The 25 best Apple Watch apps

There are thousands of apps for Apple Watch. The tiny snag is that most of them aren’t much cop. Why? Well some misunderstand how a wearable is best used, and demand you spend far too long with your wrist in front of your face; others misfire on ergonomics or usability. We want apps that are clever and well-designed – but also that we return to on a regular basis. That, then, is what this list is all about: the best Apple Watch apps we’re actually using.

ELK

When you’re overseas, it’s never good when you get currency conversions wrong and only later discover you spent a month’s wages on a pair of socks. Elk puts conversions right on your wrist, reducing the likelihood of expensive mistakes. Even better: there’s no fiddly keypad for entering data – instead, you twiddle the Digital Crown to adjust numbers, and swipe to increment available digits.

WORKOUTDOORS

There are loads of workout apps for Apple Watch, but WorkOutDoors does something the others don’t: maps. On your wrist, you get a vector-based map that can be zoomed, panned or rotated. There are also loads of features that show what can be done when you’re aiming to make more than an iPhone app’s sidekick: breadcrumb trails; multi-coloured speed/elevation/heart-rate trails; and POIs to help you navigate your way to the nearest pub.

STRAVA

Rather simpler in scope than WorkOutDoors, Strava goes for a more traditional companion app. You get a giant ‘start’ button, and then stats (time/distance/heart-rate) as you blaze about the place on your bike or on foot. Given that Strava’s been able to work without an Apple Watch for some time now, it’s one of the more reliable efforts on the platform.

STANDLAND

If you feel your Apple Watch telling you to get off your behind once every hour isn’t sufficient motivation, you might enjoy Standland. The app has similar intent to Apple’s nagging, but rewards your heroic activity by dishing out adorable collectable creatures. Any activity lasting at least one minute during an hour is counted, maxing out at 24 per day. Before long, you’ll have a tiny owl or little bunny to gawp at, which can romp around 3D AR environments back on your iPhone.

NIGHT SKY

We’re going to admit that Night Sky is a wee bit in ‘tech demo’ territory, but it deserves its place on this list as a great example of the potential in Apple Watch. On launch, you align your watch’s display with the moon. Prod the moon to confirm, and it’s replaced with a map of the heavens. Constellations are auto-selected as you move; tap one to find out more about it.

STREAKS WORKOUT

This app broke a couple of the Stuff team, but we nonetheless heartedly recommend it for a quick calorie burn. All you need is your Apple Watch and the will to work up a bit of a sweat. You choose from four workout lengths (30 entirely suitably being dubbed ‘pain’), and the app strings together simple exercises. When you’re done with a set of reps, you tap the screen. Easy.

JUST PRESS RECORD

The idea behind Just Press Record is to make capturing voice memos insanely simple. On Apple Watch, the app starts off as a massive record button. Prod it to start recording. When you’re done, the recording lurks on your Apple Watch until it next connects to your iPhone, at which point it transfers, and is even automatically transcribed. Easy.

PENNIES

In our experience, pennies aren’t so much the problem when it comes to budgeting – pounds are. If you frequently get to the end of the month and wonder where all your money went, weld Pennies to your wrist. You set up lists, allocate a budget, then input values when you spend or receive some cash.

ITRANSLATE

Although it’s not quite like having a tiny translator taped to your wrist, iTranslate can quickly find translations for whatever you utter (or scribble) into it; and it can also speak (through your Apple Watch) to help with pronunciation. The app also has a clever Complication, which shows a greeting for the current time of day, and displays previous translations when you twiddle the Digital Crown.

RUNKEEPER

A long-time favourite of healthy folks, Runkeeper also happens to have a snazzy Apple Watch app. If you have an older Apple Watch, Runkeeper will happily communicate with your iPhone, providing updates on your current progress as you wheeze your way around a circuit that suddenly appears to be a million miles in length. Got an Apple Watch Series 2 or newer? Turn off Run With Phone and the Runkeeper app will use your wearable’s GPS to build a map of your journey.

PRODUCTIVE

On the iPhone, Productive is designed to help you build good habits. The Apple Watch app is a basic companion – but a smart one. On launch, it’ll switch to the relevant list, enabling you to quickly check through your schedule. Finished a task? Tap Done and wear a smug grin. Don’t fancy doing one today? Tap Skip and perfect your guilty face for a bit.

