An Apple Watch podcast where life keeps interrupting.
Zac Hall hosts 9to5Mac Watch Time, a set of friendly check-ins about how an Apple Watch fits around running, Fitness+ workouts and sleep tracking. The watch is usually where a conversation starts. From there it drifts into laptop repairs, a house move, parenting and harder personal news.
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9to5Mac Watch Time is an Apple Watch podcast hosted by Zac Hall, and its conversations have a habit of leaving the wrist behind. The numbered episodes, 'Week 2' through 'Week 6', pair the host with the independent developer of Tempo. A listener tip brought them together. The host wanted a replacement for Nike Run Club that would log personal records at set distances, and someone pointed to Tempo. In 'Week 2' the host even goes looking for the tweet that made the introduction. With an app maker in the conversation, the angle changes. In 'Week 3' the developer describes the upside of working solo, with no filter between the app and the people who use it all the time. The workout talk is concrete. Fitness+ earns real enthusiasm. One of the watches has been claimed by someone who now uses the service nearly every day, which is enough to make the subscription pay for itself. The three-trainer format, with one trainer showing an easier option, gets praise for feeling welcoming to anyone exercising at home at their own speed. A HIIT session earns a promise of six days a week. Sleep tracking is more of an open question: a device goes back because it did not fit well, the search for alternatives begins, and the data turns out to have a limit on what it can say about REM sleep. 'Week 6' turns to the watch as a personal device. The two agree that a new gadget tempts its owner to make it do everything, and that it works better trimmed to the things a wearer would not want to miss, with the rest left to the phone. Around all of this, ordinary life keeps intruding. A MacBook Air repair quoted at about a week stretches to nearly two, sending the host to an iPad Pro and then a borrowed Chromebook with three tabs side by side. There is a house move, a kindergarten day run from a home computer, and a motorcycle upgrade under consideration. Some of it is heavy. One conversation covers a separation, a three-year-old son and the hope of keeping the family in one house, and it closes with an offer to keep talking after the show. Another sets a first vaccine dose against news of relatives who are unwell. 'With guest Sigmund Judge' steps outside the pairing, starting from the guest's first run in six to nine months and the pride of getting back to it. The talk then moves to audiobooks, podcasts and films as glimpses into other worlds rather than time that could have been spent more productively, and to a childhood habit of writing a poem or song after a film that moved the guest. On air, 'Week 5' is called the next-to-last of the run and 'Week 6' the final one for now, with the door left open. For workout talk, 'Week 3' is the natural place to start. For the side of the show that goes past gear into a hard stretch of life, start with 'Week 2'.
Made for: Suits a listener who wears an Apple Watch for runs, Fitness+ classes or sleep tracking and would rather hear two people compare daily habits than review specs, and who is comfortable when the talk turns personal.
What sets it apart: It treats the Apple Watch as a way into how people's weeks are actually going, so a HIIT class that sticks sits next to a stalled laptop repair and a first run in months. The Tempo developer adds the view of someone who hears straight from the people using the app.
A fortnightly, limited interview series exploring the world of Apple Watch and how it’s changing people’s lives. 9to5Mac Watch Time is hosted by Zac Hall.
Activity rings turn into friendly rivalry; your own wrist might start feeling a little competitive.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A casual farewell finds Apple Watch value in fewer distractions and more deliberate habits.
Watch Time signs off in a loose, revealing mode, beginning with a motorcycle detour that moves from interest in a Sportster 1200 to buying a Softail Fat Bob before settling into a thoughtful account of living with Apple Watch.
A measured conversation about fitness, media, and technology as support for better habits, not a substitute for choice.
Watch Time uses Sigmund's routines to get at a simple, useful question: when does technology help a person change, and when does it start getting in the way? A mistaken 3 a.m. wake-up becomes a 6 a.m.
A repaired Mac and an unsettled sleep-tracking question turn everyday tech choices into the real story.
A repaired Mac anchors a tidy, everyday review of how much the right machine still matters. After nearly two weeks away, one host moves from an iPad Pro with a mouse, keyboard, and display to a borrowed Chromebook, where three tabs can sit side by side in a way the iPad setup…
A reset week shaped by a move, a MacBook Air repair, exercise, and family health.
The episode finds its center in the everyday systems that make Apple gear feel useful or absent. A move, a MacBook Air still out for repair, a missed exercise goal, and the attempt to rebuild routine give the conversation an easy, lived-in shape.
A grounded week of beta testing, Apple Fitness+, and moving plans around the routines of an indie app.
This episode stays close to the working life around a solo indie app: a TestLite beta group pressure-tests releases, listener feedback nudges the show, and Apple Fitness+ settles into a household routine.
Retro games, road stories, lived-in tech memory.
Specialists walking through software's tradeoffs, one system at a time.
Founders and engineers on AI coding agents like Claude Code, and supply chain security.
In Week 6 of 9to5Mac Watch Time, Zach and Rahul discuss motorcycles, health habits, Tempo development, and more deliberate Apple Watch use.
Sigmund Judge ties Apple Watch to a heart-valve replacement, supraventricular tachycardia, and a return to running after 6 to 9 months away.
["Zach starts with the Mac that returned after a day shy of two weeks, complete with a new top display and a Time Machine restore because it came back blank.", "The conversation then pivots to running notes, including Dick Hoyt's death, a daily route past Heartbreak Hill, and the way Team Hoyt shaped Boston Marathon memories.", "Raul uses an Apple Watch, the book Why We Sleep, and a week of school-dropoff logistics to argue that five-hour nights can look different once the context is visible.", "The episode ends with Tempo 3.3.3, where Paul's tag-trend request became cumulative graph filtering, pace and distance range filters, and power tagging across workouts."]
