Apple Watch developers have been visiting the Apple HQ in California to work with engineers to ensure that their apps are going to be complete for the launch of the highly anticipated wearable device. And anyone purchasing it will be happy to know that a good selection of apps should be available on launch day. Here are some of the most interesting apps for the Apple Watch.
1. Home Remote
This app will allow you to control lighting and home devices from your Apple Watch. It looks like a great way to experience the internet of things in your home and supports ibeacons to trigger actions based on location. Some of the potential security features look useful, the ability to literally unlock doors with this app could be a winner.
2. Office Time
This time tracking app allows you to track time spent in a meeting or doing other work based tasks to build up an overview of how time was spent in a given period. Time tracking functionality is easy to implement in IOS and it’s no surprise to see that an app like this should be available on launch day. We can expect further Apple Watch apps for freelancers, plumbers, electricians, engineers or anyone with a need to accurately track time spent on a given task – and combined with location based tracking it could prove to be a hugely successful timesaver.
3. Built in Fitness App
The Apple watch has a built in heart rate sensor and the fitness tracking facilities of the watch have been a key ingredient in Apple’s marketing campaign. We can expect more to be revealed about the built in apps in the forthcoming launch announcement but the ability to set fitness goals and the excellent fluorescent user interface look very inspiring for independent app developers and professional sports people alike.
4. Built in Time App
With a highly customisable UI to suit many tastes, time can be displayed in milliseconds if needed, with support for multiple time zones and calendar synchronisation. In the future athletes can expect independent apps that also utilise Ibeacon location technology for highly accurate time tracking.
5. Remote camera
Several years ago Apple aquired some intellectual property from Kodak and registered parents relating to a remote digital camera system controlled from a smartwatch. This app is also built in and seemingly will utilise that technology. You can throw away your selfie stick because this app will allow you to set up your iPhone as a camera and use the viewfinder on your Apple Watch to take the perfect group photo.
6. City mapper
A navigation app for finding your way around without having to hold up your phone and look at it for directions. We can expect this app to be extremely useful for travellers looking for an easy way to navigate around an unfamiliar town or city.
7. Pinterest
The Pinterest watch app is likely to have location based functions alerting the user when they are near a site that has been pinned. With the millions of different apps available, app discovery has always been an issue for developers and users and Pinterest recently decided to allow apps to be pinned on it’s platform.
8. Starwood Hotels
This hotel chain has been working on an app which allows Apple Watch owners to unlock their hotel room door with the watch, removing the need to use a key card. That could prove to be a popular idea amongst business travellers and we are sure to see further similar apps like this soon.
9. Todoist
A list of tasks for the day will appear on the Apple watch display, which can then be swiped away once completed or postponed to a later date. The app can be voice controlled with the Apple Watch microphone.
10. Pipes
According to the developers you can “track the things you love” with this news aggregating app. You enter a topic and the app uses clever artificial intelligence to present relevant news articles and information on your chosen topic.