Apple Watch apps: the best 11 apps to download now

(Image credit: Apple)

last updated 14 July 2015

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The Apple Watch apps included with the device include Messages, Calendar, Mail, Phone, Maps, Passbook, Siri, Music, Camera remote, Weather, Stocks and a Stopwatch. But many third-party developers are hard at work building apps of their own, which offer a broader range of functionality.

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For Apple Watch, Tinder has overhauled its method of approving potential dates. The mobile system of swiping left or right to approve or dismiss is replaced on the Apple Watch with a hands-free approval process – if your heart rate goes up when you look at a profile, it's a match, if not the profile is dismissed and you are on to the next person. "Even if your mind is telling you no, your body could be telling you yes," says Wired. "Gimmicky? Sure. Still sort of fun and novel? Definitely."

Never lose your remote again by ensuring that it is always strapped to your wrist. The Apple Watch version of Roomie Remote not only controls your set-top boxes, such as Apple TV and Fire TV, but can also control Blu-ray players, lights and thermostats. If you are not sure whether the remote will work with some of your older devices you can check on the company's website. And if not, you can buy a separate piece of kit called the Roomie Blaster, which will convert WiFi signals to infrared. Roomie is, potentially, the one remote you will ever need.

Anyone who has ever tried finding their way around a city on foot while navigating with a smartphone will appreciate how much better it would be to have wrist-mounted notifications and directions. But so far Apple has not done much with its own mapping software for the Apple Watch. Enter Citymapper, which can navigate you around a bunch of major cities including New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Washington DC and more.

As well as simple walking directions, the app will also suggest the best public transport routes that will take you to your destination, and provide live updates on when the next train, tube or subway, ferry, or tram will arrive. It will also tell you how many stops it will be until you should get off, and show you where you need to change to a different line. "Citymapper is a great resource," says 148apps.com. "Whether you know your city well or not, it'll keep you feeling in the know and on top of exactly how long it's going to take you to get from A to B."

The Uber app allows you to order a cab from your wrist and then follow your car on a map as it arrives, but according to CNet, there are a few things that the app can't do that would have made it better. "I'd still love to be able to pick from different Uber cars on the watch, or see what my estimated fare would be." TechCrunch disagrees, noting that the Apple Watch is at its best when its apps are keeping things simple: "the Apple Watch is about reducing the time you spend on your phone by simplifying most of the steps we think of as normal today," it says. "As Uber … demonstrates, that means cutting away the structure of apps and leaving the actual actions — liking posts, sending quick messages and ordering your ride."

Just when you thought online shopping could not get any easier or more streamlined, along comes the first wave of Apple Watch shopping apps. Ocado allows you to search a full database of groceries or select from a list of favourites. You can also follow your order status to track your delivery. The app utilises Apple Watch's voice capabilities. As Clarke explains: "If a customer has completed an order on their desktop computer but forgot to buy milk, they can say 'milk' into the watch and it will be added to the existing order. So with three taps on the wrist they can add a forgotten item to their order, without needing to get their phones out."

So far, Apple has not granted third-party developers access to its heart rate monitor, meaning many companies intending to build fitness apps currently have their hands tied. Nike is still planning to launch its own running app, but according to Tech News Today, the app will draw all its data – including running distance, pace and location – from the iOS app rather than any of the Watch's sensors.

So far, few games of note have been released for the watch, but one that has received broadly positive reviews is Rules! The game challenges you to look at a set of images and tap on them according to an increasingly complicated set of rules. Effectively a memorisation game, it begins simply but becomes increasingly fiendish as it goes along. According to Touch Arcade, Rules! is "enjoyable [and] challenge to play, and the feeling when you're able to break through your previous skill ceiling is immensely satisfying."

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