How to Download, Install, and Arrange Apps on Apple Watch

MacRumors · May 3, 2015

One thing that makes Apple Watch stand out from other smart watches is the app ecosystem. Since there are already more than a million iPhone apps in the App Store, there were already plenty of developers ready to get to work building companions for the wrist worn device. When the Apple Watch launched, there were already 3,500 apps available, and that number grows on a day-by-day basis.

One of the best ways to customize your Apple Watch to fit your needs is to download all the apps you want and to organize them for easy access. We've got a tutorial that covers downloading apps from your iPhone, installing them on your Apple Watch, and rearranging them on your Home screen.

Downloading Apps for Apple Watch

At the current time, all Apple Watch apps are powered by the iPhone, which means they're bundled into iPhone apps. Apple Watch apps are downloaded by downloading a compatible app onto your iPhone, which can be done from the regular App Store or through the "Apple Watch App Store" located within the Apple Watch companion app on your iPhone. The Apple Watch companion app has an icon that looks like a watch and is automatically installed on all iOS devices running iOS 8.2 or later.

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Tap "Featured" to visit the Apple Watch App Store.
Find the apps you wish to add to your collection and download them the way you would with an iPhone app. If it is already on your iPhone, you will see "Open." If you have previously downloaded the app, but it is not currently on your iPhone, you will see the iCloud icon.
Alternatively, you can open the regular App Store on your iPhone or Mac and look for apps that are tagged with "Offers Apple Watch app for iPhone."

Click here to read more...

Article Link: How to Download, Install, and Arrange Apps on Apple Watch

macs4nw · May 3, 2015

I'm really starting to warm up to going with this version of the AppleWatch, rather than waiting for the .2 version, especially for the fitness apps that I want to use already.

Jason83 · May 3, 2015

These mile-long write-ups make it seem like Watch-related things are complicated. They're not. This does a tremendous disservice to Watch adoption in my opinion.

macs4nw · May 3, 2015

Jason83 said:
These mile-long write-ups make it seem like Watch-related things are complicated. They're not. This does a tremendous disservice to Watch adoption in my opinion.

There's validity in that argument, but not yet having owned one myself, I trust Apple and their mostly dead-simple GUIs to make set-up and usage a snap.

And there's always that 2-week return window.....

Kaibelf · May 3, 2015

macs4nw said:
There's validity in that argument, but not yet having owned one myself, I trust Apple and their mostly dead-simple GUIs to make set-up and usage a snap.

And there's always that 2-week return window.....

Can tell you from experience, I got my watch, paired it, and knew how to use it without any tutorials by the end of the first day. It's really as simple as you'd expect from Apple. If anything, I am confused about the reviews which said it was complicated, or that it was giving too many notifications and such. The watch app lays it all out very clearly, so I chalk those issues up to absolutely lazy users who think that everything they do requires being in the "VIP" category.

hlevolve · May 3, 2015

I love mine, especially the fitness aspect of it and it's much easier to flip your wrist to see if you have any notifications than pulling your phone out of your pocket and waking it up for no reason constantly.

RichTF · May 3, 2015

Absolutely love mine, and have been really impressed with how polished the whole experience is. Doesn't feel like a typical Apple first-gen product, and been surprised by how many of my apps already have a Watch version.

Currently lending mine out to someone so he can get a feel for it for a day. Really missing it in the meantime, even though I've only had it for a week.

The Bogeyman · May 3, 2015

I love my watch too.

I just wish Facebook would get their fingers out and make an app for the watch.

I suppose they would need to make the iOS app work properly first though haha

extricated · May 3, 2015

Much more simple than this guide implies.
Absolutely loving mine!

I have over 250 iPhone apps (most on the phone, some in iTunes library). I don't use them all, of course, but after 7 years or so, I've built up a collection. What the Apple Watch helped me see is how many apps I just need to delete.

During set up, I opted to have the watch automatically install compatible apps, which ended up being about 40 more than the pre-installed Apple Watch offerings. I deleted most - several of which from developers that don't seem to "get it".

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RichTF said:
Currently lending mine out to someone so he can get a feel for it for a day. Really missing it in the meantime, even though I've only had it for a week.

I can't fathom doing that! haha

tkermit · May 3, 2015

Jason83 said:
These mile-long write-ups make it seem like Watch-related things are complicated. They're not. This does a tremendous disservice to Watch adoption in my opinion.

I was just about to write* not to be rude but what's with all the 'How to...' articles? I'm sure they're well written and all, but this isn't exactly rocket science. I can't quite imagine anybody really requiring a guide for this stuff, never mind someone tech-savvy enough to be visiting MacRumors in the first place....?

