Apple Watch Apps Begin Showing Up in the App Store Ahead of Apple Watch Launch

Ahead of the Apple Watch's upcoming April 24 launch, apps that include Apple Watch support are beginning to be released in the App Store. As of today, several popular iOS apps have been updated with built-in Apple Watch apps, including Evernote, Dark Sky, Things, and Target.

Additional apps with Apple Watch support will be rolling out over the course of the day, giving us a first look at how many of the apps on the device will function. We'll be updating this post with a list of Apple Watch apps that are available as they come out in the App Store.

Apple has already shared information on many third-party apps that will be available for the Apple Watch, but the updates coming today will give us a lot more information on how some of our favorite apps will take advantage of the App Store.

According to Evernote's app description, for example, users will be able to dictate notes into the Apple Watch, which will be transcribed and synced to Evernote. Users will also be able to see recently created, updated, and viewed notes, and get reminders about items that are due. Dark Sky's weather information will be brought to the wrist, and according to the app release notes, it's been designed from scratch to fit on the smaller screen of the Apple Watch.

thingsevernote
As we've mentioned before, Apple Watch apps are bundled into existing iPhone apps because the iPhone powers the app while a UI is extended to the Apple Watch. This helps to preserve battery and it controls the amount of access developers have to the watch. Apps that run fully on the Apple Watch are coming in the future, but are not available yet.

The Apple Watch will be available for pre-order and try-on sessions at Apple retail stores beginning on April 10. Third-party Apple Watch apps have likely started popping up today to allow Apple Store employees to install content on demo Apple Watches that will be shown off to customers.

Here's a comprehensive list of Apple Watch apps available with a brief description of what they'll do:

- Evernote: Users can dictate notes, get reminders on to-do tasks that are due, and see recently created/updated notes.

- Sky Guide: Displays a calendar of upcoming astronomical events, like the full moon, meteor showers, and eclipses. Also sends notifications when an event is about to happen nearby and gives alerts when the International Space Station is flying over you.

- Dark Sky: Displays Dark Sky's weather information on your wrist.

- Target: Lets you build a shopping list on your Apple Watch, and tells you where to find items in the store. Also has a glance view for seeing when a local store is open, how many items are on a list, and what deals are available.

- NYTimes: The New York Times' iPhone app gained Apple Watch support, and while there's no info in the release notes, Apple has previously shared that you'll be able to swipe through breaking news and short stories, use Handoff to read articles on your iPhone or iPad, and use "Save for Later" to build a reading list.

- Procreate Pocket: Procreate Pocket turns your Apple Watch into a remote control and color palette for painting on the iPhone. You can select brush, eraser, and effects, and perform tasks like undoing and redoing from your watch.

- WeChat: WeChat lets you read and reply to messages with text or stickers, read Moments from your friends, and make friends through Friends Radar.

- SPG Starwood: This app for Starwood Hotels & Resorts lets you unlock your door from your Apple Watch, get directions to the hotel, check in, and see reservation details.

- Kitchen Stories: Lets you discover recipes on your wrist, make and view shopping lists, and set timers to time baking and cooking.

- Redfin: This real estate app will display nearby listings with photos of homes, prices, number of bedrooms, square footage, and more. You can dictate notes into the app and share info with family members. There's also an option to contact a real estate agent to schedule a tour directly from the watch.

- Babbel: Language app Babbel is available on the Apple Watch, and will let you discover new words, unlock words by visiting different locations, and complete practice exercises to learn new vocabulary.

- Yahoo Tourney Pick'em: This fantasy app lets you see team overviews at a glance, get breaking news notifications, and check scores on your wrist.

- ECB Cricket: ECB Cricket's Apple Watch app displays live matches, offers scorecard information, delivers notifications after a Force Touch to enable them, and has a glance view for getting a quick look at scores.

- The Wall Street Journal: The Wall Street Journal's app delivers top news stories, alerts on when breaking news is posted, and market data.

- Transit: Lets users see departure times for public transportation directly on their wrists.

- MLB.com at Bat: Gives live stats, pitch-by-pitch updates, player details, highlights, and scores from your favorite teams.

- Runtastic Six Pack: This fitness app delivers workout instructions directly to a user's wrist and lets you know when a set has started and ended with vibrations.

- Expedia: Expedia's Apple Watch app will give notifications for flight status and gate changes, display hotel room reservation information, and it will offer upcoming travel details with maps and locations right on your wrist.

- Peak Brain Training: Peak's Apple Watch app lets you play brain games on your wrist. You can assess your attention and visual memory in 45 seconds from the app and play three brain improvement games.

- Lifesum: Lifesum's Apple Watch app lets you log meals, water, and exercise, plus it delivers tips, reminders, and exercise suggestions. You'll also be able to see your daily activity at a glance.

- Twitter: Twitter's Apple Watch app lets you Tweet, Retweet, reply, and favorite tweets from your wrist. You can also see recent Tweets and top trends, plus you can share your location, a song, or your thoughts from the app. "It's Twitter, but littler," reads the app description.

