Are you the owner of a brand new Apple Watch? After pairing your watch with your iPhone, the system will prompt you to install watchOS-compatible versions of your apps from your smartphone. We recommend that you skip this step and install the best software for Apple Watch one by one. While exploring the capabilities of the device, we have compiled a list of essential applications for the Apple wearable computer.
Weather Underground (free)
The standard Weather application is good for checking forecasts, but with the help of Weather Underground, you will be provided with alerts about possible precipitation. With this app, you can easily avoid intermittent rain and be prepared for heavy rainfall.
Calcbot (free)
Installing this app will bring a complete calculator to your Apple Watch. Next time, you can easily and quickly calculate the tip after dinner at a cafe or quickly do simple calculations without using your iPhone.
Fantastical (199 rubles)
news
Apple's smartwatches are ideal for breaking news. You can use Nuzzel for trending Twitter stories; Instapaper for viewing articles from the reading list;
Finally, they are sent to their owners. Now is the time for fun, or rather, learning. Users will have to tinker with a new gadget for some time in order to explore all its capabilities and use them to the maximum. We present to your attention a number of basic functions, having familiarized yourself with which, you can work with the watch immediately after.
In contact with
1. Buttons
- Power (on / off): You can turn your Apple Watch on and off by pressing and holding the wide button on the side of the case.
- Return to home screen: Press the Digital Crown once to access the home screen.
- Application switching: You can switch between the two most recently launched programs by quickly double-clicking the Digital Crown.
- Screenshot: To take a screenshot, you must simultaneously press the side button and the Digital Crown.
- Page scrolling: You can go to the top or bottom of the page using the Digital Crown, or simply by swiping your finger across the screen in the desired direction.
- Scaling: The Digital Crown will help you to enlarge a detail of a photo or an area on a map. It is worth noting that the ability to zoom with two fingers (as in the iPhone) is absent in the Apple Watch.
- Favorite contacts: For quick access to your favorite contacts, simply press the side button once.
- Apple Pay: payment system by double clicking on the side button.
2. User interface
- Notifications: Notifications that come to Apple Watch are managed using a dedicated iPhone app.
- Notification center: You can access Notification Center on Apple Watch in the same way as on iPhone - by swiping from top to bottom of the screen.
- Cards Glances : To view Glances, simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
- Cards selectionGlances: Using the appropriate application, you can choose which programs and what information will be displayed in Glances.
- App icon location: Just like in iPhone, in order to move an icon, you need to press and hold on it until it “shakes”, after which you can drag it to another place on the screen. You can also easily change the background using the corresponding iPhone app.
- Quick access to applications: Any watch face that supports functions collectively known as complications allows quick access to applications. For example, in order to open the Activity program, you need to click on Activity in complications. In addition, this application can be launched through Glance.
- Strong pressing: To access additional features of the user interface, you need to press a little harder on the watch screen.
3. Battery
- Battery life of the device: According to Apple, the watch can work on a single charge for 18 hours. However, there are features that can drain your battery in no time. Phone calls drain battery resources in 3 hours, sports in 6.5 hours.
- Charging time: Apple claims Apple Watch battery can be charged to 80% in 1.5 hours. Full charging takes 2.5 hours.
4. Additional useful features
- Apple Watch recoil force: When a notification arrives on Apple Watch, the watch gently nudges the user using the Taptic Engine. The push force can be adjusted using a dedicated app.
- Sync music and photos: You can sync your iPhone's music library and photos to Apple Watch using the App.
- Track activity without iPhone: Over time, the watch will learn the physical characteristics of its owner and will be able to accurately track his activity without connecting to an iPhone.
- Apple Watch and waterA: must be remembered that, not waterproof.
- Bracelets: you need to pay attention to the material from which the strap is made. For example, it is better not to wet leather bracelets in water, and PTFE is sensitive to some chemical compounds.
Main feature Apple Watch is a selection of applications. With 3000 thousand apps available App Store remains the best in the business.
