With all the kerfuffle over the release of the Apple Watch, we thought we’d throw our hat into the ring and bring you the Apple Watch apps that you’ve just got to have.
1. Mint Personal Finance
Made by Intuit (who also run TurboTax and QuickBooks) Mint is a personal finance app for the Apple Watch.
It might seem odd starting off with an app that isn’t focused on productivity or fitness, but we feel that the Mint deserves the number 1 spot. First it’s got a great design.
It’s flat, it’s beautiful, and it’s infinitely usable. So from a design perspective, Intuit did a great job.
But Mint isn’t just a pretty face.
The app is supremely functional, allowing you to see what you’ve spent over a set time period, how much you have to play around with that day, where your money is going, plus a long term projection of your savings. Mint works on two levels: first, on an information architecture and display level, and second, on a motivational level.
First, information architecture (IA). The Apple Watch presents designers with a unique challenge – how do you
best use a tiny screen to display the information you most care about? Mint manages it with a couple different screens that show only 1-2 things at a time. Which, for the device, we think is fantastic. It based on the idea that most of your financial information you don’t need with you all the time. Really, all you want to know on the go is ‘do I have enough money with regards to my budget to buy this thing, yes or no?’ Mint gives you that information.
Second, the motivational benefit. Seeing your ‘fun money to spend’ (basically your income minus things like rent and bills and whatnot) gives you a clear idea of what you can and cannot spend. So you have a clear short-term goal. Second, by showing you quickly how close you are to your next major financial objective, the app keeps in your brain why you’re saving in the first place. So now, you have short and long term goals to achieve, further motivating you to save. That’s brilliant.
2. Clear
Clear is basically a to-do list app. This might sound boring (and frankly, it is a bit) but Clear does it just so very well that it’s worthy of a mention.
First off, it really can’t be stated often enough – to-do lists are the best. You never forget anything, you get the satisfaction of crossing things off a list, and they keep you organized and focused.
Clear does all that, and has you basic list functionalities like separate lists, reminders, times, due dates, and the always fun ticking something off.
So what makes it so special?
It’s just really clear. Like, really clear. Like Mint, Clear’s done an excellent job of providing a tight, focused message on a small screen to let people engage with the app in a productive way on the go. A lot of apps don’t do that.
Clear’s Watch app works to show you:
- Your lists, and what’s on them
- Follow ups
- Future items (e.g. meeting tomorrow)
And, best of all, you can actually tick stuff off, add tasks, and change how they’re sorted
from your watch. It means you can keep on top of and up to date with your schedule all the time.
3. Epicurious
Mostly, this is just cool.
The kitchen has always presented a unique challenge for technology, not least because things in the kitchen (water, heat, oil) tend to break technology awfully quickly. So while it’s not a great place for an iPad or a smart phone, it is a great place for the Apple Watch, which is more resilient and less likely to get chili slopped onto it.
The app lets you browse recipes from the giant Epicurious database, then guides you though it with timing and instructions as you go. It’s like having your own personal kitchen to keep you on track and on top of the meal.
Granted, you’re probably not going to browse around for a recipe on your Watch – that chunk of work is going to be done on a bigger device. The real selling point of this app (which is free, by the way) is that you can get the meal together so everything is hot all at the same time, which is basically the hardest thing to do in the kitchen. How? By using Smart Timer, a timer that helps you cook things so they all come out at the same time.
The Watch app also lets you also go back to the last tip, start over, or just run a normal timer (which frankly feels like a waste of the S1 processor, but whatever). You also get pictures of whatever your making is
supposed to look like, which is either going to be reassuring or disheartening, depending on how things are going.
Wrap up
There are plenty of apps for the Apple Watch, and a lot of them (these included) are still working out the best way to use the opportunity that the world’s hottest wearable presents and quashing bugs as they go.
The Apple Watch (like the iPhone before it) is a beautifully manufactured piece of technology. But, like the iPhone before it, it’s the apps that are going to either make it a household device, or just another piece of wearable clutter.
