There haven't been many tech gadgets that come out with a WOW factor in the last few years. TinyPod is one of the interesting products that caught my eye.
When I first saw the concept a year ago, the only thought I had was, “I have to get hands-on with this.” I placed my pre-order right after the product page went live. Luckily, after two delays, six months later, it finally arrived at my doorstep.
The product is intriguing in many ways. It's nostalgic as it resembles an iPod; it's novel as it's the first physical product in such a form factor (apparently, the concept was published by others earlier); it's cute because who doesn’t like an everyday product in a miniature size?
The Idea
TinyPod is a great concept that turns the Apple Watch into something new by simply adding a case to your Apple Watch. The form factor isn’t promised to users by Apple. It’s a hardware hack that seemingly gives the health-tracking product a new identity.
The way it works seems simple and logical: you put on an Apple Watch case that has a built-in scrolling wheel. Voila, you have a new way to interact with your Apple Watch like how you used an iPod before. It’s also so tiny that it can literally fit in any space, even a lady’s purse. And if your Apple Watch supports cellular connectivity, it even tries to replace your phone since you can call or message anyone directly from it.
On paper, the idea seems amazing because of all the benefits mentioned above. However, this is not how Apple intended for the Apple Watch to be used. And like it or not, although Apple wasn’t trying to block it this time, trying to turn the Apple Watch into something else can be a pretty bad idea, given all the sacrifices you have to make just to own something cool.
The Design
The product comes in a well-designed drawer-like box with a tiny orange ribbon pull tab to pull out the inner drawer. Inside, there is no user manual but a QR code that links you to a landing page that basically tells you everything about how to install it. Both the box and landing website are nicely thought out and designed, just like the concept itself.
Once you take the product out of the box, you might find the slightly disappointing product itself. Unlike the computer-generated renders shown on the website, the product uses a polished but cheap and oily-looking white plastic without much consideration into finishes or manufacturing precision control.
On the side, you can see a gap between the front and back shells, and if you rub your fingers around the sides, you can feel the unevenness of the shells, which makes it fall more into the toy category instead of a modern tech gadget. This variance in manufacturing has inevitably caused me some issues in setting up and using the product, which I will cover later.
(Back panel with a removable door)
Your Apple Watch will fit into this “case” through a removable door on the back panel. Once you put your Apple Watch inside, it’s supposed to secure it with the charging coils exposed for more convenient charging. And if your model is older and slightly smaller in size, it also comes with a foam strip that can be attached inside to further secure it.
On the front, it looks like an iPod with the scroll wheel, except that you actually rotate it, instead of using force or capacitive sensors, and the center button is fixed and non-clickable. Till this moment, I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this. However, I’m still optimistic about putting the product to work despite those design flaws.
The Mechanism
Pardon my ignorance for not reading the pre-order website in full due to my overly joyful reaction to the product, and with a $79 price tag, I was actually expecting the product to come in a more complex form. In my imagination, or assumptions, it would have a Bluetooth module that’s able to communicate with the Apple Watch and a built-in battery to support itself.
To my surprise, before I installed the Apple Watch, I saw a metal part exposed on the inside of the case. I was shocked, wondering if I had actually received an unfinished unit. It turns out the product is complete with the metal part designed like this. But in my actual usage, the design is truly flawed and defective.
TinyPod Internal structure, source: Reddit
Instead of using Bluetooth to control the Apple Watch, the TinyPod case actually uses a much more traditional mechanical mechanism to control it. The actually rotatable scrolling wheel is connected to a rubber pulley on the inside. As you rotate the wheel, the rubber pulley touches the digital crown on your Apple Watch and mimics as if a finger is rotating the digital crown.
What a cheap but genius idea, I thought.
Regretting a bit about the $79 plus shipping that I paid for the product, I still couldn’t wait to give it a try. So, I took my Apple Watch bands off and inserted the unit inside the TinyPod case. That’s when the unfortunate events started to happen.
After I put in my Apple Watch, I turned the scroll wheel on the front; however, nothing happened. Turning clockwise, turning counter-clockwise, taking the product out and then putting it back in—nothing helped. The traditional power on and off fix wouldn’t work because it’s purely mechanical.
Confused, I took out the back cover; luckily, it’s easy to see what’s going on inside with the exposed metal part. I noticed the pulley actually works with the scroll wheel and it’s trying to pull the digital crown. However, for some reason, the pulley’s rubber doesn’t seem to generate enough friction to rotate the digital crown as it’s supposed to.