As with all of its products, the company Apple wants to give all its designers the opportunity to create an individual perception of the product, which will make the watch an essential accessory.
There are already several thousand applications with an extension for Apple Watch, but not all of them are worth spending your time on. What's the first download? We think it's worth starting with ...
Weather and travel
Apple Watch ideal for providing such information when you are not at home or about to leave. We've tried many apps and here are our favorites.
Citymapper
If you are in one of the cities that this application supports, then you just need it. Its work focuses on the movement of public transport, so it can provide extremely accurate instructions on how to get to a particular place.
Is free.
Weather Nerd
With the support of Dark sky attachment Weather Nerd is, in our opinion, one of the most important functions Apple Watch... You will have 3 windows between which you can switch: Today, Now and Week. Today shows expected temperature and precipitation; Now informs about impending rain; The week reports the weather forecast for the next 6 days.
You can download it for £ 2.99 / $ 3.99.
Yahoo Weather
If you need a simple app to see the weather forecast, then the Yahoo app is perfect for you. It has very stylish icons and neon text and can support weather information in different locations. You should love the scroll animation and the graph showing temperature, precipitation and wind speed for the next few hours.
Is free.
TripAdvisor
Created to inform you of nearby places to eat, drink and stop, TripAdvisor is a very useful application if you are not at home or about to leave. You can view photos of a place, maps, addresses and reviews, and save the information you need on any of your devices.
Is free.
Find near me
This app is great if you need to find an ATM, bank, bar, spa or zoo nearby. As you may have noticed, it is a little strange, but it works quickly and allows you to make voice requests using Siri (which is rather atypical for Apple Watch). You can get additional information by clicking on individual interface elements.
Is free.
Entertainment
Many people think Apple Watch a work tool, not a toy, but the new form factor can be used for entertainment. Check out our recommendations.
Rules
Rules! App with its mini-games every day throws you a little challenge, each of which is associated with memorizing the rules and clicking on the desired card. Easy! But no, because after a few rounds you will have a whole set of different rules in your head ("Press to jump", "No animals", etc.), which must be used in reverse order. And all this, knowing that one wrong press, and the game is over.
You can download it for £ 2.29 / $ 2.99.
Shazam
The future makes sense when we talk about Shazam... Wave your phone while a song is playing in the background and the app will detect which song it is. Now you don't even need a phone to do this. Just twirl your hand, and you will find out the name of the song and even the words in case you want to impress your friends with your vocal abilities.
Is free.
Sky guide
On iPhone attachment Sky guide is one of the most beautiful and accurate constellation guides. On Apple Watch the companion app will inform you about upcoming events and notify you about what will happen in your area. Thanks to it, you can, for example, see the International Space Station flying overhead.
You can download it for £ 1.99 / $ 2.99.
TuneIn Radio Pro
TuneIn Radio receives about 100 thousand radio stations from all over the world. With Apple Watch, you can switch the radio stations your iPhone is playing, access the stations you have recently listened to, listen to shows, and stop / start / skip them. And if you don't want to pay for it, there is also a free version on Apple Watch.
You can download the app for £ 7.99 / $ 9.99.
Yelp
On iPhone attachment Yelp gives you access to various establishments around the world. On Apple Watch it focuses on filling your stomach by bringing you nearby bars, restaurants and cafes. In any case, you can see more detailed results, which include distance, map, reviews and prices.
Is free.
Instapaper
The original service for deferred reading Instapaper may seem like a strange company to Apple Watch... However, in addition to allowing you to manage your article archive, it easily transforms article text into speech. The result is a bit unusual: it’s like a robot reading excerpts from the Internet for you. However, this can be convenient if you need to study the material, but you cannot read from your iPhone.
Is free.
Sport
Fresh news is an important part of design Apple Watchand these sports apps quickly and conveniently tell you the score of the latest matches right on your wrist.
Onefootball
This app will bring you closer to action. You indicate the commands you are interested in on your iPhone, and Apple Watch use to check the results of daily matches. If one of the selected teams scores (or concedes) a goal, you will hear a ringing on your wrist, which will alert you of possible joy or disappointment.