- Green Kitchen: This vegetarian recipe app lets you set timers on your wrist for whatever you're cooking.

- British Airways: British Airways will offer flight status, destination weather, and scheduled/estimated departure times via an Apple Watch glance. It will also deliver notifications on flight status and when a flight's gate changes (Heathrow Terminals 3 and 5).

- Hailo: Hailo for Apple Watch lets users request a taxi and track its progress as it approaches. The app also lets you see driver details and adjust a tip at the end of a ride. Hailo is available in select locations in the UK, Ireland, Spain, and Singapore.

- Wunderlist: The popular to-do app brings lists, agendas, and reminders to the Apple Watch with a new Home View, Reminders, easy Glance access to the Today Smart List and notifications for shared lists.

- Citymapper: Transit app Citymapper will show transportation information on your wrist, displaying A to B journeys and departure times. It'll also send status alerts.

- Air Canada: Air Canada's Apple Watch app lets you view flight status, boarding time countdown, check-in and boarding time notifications, and Passbook boarding passes, and also use Handoff to easily complete check-in from your iPhone.

- Tangerine Mobile Banking: Canada's Tangerine Bank is the first bank we've seen to launch Apple Watch support, with users able to view transactions and account balances through the device.

- Rules!: Puzzle game Rules! is bringing a daily brain workout mini game to the Apple Watch, which includes daily goals.

- Equinox: Fitness club chain will allow Apple Watch users to view club hours and info, book and view cycling classes, and track calories during classes.

- Japanese Translation: Speak English to your Apple Watch and your iPhone will translate it to spoken Japanese.

- The Globe and Mail: Canadian national newspaper will offer breaking news and top stories on the Apple Watch.

- CNN: Get breaking news alerts in twelve different categories on the Apple Watch, with easy handoff of articles and launching of live video on an iPhone.

- Weibo: Massive Chinese microblogging site Weibo is ready for Apple Watch with message notifications integration with WeiboFit exercise tracking system.

Other Apple Watch apps available that have not yet shared features include Qantas Airways, Onefootball, Line, Alipay, South China Morning Post, Invoice2go and, Pacer pedometer, Moneytree, and Things.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch Series 9
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Top Rated Comments

sualpine Avatar
117 months ago
Will the "I Am Rich" app be available for Edition?
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
saving107 Avatar
117 months ago
Kitchen Stories also got an Apple Watch extension update.



Dictation, siri etc is stupid. Unless your blind or don't have fingers to type then just get your phone out and type.
My mom is not a U.S. native, she speaks english well (slight accent) but she struggles with the typing/spelling/writing but she's able to dictate her messages to me using Siri, she finds it a tremendous tool to not just sent me a text but look up an address on Maps, take notes or set reminders to name a few.

Open your mind just a bit.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oneMadRssn Avatar
117 months ago
So app sizes will continue to grow, even if those assets will never be used by the user?

I also don't like it that each app includes all the assets for all supported screen sizes. (A universal app will contain iPad assets even if its downloaded to an iPhone).

To some degree this makes sense. Apps are simpler to manage, but at the expensive of app sizes. Eventually it becomes inefficient to pack all those assets into a single app when only 10% of them will be used. I think that time is approaching now that there are 3 categories of devices (tablet, phone, watch).

Maybe it's time to update the app store to be smarter, where it can package the app downloads with only the relevant assets for the device downloading it, on the fly. Shouldn't be too hard, aren't .app files just containers anyway?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HenryDJP Avatar
117 months ago
It's real when you see the developers jumping on this ASAP! :)
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
madsci954 Avatar
117 months ago
I'm with Dark Sky. Yeah, where are the flying cars, power laces, size adjusting cloths, HYDRATING PIZZAS? Well we do have pay with your thumb (Apple Pay)

As a scientist, I R disappoint.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
diddl14 Avatar
117 months ago
And.... you have 45min to try them all out before the battery dies.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2 Perspective Gray

Five Key Upgrades Coming to iPhone 16

Friday March 15, 2024 1:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
When To Expect New iPads Feature 1

Apple to Announce New iPads on March 26, Rumors Claim

Monday March 18, 2024 4:02 am PDT by
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
airpods 3 orange

Two New AirPods 4 Models Expected to Launch in September or October

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:56 am PDT by
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Expected to Depreciate Heavily

Tuesday March 12, 2024 9:04 am PDT by
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
iOS 17 Passkey With Apple ACCOUNT Feature

'Apple ID' Expected to Change to 'Apple Account' Starting With iOS 18

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:13 am PDT by
MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to rebrand "Apple ID" to "Apple Account" across its software platforms and websites like iCloud.com as early as this year, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has corroborated this change. A mockup of the new Apple Account branding In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new "Apple Account" branding will start to be used later this...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

iOS 17.4.1 Update for iPhone is Imminent

Monday March 18, 2024 5:27 am PDT by
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...