Developers are now able to start creating apps for the Apple Watch. Apple is today releasing WatchKit, a developer toolkit that allows third parties to create apps for its upcoming smartwatch. “WatchKit provides the incredible iOS developer community with the tools they need to create exciting new experiences right on your wrist,” Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller says in a statement. Notably, Apple is revealing that the initial round of Watch apps are required to be an extension of an existing iPhone app. It won’t be until sometime later next year that developers will be able to build apps native to the watch.
Get building! Don’t forget to incorporate that scrollwheel you need to awkwardly pinch.
I can’t wait until someone writes an app that creates a lock screen for the watch that makes the face look like an old-timey pocket watch. Then the watch would only display the time (in analog format) after you flicked the watch as if the user were snapping open the lid. I mean, if we’re bringing back watches we might as well go full on retro and have digital pocket watches.
I’ve always considered my phone to be a pocket watch.
But if they make a moto X 360 (although I’m sure Microsoft might not like that name) , I’d probably buy it.
Yup, a really smart pocket watch in this form factor http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6348737143.html with a camera/flash and IRda on the back side opening to operate like a remote control
It would be so steam-punk like to click open the protecting front cover an manipulate your data.
Thom Said:
>”Don’t forget to incorporate that scroll wheel you need to awkwardly pinch.”
From what I saw, the scroll wheel didn’t look awkward at all. If anything its a redeeming characteristic.
The awkwardness of any smart watch is in placing one’s finger on the tiny display thereby obscuring 75% of the screen real estate.
The iWatch is guilty of this bad interface design but at least they’re offering an alternative means of interfacing with the device by way of the aforementioned scroll wheel unlike the Android alternatives.
If you ask me, Microsoft is one of the few major players that got this right… “Band” is very simple, keeps services to a minimum while still offering the important stuff and makes voice interaction a prominent feature.
Voice interaction is the interface that these devices need to leverage… not visual apps.
I’ve not been a Microsoft fan, but I think they got this right more right than the competition… even if their watch is somewhat clunky and looks like it was designed by an engineer.
Edited 2014-11-18 23:29 UTC
I agree with you that Microsoft seems to have gotten its UI correct. A tiled interface that lets you see multiple choices at once, but not too many.
What Apple showed during their Keynote looked horrible. It had a touchscreen, a scrollwheel (digital crown) that could be pushed as well and another push button. To start an app you would have to look at the tiny screen with dozens of icons, find the general area where your app would be (good luck finding it), drag it to roughly the middle of the screen, scroll-to-zoom and finally launch the app. I think this UI+Interaction+Price are the reason their watch didn’t receive a whole lot of positive comments and hype
All I personally want is notifications, phone-independent gps-tracking for running, navigation, dumb-phone like batterylife (2 weeks) and possibly other health/communication features as sidefeatures as long as they don’t have a significant impact on UI and battery. I would be willing to spend roughly 100 Euro for something like that and can wait a few years for this tech to mature
>”find the general area where your app would be (good luck finding it), drag it to roughly the middle of the screen, scroll-to-zoom and finally launch the app”
Keep in mind that the watch doesn’t work like this. The icons allow you to scroll across many of them (you don’t have to pinch/zoom to get to it as they snap into place) and then select it.
If these misperceived perceptions are your biggest beef with the iWatch then apparently you have none as they’ve addressed your concerns quite well.
My concern is primarily with smart watches in general is that they have a small display yet are trying to still convey lots of information. I think Apple’s attempt at addressing those concerns are the best created as of yet however I believe that the interface should have been refined to just voice interaction and very little display interaction.
I’ll reserve official judgement for the iWatch until I actually use it however until then, I believe Microsoft’s solution comes closest though they’re hardware design seems to undermine the UI advances they created however I haven’t actually tried one of these either so I will again reserve judgement until I do.
Edited 2014-11-19 21:23 UTC
I have no beef at all with the Apple Watch. It doesn’t even exist yet and will not exist for 3-6 months.
[quote]Keep in mind that the watch doesn’t work like this. The icons allow you to scroll across MANY of them (you don’t have to pinch/zoom to get to it as they snap into place) and then select it. [/quote]
No, how I described it would work is perfectly accurate. You have to find your icon, drag it into the scrollable area (where you think MANY of them will be) use the scrollwheel/crown and then finally launch the app. I find it very strange that you think I am mistaken about this and then say “you don’t have to pinch/zoom”. I never mentioned pinching and the whole purpose of the scrollwheel is zooming.
Are you saying that the apps in that circular universe are ordered in a scrollable list that the scrollwheel goes through one by one in some logical order?
No, you said, “to start an app you would have to look at the tiny screen with dozens of icons, find the general area where your app would be (good luck finding it), drag it to roughly the middle of the screen, scroll-to-zoom and finally launch the app.”
I take issue with “(good luck finding it)” as the icons are clearly visible.
I also take issue with “drag it to roughly the middle of the screen” because its snaps into place. Lastly I take issue with “scroll-to-zoom” as at this point you’re just single taping the app to zoom and another tap to launch.
[quote]I take issue with “(good luck finding it)” as the icons are clearly visible.
I also take issue with “drag it to roughly the middle of the screen” because its snaps into place. Lastly I take issue with “scroll-to-zoom” as at this point you’re just single taping the app to zoom and another tap to launch.[/quote]
Clearly visible icons? Not according to this image (http://images.apple.com/v/watch/a/features/images/face_watchkit_lar…) that comes straight from the Apple Watch page: http://www.apple.com/watch/features/
So when I have found the correct “orange icon” on the top of that screen to be the app that I want to start I surely have to drag it towards the middle of the screen because there is no way that it is going to “snap in place” by just turning the wheel. So I would have to put my finger on the glass anyway. At that moment I might have to zoom to make that tiny “orange icon” big enough to click it and then I can finally start that app with another tap/click. You can take issue with what I said, but please tell me how you:
1) Would know which of the two orange-top icons is “The Dutch Soccer” app that I want to start
2) Would start that app in a userfriendly way
(keep in mind that the linked picture is pretty much the real size, so when I put my finger on it I ALWAYS touch at least a few other icons as well)