This article was published on September 5, 2016

Tickr makes your Apple Watch sound mechanical…for some reason


Tickr makes your Apple Watch sound mechanical…for some reason Image by: Alex Mccarthy/Flickr

Wish your Apple Watch was constantly making sounds, and had worse battery life? Tickr is an upcoming Apple Watch app that runs constantly in the background and plays the sound of famous mechanical watches.

The idea: the ticking and tocking will help sooth you to sleep, reassure you that your watch is still on, and generally just be pleasant. To give would-be users an idea of what this might be like, Tickr is offering a few recordings on its SoundCloud page.

For example, there’s this recording of a Rolex Daytona:

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Or this one, of an Omega Speedmaster:

Or, if you want to massively distort your sense of scale, you can make your watch sound like Big Ben, apparently:

I’ll admit it: I own a mechanical watch, and occasionally hold it up to my ear to either psych myself up or calm myself down. There’s something about the consistency of the passage of time that’s transcendental, that reminds me that the world moves on regardless of what I do. A big part of that appeal, however, is the idea that gears are physically in motion on my wrist. I don’t think an Apple Watch playing an audio file can give me that same feeling.

I also wonder if there isn’t a copyright problem here. It wouldn’t be outlandish for Rolex or Omega to claim the mechanical sounds of their watches are their intellectual property (though Big Ben probably won’t sue.)

Regardless, Tickr isn’t out yet. It is coming soon according to the official website, so stay tuned if you want to give it a spin later. For the best effect, combine the Rolex sound with the Mickey Mouse watchface.

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