DavidTheExpert · May 3, 2015

I feel like MacRumors is making fun of us.... This is a blog for apple enthusiasts and technophiles. You don't think we can figure out how to download watch apps for cook's sake?

nick727 · May 3, 2015

Is an FAQ / how-to guide news?

stevemiller · May 3, 2015

1. Publish the equivalent of an instruction manual of obvious functions as apple news
2. Make sure you post a separate article for each page of the manual
3. all readers will click through if for no other reason than to critique, or make satirical step by step guides...
4. PROFIT!!

bhirt37 · May 3, 2015

Arn should shut down Mac rumors and start applehowtto.com and applebuyersguide.com

Someone grabbed the wheel of this site and turned it towards awkward

ThatGuyInLa · May 3, 2015

ENOUGH OF THE 14-PAGE-LONG FRONT PAGE WATCH GUIDES!!!!!

Post a sidebar link to this crap and stop cluttering up the main page. As is I'd guess around 5% of your readers have the damn watch and 47% don't give a **** about it.

My thumb is going numb trying to flip the front page to REAL NEWS. Christ I'm even considering going Mac to Macnn.

Tech198 · May 3, 2015

Kaibelf said:
Can tell you from experience, I got my watch, paired it, and knew how to use it without any tutorials by the end of the first day. It's really as simple as you'd expect from Apple. If anything, I am confused about the reviews which said it was complicated, or that it was giving too many notifications and such. The watch app lays it all out very clearly, so I chalk those issues up to absolutely lazy users who think that everything they do requires being in the "VIP" category.

I guess the same "learning curve" with this would be not like learing iOS normally...

With the watch you now have to know "oh i can only do this via the digital crown", and "no, i must tap this only."

THAT is the learning curve. And its a first because at least with iOS on Iphone and iPad, u know its all touch... and u also know there is a "Home" button which is self explanatory .

Unless u know from the digital crown does nothing else but scroll, you wouldn't know "i must tap to select this" and "I cannot push the crown in to select" *anything* ... Its a mix affair in various cases, Much more than saying using the "home" button on iPhone/iPad and "knowing" it will take you take to the home screen.

I dunno how Apple could have done that only with the crown,,, they could have..... easily.. They just would need a solution.

Colinwoods84 · May 3, 2015

This would be relevant if I had my ******** watch.

PhiLLoW · May 3, 2015

DavidTheExpert said:
I feel like MacRumors is making fun of us.... This is a blog for apple enthusiasts and technophiles. You don't think we can figure out how to download watch apps for cook's sake?

For every website traffic is important. Unfortunately dumb people who google 'how to download an app' far outnumber the typical macrumors user

TroutDeep · May 3, 2015

Hi everyone.

jdawgnoonan · May 3, 2015

It might not be, but that home screen on the watch looks like a mess.

happosai · May 3, 2015

Next article: how to charge your apple watch

nick727 · May 3, 2015

Would love to see an article about how to start your own blog so I can make a better website than this one. ._.

lk400 · May 3, 2015

tkermit said:
I was just about to write* not to be rude but what's with all the 'How to...' articles? I'm sure they're well written and all, but this isn't exactly rocket science. I can't quite imagine anybody really requiring a guide for this stuff, never mind someone tech-savvy enough to be visiting MacRumors in the first place....?

The answer is clicks.

Drastically short supply and heavy demand mean that during this time people waiting for their watch will read anything about the watch as a kind of next best thing of having one. Mac rumours know this and are exploiting it to the fullest.

Never before has their quest for clicks been so apparent as these ridiculous guides.

This site has followed mainstream media in a race to the bottom in valuing clicks over content. It happened slowly and delayed compared to mainstream media, but it's surely happened. A shame, really.

----------

happosai said:
Next article: how to charge your apple watch

Followed by a 10 step guide on how to read the time.

doelcm82 · May 3, 2015

ThatGuyInLa said:
ENOUGH OF THE 14-PAGE-LONG FRONT PAGE WATCH GUIDES!!!!!

Post a sidebar link to this crap and stop cluttering up the main page. As is I'd guess around 5% of your readers have the damn watch and 47% don't give a **** about it.

My thumb is going numb trying to flip the front page to REAL NEWS. Christ I'm even considering going Mac to Macnn.

First off, this is Sunday. MacRumors almost never has "real news" on a Sunday.

This is a sidebar article, not a front page article. So MacRumors has given you what you want, and they did it retroactively by going back in time and not putting it in the main front-page section. They are THAT good!

Now, to read the entire thing from the front page, or even to comment on it, you have to click on a link to the article. If the topic is not one you are interested in, you will of course NOT click on the link, because only a masochist would do that.

This assumes you are reading the site on a regular computer screen. If you are reading on a mobile device, you may see ALL articles, including the sidebar, as "front page". That, however, is a different issue from accusing MacRumors of posting a long article in its entirety on the "Front Page."

lk400 · May 3, 2015

Title should read: You'll never guess what we have done on or apple watch. Top 13 steps on how to instal an app. Doctors hate it!

How to Download, Install, and Arrange Apps on Apple Watch

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