Skip to main content

Third-party apps on the Apple Watch set to improve

apple jeff williams talks watch car and more code2015 20150527 103304 6833
Recode
Recode’s already hosted a number of heavyweights at this year’s Code Conference, but Apple’s Jeff Williams was definitely one of the headliners. He took to the stage to speak with Walt Mossberg mainly about the Apple Watch and HealthKit, and while he didn’t reveal much — Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is only a handful of days away, after all — he announced a few nuggets worth highlighting.

First up: Apple Watch sales. The company’s first wearable is “gathering momentum” and doing “fantastic,” Williams said, but he declined to provide specifics. (He told Mossberg that Apple would “rather spend time making great products” than focusing on metrics, a possible — if ever-so-slight — nod to the disappointing sales estimates.) Analysts peg shipments at about 2.5 million, far short of the five to six million units Apple ordered ahead of the Apple Watch’s launch in April.

Recommended Videos

Williams was a little more forthcoming about a native SDK for the Apple Watch, which he revealed will drop a lot sooner than expected. A preview version will launch at WWDC, he announced, with a wider rollout to follow in fall. That’s surely welcome news for developers, who’ve by and large blamed the Apple Watch’s sluggish and buggy app performance on gimped access to the wearable’s hardware — right now, third-party Apple Watch apps can only stream information to the watch from a paired iPhone via Bluetooth, not run on the watch itself. The new development tools will not only boost performance by letting apps tap the Apple Watch’s silicon, but also allow them access to the watch’s bevy of buttons and sensors — the digital crown, speaker, plethysmograph, gyroscope, and heart rate monitor, among other accoutrements.

Williams then may have let slip Apple’s interest in the automobile market. He called the car “the ultimate mobile device” when asked about the Apple’s plans for its vast hoard of cash, but quickly clarified that the company’s “exploring a lot of different markets.”

Near the end of Williams’ conversation, the topic pivoted towards ResearchKit, Apple’s health data platform for researchers. It’s already proved its worth in Williams’ mind — Apple discovered a set of control group participants in a Parkinson’s disease study that were afflicted but didn’t know it — but the Apple Watch has the potential to take things further. He cautioned that regulatory hurdles may delay some medical features, but that ultimately the contributions will be “huge,” Williams told Mossberg. “We’re just beginning.”

Kyle Wiggers
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
This Apple Watch tech might make your iPhone better
The screens on the titanium and aluminum Apple Watch Series 10 cases.

According to Korea's The Elec (via MacRumors), LTPO3 display technology, which was first utilized in the Apple Watch Series 10, may also be adapted for future iPhones. This new technology improves both power efficiency and display performance.

On the flagship Apple Watch Series 10, LTPO3 enables Apple to optimize each pixel to emit more light at wider angles and improve battery efficiency.  As a result, the display is 40% brighter than on the previous model, the Apple Watch Series 9, which employed LTPO2. The newer technology also allows for a faster refresh rate when the watch is in always-on mode.

Read more
Apple’s new app could be the next big thing in mobile gaming
Apple Vision Pro gameplay of Gibbon: Beyond the Trees.

Mobile gaming isn't what it used to be. While we might all look back fondly on the days of playing Snake on an old, indestructible Nokia, platforms like Apple Arcade have revolutionized on-the-go gaming. You can do so much more than play silly time-wasters now; there's a litany of addictive, engrossing games that are on par with consoles and PC in terms of performance. And now it seems  likeApple has set its sights on trying to create a Discord-like experience.

Details on this come courtesy of 9to5Mac, which cites "reliable sources familiar with the matter." That's not much to go on, so it's OK to be somewhat skeptical of the news, which centers on a new app that is said to combine features from both the App Store and the Game Center, as well as chat features, into one place.

Read more
Telsa may be making an official app for the Apple Watch
A person checking the fitness data on an Apple Watch Series 9.

Whether you're a Tesla fan or not, we can all agree that the cars have some seriously cool features. Your iPhone can function as a car key and you can use it to unlock your doors. That's been a feature for years, but there hasn't been an official Apple Watch app (although third-party solutions do exist and work well.)

According to MacRumors, that might be about to change. The Tesla iPhone app was updated recently for iOS 18, but one person spotted references to an upcoming Apple Watch version of the app. The code makes it look like you'll be able to use your Apple Watch as a digital key to unlock your Tesla, assuming it's compatible.

Read more