Developing for watchOS 8

Develop even more powerful and personal apps for Apple Watch with the new capabilities of watchOS 8. With the Always-On Retina Display, your apps are always available, right on the watch face. Gather HealthKit data and connect to Bluetooth peripherals in the background, and deliver up-to-date information to your complications. Make your apps more accessible with AssistiveTouch. And the powerful new SwiftUI Canvas API lets you take advantage of the GPU in Apple Watch for rich programmatic drawing.

Always-On Retina Display

Your apps always stay visible, even when the watch face is dimmed, making key information available at a glance.

Bluetooth connections from complications

Connect your apps directly to Bluetooth devices through your complications and display information on the watch face.

Region-based user notifications

Deliver notifications to people based on their location, including whenever they arrive at or leave a certain place.

HealthKit

Receive data from HealthKit in the background and display up-to-date information in your complications.

AssistiveTouch

Let people engage with your watchOS apps without having to touch the Apple Watch display or controls.

Canvas

Rich programmatic drawing is now available for watchOS apps with the new SwiftUI Canvas API.

Tools and resources

Use Xcode and these resources to build your apps for watchOS.

Download Xcode