In preparation for Apple’s first wearable device, mobile developers have been busy creating all kinds of applications designed especially for the Apple Watch’s small screen. The watch, which is said by early testers to be so usable that they found they were no longer pulling out their iPhone as often, allows you to interact with a variety of apps and notifications, ranging from productivity apps to social apps to travel and transportation apps, and much more.
A number of the bigger-name apps were announced today on Apple’s stage at its press event in Cupertino, but other developers are using the Apple’s wearable platform as a way to experiment with new ideas, like an Apple Watch-friendly version of email, for example, or status updates that automatically send your friends your location. Below are some of the forthcoming apps for Apple Watch, old and new, so you can get an idea of what’s in store.
(Note: some of these apps were previously aggregated by sites like WatchAware or AppWatchList, which attempted to create collections of soon-to-launch apps ahead of their official reveal. Others were announced today at Apple’s event, or posted to the Apple website.)
PRODUCTIVITY
BetterWorks: The BetterWorks app for Apple Watch will show real-time goal data on wearable devices, offering a lightweight way to show busy executives and employees the progress of their goals without interrupting the work at hand. The app makes it easy for workers to get a quick snapshot of where current goals stand, add short check-ins and cheer on coworkers achieving their goals.
EasilyDo: An organizer app that includes useful notifications
Launch Center Pro: Lets you create multi-step tasks then launch them with a touch.
Mailbox: The simple, swipeable email triage app is coming to Apple Watch.
Todoist: To-do list app that lets you check off your to-do items as well as use the microphone to assign due dates for tasks.
Jiffies: An event-clock app that shows you all your upcoming events as circular segments for the 24-hour day cycle.
Braintoss: This app lets you put reminders and tasks in your email inbox using the Apple Watch. Say what you want to remember and tap the email address that’s in the app, and Braintoss will send that thought to your email so you don’t forget it.
Glimpse: Glimpse lets you define a small part of a webpage to save to your Apple Watch. When you launch Glimpse it updates that portion of the webpage only to give you live status without having to scroll around. It’s an alternative to having to use a web browser on the watch’s small screen.
TL;DR Email: a quick email experience built for both the iPhone and Apple Watch that’s focused on very fast email reading, handling and creation. The idea is to create a different type of email reading experience for Apple Watch, taking advantage of the Watch’s Dynamic Notifications. This means every notification coming to the Watch can adapt itself to look different based its content.
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Evernote: This note-taking app lets you dictate a quick note from your Watch, plus view recent notes, set reminders, find notes made near you, and see content related to an upcoming meeting.
24me: A personal assistant on the go with all kinds of notifications: from bill payments reminders to time to leave for meeting based on traffic, meeting reminders, friends birthdays, agenda and a lot more.
Slated: A companion app to the Slated translation keyboard, this app is a sort of customizable phrasebook and universal translator. You say something, it says it back in your choice of language.
Salesforce: The Apple Watch app gives you a quick snapshot of your business analytics, like the top 10 sales opportunities for your company or for a particular division.
Gneo: The company previously created a design-focused calendar and task management app for iOS that was picked as Apple’s Editors’ Choice. The new app will bring a similar experience, but designed for Apple Watch.
Workflow: The powerful task automation app will be available on Apple Watch.
Things: The popular task management and to-do list app is coming to Apple Watch.
Omnifocus: Another popular task management app for iOS is coming to Apple Watch.
Trello: The flexible tool that lets you organize anything, from to-do’s to checklists and more.
FINANCE
PortfolioWatch: This app lets you monitor your stock portfolio. At a glance you’ll be able to see the total profit (or loss) for the day. You can also drill down to see an individual stock’s performance and manage your holdings as well as view charts.
Unspent: Helps you track your spending money and setup budgets for different spending categories.
Mint: View your monthly spending goals and track your progress toward meeting them from your Apple Watch.
Citi Mobile: See your checking, savings, and credit card balances as well as your five most recent transactions. Receive notifications of payment due dates.
TRAVEL/NAVIGATION
Uber: An Apple Watch app lets you connect with Uber’s on-demand car service from your wrist. The app lets you call for an Uber, then track how long until it arrives.
AUTO
BMW i Remote: Designed for BMW i, this app will check the charge status of your electric BMW i and receive a notification when the car is fully charged. You can also check range, door-lock status, service reminders, and more, as well as adjust the cabin temperature from your wrist.
Hyundai Blue Link: This app connects to your Blue Link equipped Hyundai vehicle.
SMART HOME/HOME AUTOMATION
Honeywell: This app will control your Honeywell home system from your Apple Watch. Presets like “I’m Away” or “I’m Going to Sleep” make your thermostat more efficient. You can also switch to “out of Town” mode to save energy.
Lutron: This app allow you to control your home’s lights, shades, temperature and other things.
OnSwitch: Control the Philips Hue and LIFX smart bulbs from your Apple Watch.
MISC
Colordrop: The Colordrop Watch app can then be used to compare colors at a closer level, and get quick look information like color codes and RGB values. Colordrop can be a helpful tool to help choose, compare and learn about colors. Graphic designers can use Colordrop to create color schemes, while interior designers can create palettes and color schemes for their work.
StaySafe: This panic button app will resemble the company’s iOS version, but will also be leveraging the heartbeat monitor to the watch version. The app will include the ability to start and stop tracking sessions, extend a session, view the time remaining on a session, and discreetly trigger the panic button alarm.
Snake: Because the watch would not be complete without this classic small screen game. (No link yet, but it’s being built!)
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