Original Apple Watch designer shares interesting facts about its development

Imran Chaudhri, an Apple alumnus who now serves as the co-founder of a stealth startup called Humane, shared a handful of "fun facts" about the original Apple Watch and some elements of its interface in a Twitter thread on April 24.

For example, Chaudhri posted a reproduction of the original sketch for the Apple Watch's home screen, and added some details about the interface.

Additionally, the former Apple designer said that his first Apple watch prototype was actually a sixth-generation iPod nano strapped to a watch band. Chaudhri used that prototype to show off Siri and the Notification Center on a wrist-worn platform.

A few other interesting tidbits about the Apple Watch's original development process.

• Digital Touch was initially called "electronic touch," or E.T. Chaudhri said he called it that because of its "potential as a new form of emotional connections."
• Similarly, the drawing "ink" of the Digital Touch feature was inspired by Chaudhri's "graffiti days" — The "ephemera was designed to communicate transmission while making it guilt free."
• Apple's various loop-based straps were inspired by the velcro Speedmaster straps worn by Apollo-era astronauts, and were meant to be uncomplicated.
• The butterflies used in one of the Motion faces were not harmed during animation process since they were already dead. Chaudhri got to keep the blue one.
• The Solar watch face was created as a way for Muslims observing Ramadan to "quickly see the position of the sun and for all to understand the sun's relationship to time," Chaudhri said.

Apple's flagship wearable has come a long way since the original, released in 2015. Current rumors also suggest that an upcoming version of the Apple Watch could include new features like blood oxygen detection, built-in sleep tracking and larger, improved batteries.