Submit WatchOS app only with option to add a companion iOS app later

Question

rolandkajatin OP

Created Oct ’23

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I would like to deploy a WatchOS app without the companion iOS app.

Here's my situation:

I have created a WatchOS app with a companion iOS app
The watch app supports running without the companion app
The watch app is fully functional, and in fact the iOS companion is not built yet

Is it possible to submit the WatchOS app without the companion iOS app with the option to submit the iOS companion at a later date?

I would like to avoid having to create a new watch only app because once I release the iOS companion app, the old watch app would be considered a different app.

If it is possible, some guidance on how to achieve this submission would be appreciated.

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Answer 1

Frameworks Engineer OP

Apple

Oct ’23

Yep, you can do this, but it's a little bit tricky because you need to set up your project as Watch Only to start and then add a companion iOS app later. Adding a companion app after submission requires mucking about in your build settings to remove the WKWatchOnly key and replacing the iOS Stub target with a real iOS target. See the response on this post for more info: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/672264 (and be sure to take note of the clarification, since the keys are now in the project settings instead of an Info.plist).

In your case, since you already created your app using the watchOS with companion iOS app template, you need to do the surgery in reverse first. :-) I'd recommendcreating a new watchOS-only project and copying the guts of your watch app into it. Make sure to use the same bundle IDs as in the original project. Then when you're ready to add the iOS companion, toss the stub target, add a real iOS target with the same bundleID as in the stub, and go through the WKWatchOnly -> WKRunsIndependentlyOfCompanionApp process described in the other post.

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