alongside the phone as an extension, a second screen and basically another part of your iOS experience. It's a symbiote.

One thing I noted back then was that you needed an iPhone to use the Apple Watch. Unlike other wearables that can pair with Android or iOS, or even sync with a computer, the Apple Watch was always designed to live symbiotically with the iPhone.

That's still the case now. Even with independent cellular options, and an on-watch App Store, you can't use the Watch without pairing to an iPhone. And it still won't work with Android. It's a shame, because a fully standalone watch could be a really helpful tool for many people who don't have iPhones, and it could even be a phone alternative (for kids, maybe).

Apple's AirPods created a gadget trinity where the Watch, the iPhone and AirPods can all work seamlessly together. But that trinity is an expensive one. The entry price of the Apple Watch has dropped, at least. But it feels like an extension of the iPhone more than its own device, even now.

The Apple Watch Series 5: much better, with a few similarities.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Today: the best watch in a war of attrition

You don't need an Apple Watch. In many ways, it's a toy: an amazing little do-it-all, a clever invention, a possibly time-saving companion, a wrist-worn assistant. It's also mostly a phone accessory for now. In the months and years to come, that may change: with Apple's assortment of iPads, Macs, Apple TV and who knows what else to come, the watch could end up being a remote and accessory to many things. Maybe it'll be the key to unlock a world of smart appliances, cars and connected places. In that type of world, a smartwatch could end up feeling utterly essential.

I think back to what the Apple Watch was competing against back then: Jawbone, Pebble, Fitbit, Google's Android Wear, Samsung's watches, the Microsoft Band. A lot of competitors are gone now. Fitbit was acquired by Google. Samsung still has watches. Garmin makes lots of dedicated fitness watches. There are still plenty of more affordable relative newcomers, too.

The original Apple Watch, with the Pebble Steel, Moto 360 and the original iPod Nano with wristband (clockwise from top left).

Sarah Tew

In a field of fewer alternatives, the Apple Watch's consistent addition of new features and ongoing performance improvements has made it the best option. It's Apple's commitment to gradual improvements that has made it a stand-out watch now, especially compared to the struggles of Google's Wear OS.

The Apple Watch is still an iPhone accessory. And it's still not an essential product. But it's become a really fluid and useful device, one with lots of key upgrades that work, and one that's a lot easier to use.

What's the best smartwatch now? The Apple Watch. That doesn't mean I don't want to see improvements: battery life, sleep tracking, a watch face store and most importantly, Android support and true standalone function. If the last five years are any indication, Apple will tackle these problems on its own... time.

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Zepp E smartwatch hands-on: Gorgeous hardware marred by frustrating faults

Zepp E smartwatch hands-on: Gorgeous hardware marred by frustrating faults

Say hello to Zepp, a wearable-tech brand that in 2018 was acquired by Huami, which also owns Amazfit. Amazfit makes wearables as well, including one of my personal favorites, the $80 Bip S. The new Zepp E is the posh ying to that affordable yang, a $250 smartwatch with a gorgeous display and plenty of health and activity features. However, built-in GPS isn't one of them and various software issues mar the experience of using this watch. In its current state it's hard for me to recommend.

That's too bad, because it's a beauty, with a screen to match. 

Read more: The best smartwatches of 2020

Hardware heaven

You know from the get-go the Zepp E is no budget watch: It comes in a long, hefty box reminiscent of Apple's and seems a bit opulent for a smartwatch. I tested the circular model, but there's also an Apple Watch-like square version that's not yet available in the US. 

Zepp built the E into a 42mm stainless steel case that measures just 9mm thick. Its bright, razor-sharp AMOLED display resides under curved glass, a striking design choice that, with some faces, makes it look like the screen goes edge-to-edge. There's some bezel, of course, but it's virtually invisible when looking at a face with a black background. I did notice, however, that the screen was harder to read under bright sun than my Apple Watch.

The Zepp is available in four colors, including Ice Blue, shown here.

Zepp

The Zepp's watch-face library is one of the best I've seen, with a generous mix of whimsical, stylish, traditional and health-minded options. Some of the faces support customization, meaning you can choose between various widgets in different spots. Cooler still, each face has its own unique "always-on" variant as well, which is one of the E's notable features.

Battery life is another one. Zepp promises up to seven days of "typical" usage or 15 days in basic watch mode (without heart-rate tracking and other frills). If you opt for always-on mode, that can easily drop to 2-3 days, which is still an improvement over most premium smartwatches out there like the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. Those last anywhere from 18 to 24 hours.

