Watch Apps

Reminders Nano is the app Apple should have shipped with Apple Watch

Sébastien Page ∙ June 3, 2015

Several first-party apps are noticeably missing from Apple Watch, with Reminders and Podcasts being probably the most obvious. I'm confident Apple will bring these apps to Apple Watch sooner than later, but we're left dealing with workarounds and third-party apps to fill our needs for the time being.

Reminders Nano is one of these apps that picks up where Apple left off. Bringing a comprehensive yet simple reminders app to Apple Watch, Reminders Nano looks like something Apple itself would have shipped.

Camera+ for iPhone unveils Apple Watch remote app and selfie widget button

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 18, 2023

If Camera+ by Taptaptap is your daily driver when it comes to iPhone photography, you must have been yearning for a companion Apple Watch app, right? I know I have. Tankfully, today's update saw to that.

Camera+ 6.3 for iPhone adds a pair of interesting improvements. The first, as I mentioned, is a companion app for your Apple Watch for controlling Camera+ on your iPhone remotely, similar to the device's built-in Camera Remote application.

The other addition enhances the app's widget, injecting a handy selfie widget button into iOS 8's Notification Center.

Fantastical for Apple Watch launches with dictation, reminders, customizable glance and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 3, 2015

Developer Flexibits has made a name for itself with Fantastical, an award-winning calendar replacement for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Today, an important update to the iPhone app was pushed, bringing out a newly-added WatchKit extension so you can at last run Fantastical on your wrist!

This update is available to all existing users of Fantastical for iPhone at no additional cost.

You must be wondering what took them so long, right? I mean, Flexibits was among rare developers without an Apple Watch app in time for the device's April 2015 launch.

“We want to understand precisely what problem we're solving,” Flexibits co-founder Michael Simmons tells me via a Skype chat.

The net result of their undertaking is arguably the fastest and friendliest calendar experience on the wrist and that's saying a lot given Fantastical competes with Apple's stock Calendar app which comes preloaded on the wearable device.

Skype for iPhone gains link previews, Apple Watch app adds replying with dictation and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 2, 2015

Microsoft-owned Skype today issued an update to its free-of-charge iPhone application in the App Store, adding a few enhancements related to chatting on both your handset and the Apple Watch.

Web link previews are now available in your chat, courtesy of Skype 5.13 for iPhone. When you paste a URL into the chat window, the mobile application will now provide a preview of the website similar to Facebook.

Previews are available when you send or receive a web link and support video content, blogs, news websites and many other types of web content.

Readdle launches Spark, gorgeous iPhone and Apple Watch email app to tame your inbox

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2015

Ukrainian developer Readdle, the maker of some of the finest productivity apps for the iPhone and iPad, today launched its most ambitious project yet, a personalized email client for the iPhone and Apple Watch conceived to help you deal with your inbox faster.

The app is called Spark, it looks neat and offers a number of compelling features, like quick replies, powerful search, fast signatures, smart notifications, attachments, cloud services support, email-to-PDF conversion, a WatchKit extension to check important messages on the wrist with an Apple Watch app and a glance, and much more.

Todoist launches Apple Watch app with Inbox, Today view, Projects, Filters and Labels

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 28, 2015

Todoist, the advanced to-do list and task manager for iOS and OS X, is now available for the Apple Watch. The app delivers a number of powerful features for managing tasks to your wrist, including Inbox, Today view, Projects, Filters and Labels. A Glance view gives you a quick overview of your upcoming tasks.

You can also respond to rich notifications with natural language processing. The main app provides more details related to your tasks and projects, allowing you to review tasks and projects, create new ones using dictation and much more.

PCalc for Apple Watch released with Glance, Send to iPhone, tip calc, RPN support and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 19, 2015

Thanks to independent iOS and Mac developer James Thomson, you can now wear PCalc on your $400+ Apple Watch. The award-winning $9.99 calculator app for the iPhone and iPad was updated today with WatchKit support.

The app is very nicely done and feels native. It puts the full calculator with RPN Support on your wrist, along with a Glance to see the result of your most recent calculations from your watch face, a tip calculator and other goodies.

SoundCloud for Apple Watch is here

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 18, 2015

An update Monday to SoundCloud's free of charge iPhone and iPad application has added an Apple Watch component allowing you to listen to user-submitted music and audio right from your wrist, identify songs playing from your iPhone and more.

“The new app makes it even easier for you to hear the freshest tracks when you’re out and about, from your daily to commute to going out for a run,” Germand developers noted.

Feedly for Apple Watch has arrived: browse your favorite stories right from the wrist

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

Feedly, the popular feed aggregation service, is now available for the Apple Watch. The app allows you to browse the stories right on your wrist-worn device.

Available as a free update to the existing Feedly for iPhone application, the Watch component selects the best stories from your Feedly account and presents them with a headline, the accompanying image, an excerpt of the full text and more.

It supports other features via a hidden menu accessible through force-touching the screen such as tagging, saving a story for later, marking a story as read, continuing reading on your iPhone and more.

You can now check in to places from your wrist with Swarm for Apple Watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 5, 2015

Swarm, Foursquare's dedicated location check-in application for the iPhone, received a nice little update Monday, adding the Apple Watch component which allows you to easily check in to places and see who’s nearby.

This is especially handy considering that Foursquare's main iPhone and Apple Watch app lacks this functionality as it's now focused on finding places to eat, drink and visit.

Unsurprisingly, Apple says ‘no’ to custom faces, fart apps and time-telling Watch apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 28, 2015

Apple on Tuesday updated the official App Store Review Guidelines, officially taking a stance against third-party applications for the Apple Watch whose sole purpose is to tell the time, as first discovered by developer David Smith.

A newly added clause of the agreement guiding third-party development now explicitly states that Watch applications which simply tell the time will be flatly rejected.

“Watch Apps whose primary function is telling time will be rejected,” reads the document. Moreover, the same principles appear to apply to custom watch faces and flatulence apps.

It's worth mentioning that these rules have been enforced since the onset as there has never been a single time-telling Apple Watch app, or a fart app, (or a custom face for that matter) available on the App Store.

Real-time rain and lightning alerts launch in Weather Channel for Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 27, 2015

The Weather Channel today announced bringing new real-time rain and lightning alerts to the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Apple Watch via an updated iOS app. The refreshed mobile software lets you receive the exact alerts for rain, snow and lighting strikes that are relevant to you and based on your location.

In addition, you can now set up fully customizable notifications based on personal preferences so you can receive timely alerts tailored to your preference.