The exciting capabilities of watchOS let you bring the best of your app to the wrist with timely interactions that focus on the content users care about most. Take advantage of incredible performance, background modes, built-in altimeter capabilities, direct connections to accessories, and more.
Make your app fit right in with the exciting, modern design of watchOS 10. Take advantage of the latest SwiftUI APIs for system materials, tab views, split views, and more.
Share timely, contextually relevant information from your app at a glance with widgets in the Smart Stack — now on Apple Watch. When you build a widget and donate relevance information, people can select your widget for their Smart Stack so it’s surfaced at just the right moment.
Detect rapid changes in direction and acceleration with access to higher frequency data from the improved gyroscope and accelerometer introduced in Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra.
Provide timely, meaningful information with full-color images, text, and dynamic gauges on more than a dozen Apple Watch faces. Provide relevant information or allow for quick access into your watchOS app.
Apps can connect directly to Bluetooth on Apple Watch, so information is updated instantly and appears as soon as users raise their wrists. Connect your apps directly to Bluetooth devices through complications and display information on the watch face — useful for many apps, such as continuous glucose monitors and sports apps connected to equipment with embedded sensors. Apps that support Bluetooth-connected devices can connect in the background to send timely critical alerts.
VoIP apps can connect to CallKit on Apple Watch, allowing people to call and answer right from their wrist.
Let people share content from your app using Messages, Mail, and more through the share sheet.
Display the Photos picker designed just for watchOS for people to select and share images in your app.
Leverage the power of iOS frameworks and technologies to create a fully independent app experience on Apple Watch. Sign in with Apple lets users sign in to apps on Apple Watch, even when they’re away from their phone. And you can even build an app just for Apple Watch, without a companion app on iOS.
The App Store for Apple Watch lets users easily discover, browse, search, and install watchOS apps directly on Apple Watch. Users can search using Siri, dictation, or Scribble, or go directly to the product page by tapping a product page link.
Fitness apps can access real-time heart rate data, the gyroscope, route map data, the all-day accelerometer, and enable Water Lock mode, allowing you to create compelling fitness experiences.
Siri uses machine learning and relevance algorithms to show timely content or provide Siri Shortcuts — right when they’re needed. To take action, users can simply raise their wrist and tap the Siri watch face or say voice phrases to Siri.
Audio apps can run in the background. Users can play locally synced playlists or podcasts while on the go, download playlists and episodes to Apple Watch, control playback using Apple Watch, and choose which Bluetooth audio device to play to.
Your app can offer streaming audio so users can stay connected to episodes, albums, audiobooks, meditations, radio, and more wherever they go without their iPhone.
Make your app notifications interactive with WatchKit controls that let users take actions directly within the notification without opening the app. Users can check in and add their boarding pass for an upcoming flight, update time or party size for a restaurant reservation, and more — right from within the notification.
Apps designed for session-based use, such as mindfulness, alarms, and physical therapy, can get extended runtime as well as access to heart rate, motion, and location.
Receive data from HealthKit in the background and display up-to-date information in your complications.
Let people engage with your watchOS apps without having to touch the Apple Watch display or controls.
watchOS app development is easier and quicker than ever with apps that are fully based on SwiftUI. Take advantage of the canvas to preview your complications on multiple watch faces as you make changes and see how tinting affects SwiftUI views, so you can deliver a best-in-class experience to your users.
Use Xcode 16 and the watchOS 11 SDK to build the latest watchOS capabilities into your app.
MapKit
SceneKit
SpriteKit
HomeKit
AVKit