Is free.
Hole19
A universal tool for golfers app Hole19 provides you with hole location information, game statistics and a simple interface for logging your results. As soon as you start playing on your iPhone, Apple Watch tells you everything you need to know: key distance, counting and hit tracking.
Is free.
Slopes
Sure, iPhone can give you detailed information about speed, altitude and distance when, for example, descending a mountain, but this is not the most convenient device for such cases. application Slopes allows you to save data directly to Apple Watchwhich in turn will provide you with all the statistics right on your wrist.
You can download it for £ 5.99 / $ 7.99.
Effectiveness
Wearables help improve our productivity. We have tested hundreds of applications and found these to be the most effective.
Clear
Company Apple should have released a reminder app long ago, and Clear is a great option. Like the app for iPhone, it looks and works just fine, giving you quick access to your lists. You can create and delete any tasks, as well as view upcoming notifications.
PCalc
It's amazing how the company Apple while creating Apple Watch neglected such a necessary thing as a calculator (perhaps Tim Cook just hates Casio), so we are extremely happy that the app came to our aid PCalc... It has an intelligent interface with all the signs necessary for calculations. Developers have generously released a free app PCalc Lite for Apple Watch.
Cruncher
We are adding a calculator to this list. Cruncherwhich is ideal for people with thick fingers. It may not be convenient for everyone to open a separate window for numbers, but its keys are much easier to hit than any competing application.
Is free.
Deliveries
application Deliveries works well on any platform, keeping an eye on the delivery of your items and making sure you are at home when the courier arrives. On Apple Watch you will have the same list, a map showing the location of your order, and convenient notifications for soon delivery.
You can download it for £ 3.99 / $ 4.99.
Twitterrific
Twitterrific pleases the eyes of users Twitter on iPhone, the same can now be said about Apple Watch with their awesome interface and great notifications. The app wisely skips all news, focusing on interaction and daily statistics. However, you can perform important contextual actions and reply to messages using Siri.
You can download it for free or purchase an enhanced version for £ 1.49 / $ 1.99.
Slack
There is no denying the popularity of the app Slack as a tool to communicate with a whole group of people, but you hardly want to scroll all the news on your wrist. Therefore, the application limits the incoming information for direct messages and mentions, to which you can respond using prepared phrases Emoji or voice dialing Siri.
Is free.
Creativity
If creativity is your profession, then make sure you have the following apps because they will help you use the world around you to be creative.
ProCamera
If you are already using the application ProCamerathen Apple Watch will give you the ability to control the camera from a distance. In addition to remote activation, preview through the external viewfinder, photo viewing and timer, you have various options for setting the timer delay duration and the number of photos.
You can download it for £ 3.99 / $ 4.99.
Drafts 4
On iPhone attachment Drafts positioned as the place where texts begin. And that definition is fair enough as it is a fast and reliable note taking application with extensive access options. Now with the help Siri you can start typing right on your wrist. The recorded text is sent to you by e-mail, in addition, you can attach any elements to it, archive it or delete it.
You can download it for £ 7.99 / $ 9.99.
Day one
Journaling can be quite grueling, but the app One day turns it into fun. On Apple Watch it's so simple that it is simply impossible not to write down a couple of thoughts in a day. The app also registers your location and can add multiple photos to the entry.
You can download it for £ 3.99 / $ 4.99.
Today, to all iPhone owners, and for this reason, we decided to compile a selection of 20 cool and useful applications for Apple smartwatches. Everything here - from games and taxi services to fitness apps and task managers.
The official Twitter app for Apple Watch. You can view the feed, replies, retweet, view your favorites.
Have you dreamed of viewing the feed of photos directly from your watch? Well, your desires have become reality. The Instagram app for Apple Watch will allow you to perform any actions with your account without taking your smartphone out of your pocket.
All your passwords are now not in one place, but right in the watch. Forgot your PIN code from your bank card at the checkout? We opened the application and paid without any problems.
