New York Times plans ‘one-sentence stories’ for Apple Watch

By Trevor Mogg April 1, 2015

new york times plans one sentence stories for apple watch spring forward 003 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The much-hyped Apple Watch finally lands this month, and the tech firm is hoping its first ever wearable grabs the attention of consumers from the get-go.

For that to have any hope of happening, the watch needs to launch with enough apps to keep users spinning that Digital Crown and swiping about the tiny display. And for that to happen, notable names need to get involved.

Venerable news outlet the New York Times, for one, is ready with its Apple Watch app, which it announced on Tuesday.

It’s pushing its new Apple smartwatch software as a quick way to get a simple overview of a news event via what it’s calling “one-sentence stories.”

The news snippets, covering sections such as business, politics, and the arts, will be crafted “specially for small screens,” the news organization said, describing its smartwatch approach as “a new form of storytelling.”

It even plans to squeeze photos onto the screen related to the short, bulleted news summaries.

nyt apple watch app — Image used with permission by copyright holder

If a particular story piques your interest, you can use Apple’s Handoff feature to read the full article on your iPhone or iPad. Alternatively, you can tap ‘save for later’ so you can read the whole piece at a more convenient time.

“Editors on three continents will be dedicated to The Times’s core mobile apps, including Watch, 24 hours a day,” the news outlet said.

The app launches when the Apple Watch goes on sale on April 24, and is free to use.

With Apple’s first smartwatch just days from hitting stores, analysts are now setting out to risk their reputations with predictions on how well it’ll sell. Among them is Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, who said this week he thinks Apple Watch sales could reach one million units over its first weekend, a figure that includes pre-orders, which start on April 10. Munster adds that by the end of 2015 he expects Apple Watch sales to hit eight million. However, the Cupertino company’s decision to make it hard for us to know exactly how many smartwatches it sells means we may have a hard time finding out the true figure.

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Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Gaming

The New York Times has already changed Wordle solutions

A person plays 'Wordle' on an iPhone.

The New York Times is interfering with the possible guesses and answers for Wordle. The new version of the popular word-based puzzle has deviated from the original, which means that some players might not get the same solutions to Wordle puzzles as everyone else anymore.
On January 31, Wordle was acquired by the Times to bolster the news publication's casual gaming offerings. While Wordle isn't gated behind a paywall like many feared just yet, the Times is making gameplay changes despite promising it wouldn't.
The Times' version of Wordle doesn't allow certain problematic words -- which BoingBoing details -- to be used as guesses or solutions anymore. That's understandable, but it has also removed some ordinary words like "fibre" and "pupal" just because they are obscure or too similar to other words.
Even worse, The Verge points out that this change means the Times' Wordle skipped over "agora," February 14's original word. This means that players who haven't refreshed their browser since starting to play the game will now see different solutions from everyone else.
The Times did officially comment on the matter, telling ABC News reporter Michael Slezak that "we are updating the word list over time to remove obscure words to keep the puzzle accessible to more people, as well as insensitive or offensive words."
https://twitter.com/MikeySlezak/status/1493344574260924420
While The New York Times does recommend that people just refresh their browsers to access the new list, a puzzle game that's only supposed to have one answer now having multiple is a big problem. It also compounds issues some players were already having with win streaks carrying over.
This whole debacle shows that even Wordle wasn't immune to acquisition woes, even if they weren't the paywall-related problems we originally expected. Avid Wordle players are best off refreshing their browser or redownloading the game for the smoothest experience, but this issue will likely explain any future confusion one might have if someone posts a Wordle with a different answer.

Mobile

What you can (and can’t) do on your Apple Watch without your iPhone

Apple Watch Series 7 in a pocket.

The Apple Watch has seen enormous success. In fact, it’s the most popular item in Apple’s quickly expanding Wearables, Home, and Accessories division, which also includes Apple AirPods.

Since the Apple Watch was released in 2015, the smartwatch has gone through a number of makeovers and gained several new features. People love the Apple Watch for its durability, water resistance, and fitness-tracking abilities. Early versions of the watch could measure your activity levels, heart rate, and several other health metrics. Later versions even come with tools like ECGs (electrocardiograms) that can tell you when your heartbeat is abnormal and oximeters that can measure your blood oxygen levels.

Gaming

Move over, Bungie: New York Times acquires Wordle

A person plays 'Wordle' on an iPhone.

Wordle, a popular word-based puzzle game that's dominated social media feeds in recent months, was acquired by The New York Times Company on January 31. It was the second significant gaming-related acquisition of the day, following Sony's $3.6 billion acquisition of Destiny developer Bungie.
The New York Times did not share the specific price of the acquisition, but did say in its announcement that it paid creator Josh Wardle an amount "in the low seven figures." That's a much smaller figure than Sony's acquisition, but Wordle likely reaches a lot more people than even Destiny 2 currently does.
Wordle is simple, engaging, and easy to share on social media. Image used with permission by copyright holder
While The New York Times is primarily a news publication, it has expanded into casual gaming in recent years. "The Times remains focused on becoming the essential subscription for every English-speaking person seeking to understand and engage with the world," its article on the deal said. "New York Times Games are a key part of that strategy."
Wardle claims New York Times Games played a part in the October 2021 creation of Wordle, adding that "this step feels very natural to me."
It sounds like The New York Times could eventually put Wordle behind a paywall. "The company said the game would initially remain free to new and existing players," The New York Times article notes, with "initially" being the keyword there. Thankfully, Wardle promises that Wordle will still be free and that wins and streaks will be preserved once the game transitions to The New York Times' website.
https://twitter.com/powerlanguish/status/1488263944309731329
The New York Times highlights how it wants to grow its digital subscriptions to 10 million by 2025. Locking Wordle behind that subscription would undoubtedly drive some people to subscribe, but The New York Times also risks Wordle losing relevancy and upsetting a happy player base if it does that.
That's not something we'll have to worry about for now, as Worlde is still available for free online.