Suunto teases long-awaited watch face App Store
Excitement is building in the Suunto community as users catch a glimpse of what’s to come. The company has teased a watch face App Store that is due to arrive soon, and notifications related to this have started appearing in the Suunto smartphone app.
What is the Suunto watch face App Store?
Its seems, the new functionality will allow users to browse, download, and customise their watch faces from the Suunto Plus Store. This means that Suunto owners will no longer be limited to the pre-installed options that come with their devices.
For context, many smartwatch brands such as Apple, Garmin, and Samsung have been offering similar functionalities for years. Their app stores allow users to personalise their watches with faces that suit their tastes and needs, be it for aesthetics, functionality, or readability. Suunto is in that sense playing catch-up here. But as they say, better late than never.
Why is this useful?
The ability to download different watch faces brings several advantages. It offers users the freedom to customize their watch displays. AMOLED screens particularly benefit from custom watch faces due to their vibrant colour range.
Moreover, being able to choose watch faces from a store gives users a chance to find designs that are less battery-draining. Battery life is always a major concern with smartwatches, especially those with bright, colorful screens. It’s possible that the delay in launching this store had to do with concerns around battery performance. Some watch faces can significantly impact battery life, and Suunto likely wanted to ensure that none of the options would lead to unexpected battery drain. The feature is fairly simple to implement, so apart from battery life we don’t see any other reason why the company would delay it.
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For developers and designers, this provides an opportunity to work on watch faces without the constraints linked to firmware distribution. This means faster updates, more innovation, and a more vibrant ecosystem of watch faces.
Our takeaway
One question that arises is whether all the watch faces will be free. While Garmin initially offered all its watch faces for free, it recently introduced a paid tier. So far, word is that Suunto intends to keep all of its watch faces free. A free model could attract more users initially, but offering a premium tier could encourage developers to invest more time and creativity in their designs.
This move is certainly a step in the right direction. While there is no set launch date, we expect the feature will land in the near future. For a brand that has a loyal following, offering more personalisation options would certainly be a welcome change.
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