One of the largest news aggregators is now available on Apple Watch. Is it inconvenient to read articles on your watch? This application will be able to dispel this myth.
Uber
Almost the cheapest taxi service and the most expensive startup in the world. Out of the mall with your bags and can't get your iPhone? Book a taxi right from your wrist.
Evernote
Convenient service for taking notes. Now, if a clever thought suddenly occurs to you, you can write it down anytime, anywhere.
Clear
Probably the best app for taking quick notes. Simple, adapted to the Apple Watch interface. True, a little expensive for such simplicity - 299 rubles. However, there are always willing ones.
Hydra
Now you can take amazing pictures not only on your iPhone, but even on your watch. The decision is not for everybody, but this does not make it less interesting.
Alfa Bank
Probably the first banking app to support Apple Watch. It is possible that Rocketbank and Tinkoff Bank will soon catch up, but so far this is the only solution to control your account on Apple watches.
Booking Now
Want to book a hotel with one click? The solution from Booking.com allows you to do this on your Apple Watch and even get directions to the desired hotel. Overall very comfortable.
Runtastic GPS
Fitness app for counting steps, ideal running assistant and great assistant for those who like to lose extra pounds. In the gym and on the Apple Watch - that's it.
Wunderlist
A cool program for keeping to-do lists, including joint ones. Hardly anyone has not heard of Wunderlist, and the Apple Watch is clearly a useful thing.
A useful program and handy water tracker for Apple Watch. You can calculate the required volume of liquid and receive prompt notifications. Notification center widget and other amenities included.
Recipes with photo steps
A useful app for those who love to cook - now you can browse your favorite recipes without leaving the stove. Just be careful - otherwise it will turn out like this:
This program needs no introduction - just activate it on your Apple Watch and find out what music is playing around.
Weather Live
Stay up to date with the weather for today, tomorrow or the weekend - it's a breeze with the Weather Live app.
And also impressions of everyday use of Apple smartwatches
Today it became known that Apple Watch will go on sale in Russia on July 31. Meanwhile, in some other countries, the device has been used for almost three months. Immediately before the release of Apple smartwatches and immediately after the device appeared on the shelves, there was a lot of noise: the watch became the most fashionable gadget of the season. But soon the wave of enthusiasm for this product subsided, and the first skeptical reviews appeared. For example, here's Fortune's collection of negative reviews from IT pros. On the other hand, the very fact that such opinions appear does not mean that the product is bad. Rather, it means that the moment has come when the nuances that eluded a cursory examination of the device begin to emerge, and the first Apple Watch users already have a holistic impression, which can be both positive and negative.
By the way, stock market players also perceived the Apple Watch ambiguously. Below is a graph that shows the dynamics of the Apple stock price over the past three months. It clearly shows a peak immediately after the start of Apple Watch sales (April 27), but then there is a decline, and at the time of this writing, the share price was almost at the same level as before the start of watch sales.
But Apple does not stand still: at WWDC, the company has a new version of the operating system for watches: watchOS 2. Among other things, it promised the ability to create native applications that have access to all sensors and controls of the Apple Watch. What about this now? We decided to study the available applications for Apple Watch (not all, of course, but the most indicative) and at the same time try to live with the watch a little longer than was possible during the first test. (thanks to the store
for the provided)... You will learn our impressions from this article!
Applications
When the watch just went on sale, there were many announcements from various developers. All announcements were in the spirit of "We've added support for the Apple Watch!" And although the overwhelming number of these applications were very unsightly, there was a feeling (and, in general, true) of a great interest of developers in the new platform. But it was, of course, premature to draw any conclusions. Now we can already assess the current situation and draw some conclusions on this basis.
To begin with, there are about a hundred apps for Apple Watch in the App Store Collection. Quite a few! Of course, not everything is included in the Collection. But here we are faced with the first problem: there is no heading in the app store for watches, through which one could select a section and see all existing applications of this heading. That is, we either choose from the hundreds of apps in the Selections, or use the search by apps, but here you will need to enter a word.
