Key Takeaways
- Use native apps for a variety of tasks on Apple Watch without needing the App Store.
- Third-party apps can enhance functionality on your watch, like currency conversion and fitness tracking.
- Consider apps like Streaks, Elk, and Just Press Record for motivation and productivity on your wrist.
The Apple Watch puts some of the capabilities of an iPhone on your wrist, but the small screen size means that many tasks are better handled on a phone instead. The opposite can also be true: The small screen and easy access means that sometimes an Apple Watch app is more convenient than digging out your phone. After all, why pull out your iPhone if all you want to do is set a simple timer, log your water intake, or pay for a quick purchase?
The native apps that come pre-installed with an Apple Watch give the wearable a wide range of capabilities without the need to ever open the App Store. With Apple’s own software, you can use your Watch as a remote camera trigger, check out with Apple Pay, see turn-by-turn directions, set a timer, track your workouts, make a phone call, or check the weather, to name a few of my most-used favorites. Apple has even finally decided to add a calculator app to the Apple Watch.
That said, third-party apps open up new possibilities on your wrist. With the Apple Watch’s more limited SSD space — and the cost of some apps — you won’t want to download just any app at random. These are the best ones to try.
Related
6 things you (probably) didn’t know your Apple Watch could do
There’s so much an Apple Watch can do, including things you do daily, things you know you can do but don’t, and features you didn’t even you could.
1 Streaks
Establish healthier habits by challenging yourself with Streaks
Streaks
The Apple Watch can already track your workout streaks — but what if you want to track your streak at, say, remembering to make the bed? That’s where Streaks comes in. The app offers added motivation by allowing you to build streaks of successfully completed tasks. Once you’ve built them up, you won’t want to break them. You can add daily, weekly and time-based tasks. You can check off your streaks and see which are still outstanding right from your Apple Watch.
2 Elk
This currency converter tells you how much things really cost abroad
Elk
When you’re abroad, you want to know how much things cost. Elk allows you to do quick currency conversions right on your wrist. It uses location data to automatically select the right currency for you, along with a starting value. You can then swipe left to increase the values, swipe right to decrease them or tap on a value for more accuracy. There’s a free release, as well as a paid-for version with access to all currencies.
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4 Just Press Record
Save ideas or remember a meeting with quick access to a record button
Just Press Record
Do you ever come up with a brilliant idea, then forget about it five minutes later? Or really wish you would have had a recorder handy when your spouse finally admitted that you were right? Just Press Record can help with both those scenarios and more. Tap the button on your Apple Watch, and it will start recording audio. Say whatever it is that you want to note down, and the audio will be transcribed and magically appear on your iPhone. It’s truly like magic and can save you a huge amount of frustration.
5 Night Sky
Get a compass that tells you where to look for planets and constellations
App Store
Have you ever looked up into the night sky and wished that you knew what any of those tiny little dots of light actually were? Stars, right? Or is that one a planet? Wonder no more; with Night Sky you can point your Apple Watch in the direction of some stars and see which constellation they are part of, or whether one of them is in fact a planet. There’s even a dedicated Apple Watch face you can install that’s packed with useful stargazing info.
Night Sky
- Subscription cost
- $5.99 a month
6 Fitbod
Apple’s native apps won’t count your reps, but this one will
FitBod
If sculpting the perfect body is your goal, rather than simply maintaining your fitness, then Fitbod can help. The app provides personalized training plans that are based on your current abilities and adapts them to your progress, keeping track of what muscles you’ve used and recovery time. But the biggest reason to use this Apple Watch app instead of the native fitness tools is that this one can actually track your reps and weight right on your wrist, so you don’t need to worry about fiddling with your phone while you’re working out.
FitBod
- Subscription cost
- 12.99 a month
7 iTranslate Converse
Translate as you talk, all on the Apple Watch
The original iTranslate app is useful if you want to know how to say a particular phrase in a foreign language, but it’s not much use if you want to hold a conversation. iTranslate Converse solves that problem by listening to two different languages and translating between them, allowing two people who don’t speak the same language to hold a conversation. Not only will you see the spoken phrase translated into the target language on your Apple Watch, but it will also speak the phrase in that language too. The app will even flip the text upsides down, so you can show the translation to the person you’re speaking to without twisting your arm.
8 My Fitness Pal
Track calories, water intake and more on Apple Watch
On the iPhone, the My Fitness Pal app not only tracks your calorie consumption but allows you to earn more calories by tracking workouts on the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch version of MyFitness Pal doesn’t have as many tools as the iPhone version, but you can quickly add in calories or even track your water intake right at your wrist with this free app.
MyFitnessPal: Calorie Counter
9 Time Timer
A visual timer to help you keep focus
App Store
Yes, the Apple Watch has built-in timer tools. But Time Timer is different. This app is a visual timer designed to help keep you focused for a preset amount of time. I initially downloaded this app to help my kids stay focused on their schoolwork, but it’s a great tool for adults to stay motivated and on task too. Besides the visual circle timer, the app also has features like interval timers.
10 Carrot Weather
A weather app that’s far more snarky and less boring
If you find talking about the weather tedious, then Carrot Weather may be just the breath of fresh air you need. That’s because you can change the personality of the app to get forecasts that are a little bit different. Professional forecasts appear just like any weather app, but settings such as Snarky, Homicidal, and Overkill provide increasingly offensive summaries. It’s an impressive feat to have made the weather fun.
11 ArcEmu
Get classic Game Boy hits right on your wrist
Admittedly, the Apple Watch isn’t great for games. While we would rather play ArcEmu on our iPhone, if you often leave your iPhone at home in favor of the gadget on your wrist or have the larger-screend Apple Watch Ultra, then ArcEmu is a solid boredom buster. You can play games like Pokemon Yellow and use the on-screen controls and digital crown to play.