In other reviews I have seen before, this issue wasn’t mentioned. To verify if it’s due to my watch, I dug out another older Apple Watch model and put it in. Only this time, it worked half of the time. The manufacturing variance mentioned above is definitely at play here.
The Experience
Finally getting it to work, the sensation is… interesting.
The Apple Watch has its own Taptic Engine, so as you scroll the wheel, there is a certain level of feedback from the device, making it not too boring. However, the cheaply made plastic body kind of ruins it; both the digital crown and side button feel soft and not bouncy at all as they are covered by rubber pads built into the case. Unlike some iPhone cases, even though the original iPhone buttons are covered by the case, they are still quite clicky to use.
While the pulley rubber doesn’t have enough friction to turn the digital crown, the same can be said for the scroll wheel too. The surface layer used a rough/matte finish, which is different from the polished body, but it’s still difficult to maneuver with a single finger. It’s kind of funny to use such a little device with two hands, holding it with both of my thumbs trying to turn the wheel. I just find it more useful to use my fingers on the screen than using the scroll wheel itself.
One of the Reddit comment suggests using the device by licking your thumb first (like how you would turn a page of a real book, truly nostalgic)
Source: Reddit
When it cooperates with your Apple Watch and fingers, the TinyPod case works in the way it’s supposed to.
Those design details can definitely be fine-tuned for a better user experience.
The Functions
Apple is a computer company, and Apple Watch is a wearable personal computing device. After almost 10 years of product iterations, the company has positioned the product as the most advanced consumer-grade health-tracking device, with other features that work with other Apple ecosystem products. It provides many conveniences such as music streaming or unlocking your iPhone or Mac without typing in passwords. All those functions and health tracking are quite essential to every daily user.
(TinyPod claims it to be "Your phone away from phone")
Based on the marketing message by TinyPod, it aims to replace your phone or at least make it a more enjoyable experience using your Apple Watch. There are some use cases suggested by TinyPod that make total sense, such as scrolling down your contact list or song list, but as an Apple Watch user, you are sacrificing a lot to look cool using the device.
First of all, to have the best user experience with the TinyPod case, TinyPod has suggested turning off Wrist Detection, which means your Apple Watch won’t auto-lock itself anymore. Then if you lose it, all your info including financial data (Wallet), social info (Messages), privacy data (Map/Health), and business data (Mail) could be exposed. This huge security concern is not dismissible and certainly is a step-back.
I don’t think any sensible person should be making the trade-off in order to have a smaller “phone” in their pocket.
This critical concern wasn’t brought up by TinyPod at all on their website. Personally, I think they should have a full disclosure on their website addressing the underlying security issue.
Second, the smartest health tracker, aka Apple Watch, measures all of your info through your wrist. Turning it into a phone and putting it in your pocket will lose 100% of those features. Although you might be able to run a manual heart rate test by placing it on your wrist, it’s impossible to conduct any ECG as the digital crown is already covered by the rubber pad on the case.
Lastly, I don’t have a cellular version of Apple Watch, so I can’t comment on the battery life to use it as a standalone device, but I doubt the battery inside is built for cellular connection 24/7 without its companion iPhone.
Some discussions on Reddit suggest the standalone use case may last 5–10 hours, which is not even all-day battery life. Imagine you are on the go and need to charge your main device 2–3 times a day. However, I do reckon people who want to use Apple Watch solely may want to disconnect themselves more than others, so the battery might last longer.
The Summary
While TinyPod is amazing in many ways, it has also failed its promises since day one as a practical product. It’s turning the Apple Watch into something it wasn’t meant to be.
It’s hard to make hardware, especially for a first-generation product. It takes courage, resources, and luck to make it happen. I enjoy TinyPod as much as a realized concept or as a toy for a few hours.
At the same time, I strongly feel the product has been exaggerating what it can do by selling a promise that’s too broad without disclosing the problems, even as several lines of tiny disclaimers (pun intended) at the footnote of the website.
I also feel like for $79, albeit with all the limitations due to Apple Watch’s design, the details like buttons deserve to be finished better. Launching something too eagerly before it’s ready breaks trust for passionate early adopters, eventually making it a one-off project.
Sometimes a toy doesn’t have to be very practical, but you would at least expect it to be nicely made.
Purchasing Suggestion
It’s worth trying if you are one of the adventurous early adopters who have supported many Kickstarters before. Otherwise, I would suggest waiting for next generation or picking up a used unit, as I’m sure there will be a lot on the market very soon.