These are the best Apple Watch apps we’ve come across – the ones that hold their own on the smaller screen and deliver the information you need.
Why you can trust Pocket-lint (Pocket-lint) – The Apple Watch has been kicking around for several years now and the apps available for it are plentiful to say the least – especially now it has its own App Store. Of course, not all the apps are great, useful or even suited to the Apple Watch but there are a few that are simply brilliant. These are the best Apple Watch apps we’ve come across – the ones that hold their own on the smaller screen and deliver the information you need without you having to get your iPhone out. There’s everything from games to productivity apps, all of which make the Apple Watch useful, rather than just another gadget. Which Apple Watch is right for you? Pocket-lintBest travel Apple Watch appsBritish Airways If you fly a lot with British Airways, having your flight details on your wrist when at the airport is very handy. The BA Apple Watch app will provide you with gate details, whether the plane is on time and what the status of the flight is. It even goes as far as telling you the weather at your destination. Citymapper Citymapper’s approach to its Apple Watch app is to let you quickly see the status of nearby public transport at the press of a few buttons. It will also give you directions to your work address, or any saved addresses that you have preset using your iPhone using available public transport from your location and you can see real-time departures too. Quick and simple. Uber The Uber Apple Watch app is simple but effective. It doesn’t offer as many features as your phone, such as fare estimates, but it will allow you to request and Uber from your wrist without touching your phone. It will tell you how long the wait is for an Uber, switching between the various car choices. Apple Maps Apple Maps doesn’t have the best reputation but this app works well on the Apple Watch. You can ask Siri to direct you to a location using your Watch and the Apple Maps app will open, find the location and give you the option to press start. It will then give you step-by-step instructions on your wrist, vibrating to alert you when the next turn is coming up. No iPhone necessary. XE Currency XE Currency is a handy little app for those that travel and want to know how much something is in a different currency. Australian Dollars, British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Chinese Yuan, Euro, Japanese Yen and US Dollars are all available currencies, among others. Type in an amount into any of them on your wrist and it will convert it into all the others instantly. Elk is another good currency converter app. It knows where you are and will automatically pick 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 is a free version, as well as a paid for version with access to all currencies.iTranslate Another for those that travel, or even for those just going on holiday. The iTranslate app will translate the words spoken into it when the microphone is pressed into the language you request at the bottom. There are numerous languages available and the translations are pretty accurate from our experience. It will allow you to order a beer or find out where the toilet is at least. Pocket-lintBest productivity Apple Watch appsPCalc If you remember and loved Casio’s calculator watch, PCalc is a must-have app for the Apple Watch. As you might guess, it is a calculator on your wrist. It’s nice and simple, allowing you to add, subtract, divide and multiply, as well as calculate percentages directly from your wrist. There is a Lite version that is free, but the paid version includes a paper tape, engineering and scientific notation, making it more useful than Apple’s own calculator for Apple Watch. Evernote The Evernote Apple Watch app allows you to record voice notes on your Apple Watch, which are then translated into text and synced to your Evernote account to make sure you don’t forget any lightbulb moments. You can also see your previous notes but you can’t edit them or the voice note translation text. This app is purely for barking instructions rather than editing that novel you are writing, and rightly so. Noted is an audio recording and note taking app that allows you to record directly from your Apple Watch. You can start recording with one tap, pause recording and add a Time Tag. The Time Tag feature is brilliant for pin pointing the more exciting parts of a recording so you can access it quickly later on your iPhone. Things 3 Things 3 is a paid-for organiser and reminder app with a lovely design. You can add new To-Dos directly from your wrist and tick off the ones you’ve done. The app follows the Apple Ring look, showing you how close you are to completing your To-Dos for that day. It’s a great one for those that love to be organised. Pacemaker is a very basic DJ app that creates music mixes automatically from your iPhone and then allows you to add effects via four preset options on your watch. Effects include distorting the music, making it sound like it is under water, and smashing up the music. It’s simple but fun and paired with a Bluetooth speaker makes things even more interesting. Pocket-lintBest information Apple Watch apps Weather There are numerous apps you can download for the Apple Watch when it comes to weather but we found the native Apple weather app was perfectly adequate at providing quick and easy information on our wrist.