I was less impressed with the proprietary magnetic charger, which works in only one orientation. When you go to connect it there's no way to tell which end is "up," so there's a 50/50 chance it'll be positioned the wrong way. (If it is, the magnets will repel instead of attract.)

Healthy skepticism

In addition to heart-rate monitoring, the Zepp E can measure your blood-oxygen saturation, a capability that Apple touted in the new Apple Watch Series 6. It also promises to alert you if it detects high levels of stress, though it's not immediately clear what would trigger such an alert or what actionable steps you'd be advised to take. It also gives you a stress score, which is equally confusing. I reached a max stress score of 54, but I'm not sure if that's good or bad.  

I'm more enthusiastic about the watch's Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) tracking, because the app does a good job of explaining how that works and why it's useful. PAI is a combined, cumulative look at activity and heart rate: The more you elevate both, the higher your score. But I did start to question the accuracy of some of these metrics. 

Although the watch seemed to provide accurate resting heart rate numbers, it tended to be way off while I was exercising: either too low or too high, or just inconsistent. I believe the watch was placed properly on my wrist and making good contact with my skin, so I'm don't think it was wearer error. 

Another frustration: During a run, I pressed the side button to dismiss a notification and ended up back at the watch face, with no easy way get back to my run stats. I had to stop in my tracks and navigate back through the workouts menu to get there. After that happened, notifications stopped appearing on the watch (even though I could hear tones for them in my headphones). And to top it all off, a call came in while I was running, causing the E to reboot -- and lose all the current run data.

While some of these issues can be fixed with future firmware updates, the one thing it can't fix is its lack of onboard GPS. The Zepp E offers only connected GPS, meaning you'll have to bring your phone along with you during an outdoor run or bike ride if you want to track your route. Even the $80 Bip S has proper built-in GPS; to me it seems inexcusable that the Zepp didn't include it.

The Zepp app offers some gorgeous watch faces, but other aspects of it are inconsistent and not very intuitive.

Rick Broida/CNET

Zepp's the way the cookie crumbles

During daily wear, I encountered a few annoyances. For example, sometimes call alerts (in the form of "ring-ring" vibration) happened after my phone had stopped ringing. There's a setting that lets you delay call notifications, which I thought might explain this, but it wasn't enabled. I also found it frustrating that I couldn't increase the font size on the screen and that various message sources (such as Slack) were identified simply as "app" rather than their actual name.  

Speaking of notifications, you can't respond to them. There's no way to answer a text, for example, nor can you use the watch for any voice features (like calls or Alexa commands).

I'm also disappointed by the Zepp app, which is the same one used for various Amazfit products (including the Bip). It's divided into three main sections -- Home, Enjoy (huh?) and Profile -- all of which look completely different from one another. To change any Zepp E settings, you venture into the Profile section. It's fairly straightforward, but there are a lot of options to sift through.

It's easy enough to forgive a mediocre app when you're talking about an $80 smartwatch, but it gets harder to ignore when you're talking about a smartwatch that's three times the price. It needs a usability overhaul.

The price is (not) right

For iPhone owners in particular, it's hard to recommend the Zepp E at $249 when you can get the Apple Watch Series 3 for as low as $199. (At this writing, in fact, it's still on sale for $169.) The latter is more tightly integrated with iOS, allowing you to reply to text messages directly and even have phone conversations.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Active 2 sells for $249 offers some distinct advantages over the Zepp E, like its touch bezel, LTE option and FDA-cleared electrocardiogram (ECG) feature, all for the same $249 price tag. 

The Zepp E deserves praise for its lovely design, solid battery life and gorgeous selection of watch faces, but I don't feel those are compelling enough to compensate for weak software, questionable health readings and lack of onboard GPS. There are better options available from the Amazfit brand that cost considerably less.

Zepp E specs

Shape	Round
Watch size	42mm
Materials/ Finishes	Stainless steel
Display size, resolution	AMOLED
Dimensions	42.2 x 42.2 x 9.1mm
Weight	32g
Colors	Onyx Black, Ice Blue, Polar Night Black, Moon Grey
Always On	Optional
Interchangable bands	Yes
GPS	Connected GPS
Automatic workout detection	No
Compass	No
Altimeter	No
Water resistance	Yes, up to 5 ATM
Calls	Alerts
Notifications	Yes, but no replies
Microphone	No
Voice assistant	No
Music	Playback control only
Mobile Payments	No
Sleep tracking	Yes
Special features	SpO2 tracking
Emergency features	No
Compatibility	Android and iOS
Power	Proprietary magnetic connector
Battery life	7-15 days
Price (USD)	$250

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