Apparently, the fact is that Apple does not want to give an opportunity to count the total number of applications yet. We can assume that after some time the rubrication (what is generally called the "Rubrication" in the App Store) will appear. But so far we cannot, for example, see what games are available for the Apple Watch (in addition to a short list of 10 titles included in the Selection; half of them are paid).
The second point that is important to understand when installing applications for Apple Watch. There are no standalone watch apps yet. That is, you can install the application for the watch, but first you will have the smartphone version of this application installed on the iPhone, and only after a few minutes the application will appear on the watch. You can delete the application on the watch, leaving only the smartphone option, but vice versa - no.
It is in watchOS 2 that watch apps will become independent. But so far they are not just tied to smartphones, but, by and large, are only an external screen for them. Sometimes it is more successful, sometimes it is less. Let's look at some examples.
App in the Air
The Collection app allows you to keep track of everything related to your flight, receiving information right on your watch. It works as follows. We open the smartphone application, look for the flight we need (the interface is ideally convenient), select it and then we get all the information on the watch (although, of course, it will also come to the iPhone).
All the necessary information will be displayed on the clock screen: flight number and status, check-in end time, airport terminal, landing time. If the gate is changed or any delays occur, you will receive an alert.
There is also a list of things to take, a to-do list and other nice additions. It is clear that all this functionality is available in the application itself, but at the airport it can be very convenient to look not at the smartphone, but at the clock (when hands are busy with things, and even the smartphone is hidden in some bag).
In general, the application is not outstanding (we are talking about the version for the Apple Watch), but very useful.
Contact Info
The Contact Info application has been made more original. Its idea is simple: you can enter your contact information into a smartphone application, and a QR code will be displayed on the watch, which can be read by a smartphone and immediately get all the information in the address book.
That is, let's say you are asked for a phone number at a conference, and you simply launch the application on your watch and bring your hand to the person who is meeting you. He only needs to read the QR code with his smartphone.
It turns out that the watch application in this case consists of a single screen (you enter and edit information using your smartphone). But it's not bad either. Simplicity is what most watch app authors should strive for.
Uber
Uber followed the same path. When we launch the corresponding application on the watch, we immediately start searching for the nearest cars, after which you see a screen with one button: "Order". And in the center of the screen, the time after which the nearest car can drive up is displayed.
This minimalism has both pros and cons. The disadvantages, of course, include the impossibility of any order details. But, apparently, the creators of the application rightly considered that in some situations it is quite enough just to have the "Order" button, this is what people need in the first place.
TripAdvisor
Another well-known international brand - TripAdvisor - did not pursue simplicity and decided to simply adapt the interface for the watch, while retaining the main functionality.
It turned out quite well, if you take the chosen concept for granted. But in practice, it turns out that there is no point in the application at all: when we need to decide which restaurant to go to, we can get up for a minute, get our smartphone and see everything there. It is much less convenient to do this on a watch than on a smartphone, and on the go, finding something with a watch is all the more problematic.
It turns out a paradoxical example: it seems that the interface itself is successful, but it does not make life easier.
Games
Of course, the choice for the watch is not limited to the above applications, you can describe other programs, but we have chosen several of the most indicative from the point of view of demonstrating possible options for approaching the creation of a watch application. It would be logical to follow the same path in the case of games, but ... as it turns out, the developers' imagination works even worse here. In fact, almost everyone uses their Apple Watch only as a mini-screen - with more or less success.
For example, here's another Flappy Bird clone that looks quite organic on the clock due to its simplicity - just click on the screen so that the bird doesn't fall and hit the pipes! And all the same, large screen (like on a smartphone) or small (like on a watch). However, even here they were able to screw up a little: the bird has a strong inertia that changes the feeling of the game, and it is necessary to click on the flap button, and not across the entire screen.
Here's another curious example of a gaming watch app: Trivia Crack. Puzzles are generally, perhaps, the most common genre now. In this case, it is also very conveniently implemented: we turn the drum, one of the categories drops out (or a crown that allows you to choose a category to your taste), then a question appears and four answer options. If you answered correctly, the next move is yours, if not, then your opponent's (a real person, found automatically).
