This type of developer should not get involved in Apple Watch development

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The arrival of Apple Watch seems to be another blue ocean for developers.

As the creator of the app economy, Apple has brought together users and developers through the iOS + App Store approach to build a mobile Internet application ecosystem, which has not only made the iPhone one of the most popular smartphones, but also supported a large number of application developers. The app economy has thus become one of the most successful business models in the smartphone era.

When Apple officially released WatchKit for developing apps on the Apple Watch last November, developers who had been fighting tooth and nail on the iOS platform seemed to have seen the next continent - standing out from the nearly 1.5 million apps is as difficult as winning the lottery.

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An interaction lasting no longer than 10 seconds

According to Apple's instructions, there are three ways for apps to interact with Apple Watch: WatchKit App, Glance, and Actionable Notifications. Developers can choose one or more of them based on their needs. When the WatchKit app is running on the watch, the app on the iPhone will also run in the background to respond to interactions on the watch.

Time is the core of Apple Watch interaction design. Bloomberg's article mentioned that in the development guide, Apple recommends that developers should not design interactions that require users to stay for more than 10 seconds at a time. From the third-party applications recommended by Apple's official website, we can also see the emphasis on efficiency: applications with timing and reminder functions account for a small half. Even a few puzzle games are designed to help users make full use of the boring time of waiting. In this sense, Apple Watch returns to the original purpose of the watch, freeing people from the endless apps on their phones and regaining control of time.

Apple Watch is not an opportunity for all iOS developers, because what developers have to do is not just porting iPhone apps to Apple Watch.
What apps are good for Apple Watch, and what aren't

On March 9, with the official release of Apple Watch, Apple showed 28 third-party app demos on its official website. They cover categories such as efficiency, travel, sports, diet and health, music, news, and games, but these apps have little overlap with the most common apps on the iPhone. Although the most popular social and entertainment apps on the iPhone have developed their own Watch apps, they are not on Apple's official website.

The watch screen is too small, the battery is limited, and only voice and simple gestures can be used for interaction. Some of the most popular apps on mobile phones are destined to be unsuitable for watches:

• Big Game
• Most social apps
• Long Reading
• Productivity Tools
• Image sharing and processing
• Multimedia content such as videos
• Other time-consuming and power-consuming applications

For example, although the Instagram Watch app can display friends' latest pictures, recommend accounts worth following, and see likes and comments in real time, browsing Instagram on the watch is probably as worrying as flipping through the photo album on the iPod nano. As you can imagine, few people are willing to browse Weibo and read articles on their watches. Even if you can safely browse Moments while waiting at a traffic light, you can only like and read replies - after all, they are not really designed for watches.

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Apple believes that a good Apple Watch app can at least do the following:

When you are on a business trip, you can use SPG to book a Starwood hotel. When you get off the plane, your watch will show you a map of the hotel. On the way, it can automatically check in and display the room number. When you arrive, you can go directly to the room without going through the front desk and use the watch as a room card to open the door.
When drawing with Procreate Pocket on iPhone, Apple Watch can become a remote control for selecting drawing tools and colors, turning the entire phone screen into a canvas, allowing you to focus more on your creation;
With MLB.com At Bt, you can occasionally glance at your favorite team's score during a meeting and lie to your boss that you were just checking email;
When you meet a girl you like at a party, you can let her see your $110,000 Apple Watch Edition with a simple swipe and tap, and she will happily scan the QR code and add you on WeChat.

Developers say the best scenarios for Apple Watch

In terms of design principles, WatchKit apps are fundamentally different from apps on the iPhone. iPhone apps often measure user stickiness by the time users spend on them every day, but Apple Watch apps aim to help users save time. Smartphone apps passively ask users to check for new messages again and again, while watch apps proactively predict and remind you to do what you should do when necessary. With Apple Watch, users no longer need to search for apps all over the screen, but just wait for apps to find you.

Therefore, tracking, reminders, and authentication are the three most suitable scenarios for apps on Apple Watch.

Zhou Kaiwen, the developer of the iOS social app Miaoshi, said: Apple Watch is a new platform and he is looking forward to developing interesting apps on it. However, since it restricts the display of videos, he will not develop an Apple Watch version of Miaoshi at present. If he has the opportunity to develop an Apple Watch product, he will consider a couple app that adds intimacy.

Zhou Kaiwen believes that developers do not need to blindly develop Apple Watch apps, because not all tasks are suitable for Apple Watch. He said: "Except for quick reply to messages, taxi, and health-related tasks, I will use iPhone to complete other tasks. The time cost of a small screen is very high."

“Currently, iOS developers are working on Watch apps. I’m looking forward to seeing one that doesn’t need to be done on an iPhone and is really useful.”
Apple reinvented the app rather than the watch

As the Wired article said, "The core of the watch is action, not app." Rather than saying that Apple reinvented the watch with Apple Watch, it is better to say that it reinvented the app.

In the future, app design will no longer seek to lead users to a destination and spend a lot of time in it, but to guide users to act quickly. In fact, the notification center of iOS 8 and Android KitKat has already reflected this evolution: allowing people to interact with the app directly in the notification, rather than having to open it. There will be fewer and fewer self-contained apps, and more and more apps that are closely integrated with the system.

This reminds me of Yo, which was once considered boring. Now it has evolved into a notification center that can integrate many apps. Users can complete simple instructions for bound apps with just Yo - the interaction method of Apple Watch is similar in nature. With Apple Watch, users may not even need to open certain apps on their phones.

This poses a challenge to developers: How to convert complex operations on the phone into simple gestures on the watch, and take into account the changes in time, place, and scene to allow users to make corresponding actions? How to design apps for both users with Apple Watch and those without Apple Watch and maintain a consistent user experience? How to design a new app exclusively for Apple Watch?
The essence of Apple Watch: an extension of the smartphone

However, although Apple Watch is a brand new platform, it is not an independent device, and the apps on the watch must rely on the iPhone to run. Therefore, the essence of the Watch app is the interactive interface of the mobile app extended to the wrist.

Some mobile app developers will face huge challenges: developers of efficiency, schedule, travel and other applications must face the impact of Apple Watch - the scenarios for using these applications have changed with the extension of the screen, and they must provide better services and design different experiences for different screens and scenarios.

A considerable number of developers can still focus on the smartphone platform - smartphones are still a must-have, and the immersive experience of reading, inputting, taking photos, videos, and playing games designed for mobile phones will not change fundamentally because of the Apple Watch. These applications are also not suitable for use on the Apple Watch.

Developers can also completely put aside the burden on iOS and design new apps for Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch screen provides a completely new medium. It will change the way people interact with their phones: Apple Watch users no longer need to compulsively check for new messages on their phones, but can handle most matters by simply looking down at their watches; smartphones are no longer a bottomless pit of time wasting, and can be used to do things that require more focus and time. It will also change the way people interact with each other: you will no longer have a reason to look down at your phone and ignore the person in front of you - on the watch, the only thing that matters is what needs to be done at the moment.

As for developers who just want to port iOS apps over, it is better not to get involved in Apple Watch development.