Apple Watch and web browsing don't match (yet)

After getting an Apple Watch, some folks may wonder what it would be like to browse the web using the new device. It should be pretty interesting, right? After all, Apple Watch is, at least theoretically, capable of displaying a web page and equipped with the right features to allow the user to navigate it.

Renowned iOS jailbreaker Comex has decided to put it to the test, after managing to get a browser up and running on the device. Considering that Apple does not offer Safari on its smartwatch, the results should not surprise anyone.

As my colleague Mark Wilson would say, a smooth experience it ain't. A browser feels totally out of place running on Apple Watch right now. Web sites have not been optimized for the small form factor, so everything looks either too small (when zoomed out) or too big (when zoomed in) on the tiny display; in the video embedded at the end of the article, Comex has the browser pointed to Google Search.

There are also some issues when using gestures to navigate the page, but this could be down to the browser not being fully baked. It should be noted that Apple Watch is not yet meant to run native apps, instead relying on iOS apps -- the iPhone version -- to show content on its display.

Comex has also revealed how the iOS dictionary view looks on Apple Watch, showing that it is not optimized for the device. Again, seeing as Apple Watch is not meant to be used as such, the outcome should not come as a surprise.

It is easy, of course, to dismiss Apple Watch as a device for browsing, based on the small screen size alone. However, we should not rule this possibility out. Web sites can be optimized to display certain relevant information on Apple Watch, like links to videos, article excerpts and so on, while also becoming more gesture-friendly. It might be a decent alternative to making native apps.