SLEEP++

Most Apple Watch apps are designed to feed you information while you’re awake. Sleep++ is almost the opposite – grabbing information while you’re snoozing. Broadly speaking, it’s designed to track motion, thereby figuring out how restless you are – and when. If it turns out you’re always rolling about at 3am, it might be worth seeing if your neighbour’s performing impromptu guitar solos around that time.

DRAFTS

Drafts enables you to capture new notes by dictation, which are then hurled into your Drafts inbox. Alternatively, you can append or prepend whatever you input to an existing note – for example, to update a diary or shopping list. If you don’t fancy talking at your Apple Watch, you can use the watchOS Scribble feature to write notes instead.

WATCH PLAYER

Watch Player enables you to leave your iPhone behind and still delve into your favourite podcasts – at least once you’ve transferred them. You’ll still need to use Watch Player for iPhone to send podcasts to your Apple Watch, which can take a while (a few minutes per hour of audio). But once that’s done, you can enjoy your podcasts even if your iPhone’s hurled into the heart of the sun.

FANTASTICAL

Much like the iPhone version, Fantastical’s calendar app for Apple Watch has some natural-language smarts, meaning you can say something like “lunch with Mark next Wednesday at 12 for 2 hours” and the event will be correctly created. Beyond that… well, it’s a calendar for your Apple Watch, although a good-looking and snappy one.

PCALC

If you’ve fond memories of calculator watches, you’re probably a) quite old and b) not going to be convinced about using a calculator app on Apple Watch. Still, PCalc is the best of them. The buttons are fairly chunky, and although operators lurk on a second screen, accessing them is easy. The app also includes a handy third screen for calculations.

CARROT WEATHER

CARROT has become our favourite weather app: the design is smart and clear, displaying current conditions and warning of imminent rainfall. Scroll and you get the week’s forecast; tap an item and you get more details. The CARROT apps are also underpinned by a malevolent AI, which hates humans. It helpfully states that it “sucks to be you” if it’s about to pour down, and whimsically mulls that it’s “a bit moony” on cold, clear nights.

TWITTERRIFIC

Twitterrific offers a smart take on Twitter, reasoning you don’t want to plough through a Twitter feed using a tiny screen strapped to your wrist. Instead, it concentrates on notifications. These can be activated individually in the iPhone app, meaning you get a ding on your wrist when something you consider important happens: a direct message, a new follower, or, if you’re a bit self-obsessed, when someone favourites one of your tweets.

CLICKER

We’ve seen an app recommended for one feature – and now this is an app that only does one thing: keep count. Clicker gives you a big number on the screen that increments every time you tap. Beyond that, you can clear the number or subtract one from it. You can also keep track of your counting by way of a complication.

1PASSWORD

Our favourite app for keeping passwords and other important information secure, 1Password proves handy on Apple Watch too. Sensibly, it doesn’t attempt to send your vault’s entire contents to your wrist; instead, you activate individual items, such as a credit cart, website login, or a note. These then show up as bright, tappable buttons inside the Apple Watch app.

CHEATSHEET

If you don’t need the security of 1Password but still fancy quick access to bite-sized notes (such as Wi-Fi passwords and door combinations), Cheatsheet’s an excellent download. Each tiny information nugget comprises a piece of text and custom icon, and cheats can be synced from the iPhone app.

BBC NEWS

The problem with most news apps on Apple Watch is they try to be too clever. BBC News understands this: you get headlines for the top stories, a user-defined ‘My News’ list you build in the iPhone app, and ‘most read’. Tap a headline and you get a synopsis under a tiny photo. Using Handoff, you can continue reading the current item on your iPhone.

CITYMAPPER

On the iPhone, Citymapper is fantastic, giving you point-to-point directions for a range of supported cities, and location-based public transport details and alerts. The Apple Watch app is equally good, offering rapid access to favourite places, and information about nearby trains, buses, ferries and more.

FIND NEAR ME

This app’s designed to help you quickly find local amenities and stores. Simply tap on a category – anything from cafés to zoos – and you get a results list with place names and distances. Want further details? Tap an item for things like restaurant reviews, phone numbers, and directions.

SHAZAM

Shazam is an app that elicited squeaks of joy from onlookers upon its arrival on smartphones. You’d waggle your smartphone about, and it’d figure out what music was playing nearby. Now, that’s old hat, but on a smartwatch… Yeah, it’s still a lot of fun.