It is clear that all the same can be done on the iPhone, but we must admit that the developers of the application have coped with the task of making the Trivia Crack interface for watches quite convenient and usable. Real application - we stand in the metro during rush hour, when even a smartphone cannot be reached, and we play.
There is another type of gaming applications: these are companions of large tablet games like Brother in Arms 3 or Modern Combat 5, but these are not independent projects, but rather a way to quickly find out about the latest news from the world of your favorite games - for example, about the start of a new promotion , some kind of joke, etc.
In general, the situation with games on the Apple Watch is still the main disappointment. In the April issue there was a very interesting column by Vitaly Kazunov, editor-in-chief of GAMETECH, about the gaming prospects of Apple Watch. The main idea of \u200b\u200bthe text is that games of a completely new type will appear for the clock, which will not require constant interaction with the screen, but will be able to use the user's geographic location, his activity parameters, and the like. I would like to believe that it will be so. But so far we see the dominance of simple puzzles that make us stare at a small screen and drain the battery. At the same time, there is not a single reason why we cannot play the same games on a smartphone (well, except for the situation described above with rush hour in the metro).
Apple Watch Impressions
What is our overall impression of the Apple Watch? To what extent can this device “integrate” into our daily life and how can it be useful? Oddly enough, one of the most enjoyable and frequently used features is Siri. To get an answer to your question (albeit only in the form of information on the screen), you just need to make a long press on the Digital Crown and speak the question, bringing the watch to your mouth.
In addition to the obvious things like the weather for today, Siri can even provide you with some unusual information - like the temperature on Mars or the stock value of any company. You can also create a route or get help from Wikipedia, and in a very convenient form.
If we talk not about "test", but about real use, then first of all it is convenient when, before leaving the house, you, collecting things, want to know the weather for today on the go.
The second convenient moment is notifications about calls and messages in messengers / social networks. At the same time, after reading the new notification, you can open the feed of the latest notifications, that is, they do not disappear anywhere.
But there is one strange flaw here. When a new notification arrives, your screen remains off. Therefore, you must first turn it on by clicking on the Digital Crown, then click on the screen to read the notification. That is, you can't just glance at the screen. Sometimes it is completely absurd: when the screen goes blank immediately after you open the notification. In general, the screen on the Apple Watch often goes out at the wrong time - apparently, the developers tried very hard to make it so that it did not burn again, but they overdid it a little.
And yet, in general, the implementation of the notification function here is more successful than not. Of particular note is the very pleasant vibration feel when a notification arrives. It differs from the bracelets and watches we've tested before. On Apple Watch, this vibration is more delicate, but no less noticeable.
But we never learned how to use the much-praised Digital Crown (pressing, of course, does not count - we are only talking about spinning it). It is usually much easier to use the touchscreen than to turn that little wheel. We did not find a scenario in which using the wheel would be unambiguously more convenient.
conclusions
Forecasts about the market fate of the Apple Watch were changing rapidly: everyone predicted that Apple would enter a new market and leave no chance for competitors, but at the same time create a truly powerful smartwatch industry; then they began to say that the watch did not meet expectations and Apple did not manage to explain why, in principle, this class of devices is needed.
Based on the results of some time using Apple Watch, we are leaning towards something in between these two positions. On the one hand, it is premature to talk about victory here: this can be seen even from applications that are few and far from ideal. On the other hand, the device has very convenient and pleasant features, and it may well fit into the user's daily life. So far, it will not become indispensable and will not even give some kind of fundamentally new experience, as it was, for example, with Google Glass. But if you've already bought an Apple Watch and haven't received what you expect, don't rush to sell it. Perhaps, after the release of watchOS 2, the situation with applications will change dramatically for the better, and then the potential of this product - beautiful and pleasant - will be fully revealed.
We plan to closely follow the fate of this device and, of course, we will keep you informed!