9to5Mac Watch Time’s Week 4 revisits health homework after a skipped week, including a missed six-hour exercise target during a move and stronger gym sessions afterward.
9to5Mac Watch Time Week 3 reviews a sleep-tracking assignment using a Series 5 Apple Watch across three nights, with reported sleep ranging from about six and a half to eight hours.
9to5Mac Watch Time’s Week 2 follows Zach and his co-host reviewing Apple Fitness+ Time to Walk, running homework, and broader fitness routines.
9to5Mac Watch Time begins a six-week format in which Zach and Rahul Mata discuss Apple Watch features, running habits, and Rahul's Tempo app.
9to5Mac Watch Time examines Apple's Black Unity Collection with guest Anastasia Falorunzo, including its hand-assembled Sport Band, shifting Unity watch face, and February fitness challenge.
Miles Somerville tells Zach Hall how joining 9to5Mac in July 2019 expanded his Apple-focused work alongside Jeff Benjamin, while he still uses a Pixel 5 for comparison.
Zach Hall interviews Anastasia Fulorunzo on 9to5Mac Watch Time about Apple Watch Series 6, watchOS 7, and Apple Fitness+.
Zach interviews 9to5Mac YouTube lead Jeff Benjamin about reviewing Apple Watch Series 3 and Series 5 before expected new models.
Zach Hall and Michael Podek review Apple's watchOS 7 announcement from WWDC 2020, covering watch-face sharing, sleep tracking, new workouts, cycling directions, and automatic hand-washing detection.
9to5Mac Watch Time previews expected watchOS 7 features before WWDC, including shared watch faces, Schooltime, child-focused controls, sleep mode, blood oxygen tracking, and Car Key.
9to5Mac Watch Time shifts from Apple Watch coverage to Ish Shabazz’s discussion of George Floyd, systemic racism, and police violence.
9to5Mac Watch Time interviews developer David Smith about his “Choosing Fitness” post, where he describes health improvement as deliberate, reasonable choices repeated over time.
Tyler Hayes tells 9to5Mac Watch Time that a cellular Apple Watch paired with AirPods has become the running iPod he wanted, removing the need to carry a phone.
9to5Mac Watch Time interviews David Smith about Watchsmith, Apple Watch development, and the health apps behind Pedometer++, Sleep++, and Geneva Moon.
9to5Mac Watch Time hosts an off-cycle conversation with Chance about adapting remote work, exercise, family contact, and Apple Watch habits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
9to5Mac Watch Time interviews Sean Dorsey, an Omaha, Nebraska Apple Watch user who moved from collecting 12 or 13 analog watches to wearing an Apple Watch 90 to 95 percent of the time.
9to5Mac Watch Time features Casey Liss discussing Apple Watch routines, including a cloud-only iPhone alarm tone that left him asleep until 8:30 instead of waking at 5:30 or 6:00.
9-5 Mac Watch Time host interviews Chance Miller, host of 9-5 Mac Daily, about Apple Watch use across CrossFit, running, calorie tracking, and screen-time reduction.
Matt Birchler and Zach discuss Birchler’s watchOS 7 concepts, shaped by Birchler’s experience testing Apple Watch alternatives from Android Wear and Samsung.
On 9to5Mac Watch Time, Zach Hall and Michael Podik connect Apple Watch habits with running, cycling, skiing, illness, and marathon decisions.
Zach Hall’s 9to5Mac Watch Time episode examines Apple Watch fall detection, elevated-heart-rate alerts, Series 5 battery life, and his 2020 goals.
Greg McFadden tells Zach how the first-generation Apple Watch helped him recognize low daily movement and lose approximately 100 pounds over a gradual lifestyle change.
Zach interviews Tom, Vincent, and Chris from Apple Watchcast about the show’s 300-plus-episode history and its hobbyist focus on Apple Watch news.
The 9to5Mac Watch Time episode follows a Disney Wine and Dine half marathon completed with Apple Watch Series 5 and AirPods Pro.
9to5Mac Watch Time interviews Will Sigmon, host of Slice and a former Apple Retail employee, about Apple Watch use and accessibility.
David Sparks and Clayton Morris describe how Apple Watch rings, walks, HIIT workouts, and small settings changes shape their routines.
Federico Viticci describes producing a 75,000-word MacStories review of iOS 13, iPadOS, and iOS 13.1 while working 12-to-14-hour days.
9to5Mac Watch Time features Rahul Matta, creator of the Apple Watch running-log app Tempo, and Will Bishop, developer of Chirp, Nano, and MiniWiki for watchOS.
Ian Blackburn, a 54-year-old father of three, describes using Apple Watch while completing two Ironman-distance triathlons after a deep-vein thrombosis prompted him to become more active.
On 9 to 5 Mac Watch Time, Zach Hall interviews Apple Watch Activity Challenge expert Kyle Seth Gray about using Apple Watch to build sustainable fitness habits.
On 9to5Mac Watch Time, Zach Hall interviews Alex Cox about using Apple Watch notifications, activity rings, heart-rate alerts, sleep data, and reminders to manage work and mental health.
9to5Mac Watch Time host Zach Hall interviews Jacob Knight, a 30-year-old IT manager and fitness coach, about using Apple Watch for work, communication, and training.
On 9to5Mac Watch Time, Zach Hall and Benjamin Mayo compare Apple Watch routines, notification habits, watch faces, and exercise strategies.