Features of the Newly Unveiled Apple Watch 03.09.2015

Apple Watch Features. Apple unveiled the Apple Watch today, Monday, March 9, 2015 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

A new Apple Watch app on iPhone is what you use to set up Apple Watch and choose which notifications to receive. The Apple Watch app is available for download today in iOS 8.2. The App Store section of the Apple Watch app is where shoppers can see and download apps.

USER INTERACTIONS ON APPLE WATCH
User Interactions

Action-based events. The single tap gesture is the primary way that users interact with your app. Table rows, buttons, switches, and other controls are all operated by tapping on them. These taps are then reported to the code in your WatchKit extension.

Gestures. The system handles all gestures on your behalf, using them to implement standard behaviors:

Vertical swipes scroll the current screen.

Horizontal swipes display the previous or next page in a page-based interface.

Left edge swipes navigate back to the parent interface controller.

Taps indicate selection or interaction. Taps are handled by the system and reported to your WatchKit extension’s action methods.

Apple Watch does not support multi-finger gestures such as pinches.

Force Touch. As well as sensing touch, the Retina display also detects the amount of force applied by the user’s finger. When this combination of touch and force is detected, the system displays the context menu (if any) associated with the current screen. Apps use this menu to display actions relevant to the current content. For more information, see Menus.

The Digital Crown. Designed for finely tuned, accelerated scrolling—without obstructing the Apple Watch display—the Digital Crown makes it easy for the user to scroll through longer pages. Third-party apps use the Digital Crown only to enable scrolling.

Health monitoring — displays current heart rate, and caloric data for walking, running and common exercise machines at fitness centers.

Text messaging. Messages can be sent as audio or as text.

Using Apple Watch, Glances are a browsable collection of timely and contextually relevant moments from the wearer’s favorite apps. Individually, a Glance is a quick view of your app’s most important content.

Glances are template-based for consistency by software developers. Glances are not scrollable, and a tap provides only a single action. Glances are optional, so not all apps have glances.

“Glances” examples …

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American Airline flight information.

Use Siri to ask about the weather — like an iPhone.

Use Siri for reminders.

Apple Pay: Double-tap on a side button brings up Apple Pay. Transaction is confirmed with haptic feedback on the watch.

A force press on the Apple Watch face give commands such as bringing up the Instagram app, taking phone calls from the iPhone, which works over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Uber works on the Apple Watch.

Boarding pass can show up on the Apple Watch. Apple Watch will pull your boarding pass from Passbook when you’re near the airport.

A barcode on the watch can be waved in front of the scanner to pass through security.

Hotel information confirmation with images and rich with information. An interface with connected hotels can unlock hotel room doors. The SPG app on Apple Watch lets you check into your hotel and unlock your room.

Shazam song recognition app works on the Apple Watch.

Security video feeds can be displayed on the Apple Watch.

Hardware Features

18 hour battery life

Charged with a magnetic charger that clicks on the back of the watch.

Available in silver or space gray.

The Apple Watch is made of a custom Aluminium alloy. 60 percent stronger, but just as light. The alloy has a zirconium finish.

Apple Watch Sport (Available in store April 24, 2015)

$349

$399

Apple Watch (Available in store April 24, 2015)

549-1049

42mm

Apple Watch Edition (Available in limited stores April 24, 2015)

$10,000

Pre-orders begin April 10, 2015.

See also …
Apple Watch Human Interface Guidelines