Apple Unveils The Apple Watch Native App SDK

The Apple Watch just became a much more interesting development platform with the announcement of a true native app SDK at WWDC this morning.

Apple vice president Kevin Lynch came on stage to demonstrate the first new function available for third-part developers: Complications. Developers will be able to create widgets for the Apple Watch’s various watch faces, making it easier for users to quickly see small bits of info from an app throughout their day.

Previously, developers interested in bringing their apps to the Apple Watch had to use an SDK known as WatchKit. While it let developers create apps for your wrist, software made with this toolkit actually runs on the user’s paired iPhone, with data and interface elements transmitting over to the Watch over Bluetooth LE.

The delay that came with those transfers has been a significant limit on the user experience of apps on the Apple Watch, leading to seconds of delay as an app opens.

Apple senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams hinted at the recent Code Conference that the native SDK would be revealed today, bringing with it support for apps to read data directly from the Apple Watch’s sensors.

(Developing…)

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/_SSeYI0DXZw/
via IFTTT