Google Play and iTunes contain many applications you can download onto your phone and smartwatch. For many of these apps, you will find a free version with the option to upgrade to a premium version, for a one-off payment or a monthly subscription. Premium versions of the apps will either remove ads or provide access to premium features.
We have provided a list of the best apps to download to your smartwatch to improve your experience. Whether you are using yours for luxury or for business, or both, many of these apps will be essential for your new smartwatch-wearing lifestyle.
Music App | Fitness App | News App | Health App | Spy App | For Fun | City Guide | Try Something Different | Adventure | Shopping List App
W Shuffle - The Important Music App
Wear OS – Free
Google can’t please everyone, so if Play Music just isn’t suited for you, maybe WShuffle could be the next way to get your music fix.
While Spotify is a great and popular option, you can’t yet search for specific songs on Wear OS, but can play from your own lists and recently played songs. WShuffle, however, makes it really easy to send music files from your smartphone to your smartwatch.
This music app has a file manager so you can simply click and send any music file to your smartwatch. Open the app on your watch for access to your offline music files. Once the files are sent over, you can leave your phone behind and listen to your favourite playlists on the go.
Strava - The Best Fitness App
Apple Watch/Wear OS – Free
Exercise is a vital part of many people’s lives. There are hundreds of exercise applications out there - from marathon training, 7 minute workouts in the morning (“7 Minutes Daily Weight Loss Home Workouts” is a good one), yoga, HITT workouts between breaks, and so on. So finding the right app for your smartwatch is a journey that we have made a little easier - with Strava.
With the ability to work without your phone, the Strava app is one of the most famous fitness apps around nowadays. It has a built-in GPS to track your walks, runs or cycles, so you can look back at where you have been and how far you have travelled.
It is free to install, and though it offers in-app purchases, you can still experience most of the benefits without paying a penny. Strava is like a community of people dedicated to exercise and healthier lifestyles - you can share your journeys and progress with friends.
It analyses your workouts, from heart rate to your average running pace, so you can see how to improve. Get the app, get running, get sharing, all from your wrist.
BBC News - Keep Updated
Apple Watch/Wear OS – Free
The best way to make your smartwatch feel more like a smartphone, is by downloading a news app. BBC News can’t be faulted - it gives you the latest headlines as they come in, keeping you up-to-date with the world around you.
While you can’t actually read a news story in full due to the lack of space, you can learn the newest developments all from your smartwatch to check back on later.
Never miss a story with the BBC News app.
Google Fit - The Best Health App
Wear OS – Free
Google Fit is an android wear app, which has been redesigned to look more like the familiar Health app from Apple. It offers a variety of visuals, like achievement rings that show where you are towards your daily goal of Move Minutes and Heart Points. This information is easy to find because you simply need to swipe in from the right side of the screen.
Google Fit monitors your steps, calories, distance walked, heart rate history, and your daily average resting heart rate. It can also track a very extensive list of workouts, including non-gym activities such as gardening, dancing, stroller walking, and yoga. The app can also help you relieve stress with guided breathing, similar to what meditation apps offer.
Confide - The Ultimate Spy App
Apple Watch/Wear OS – Free
While Confide is definitely more useful for those who are interested in using their smartwatch for business means, its security and confidentiality measures are still useful for the leisure user. The messaging app ensures that each text you send is end-to-end encrypted and will disappear as soon as it is read. This messaging app also stops the recipient from taking a screenshot of the message. The app will be of particular interest to those using it in professions where privacy and security are a top priority.
Bubble Cloud Wear Launcher Watchface - For Fun
Wear OS – Free
Watch faces are one of the easiest ways to change the look of your smartwatch. The Bubble Cloud Wear Launcher stands out because it takes inspiration from the Apple Watch and puts all of your icons into bubbles.
An ingenious approach to app priority sees the bubbles grow in size for the apps you use the most. If you fall in love with this launcher then you can also download it for your phone or tablet from Google Play.
Foursquare City Guide - The Built-in GPS
Apple Watch/Wear OS – Free
While popular apps like Google Maps and Citymapper are reliable go-to sources for travelling, Foursquare functions better as a city guide app for Android and Apple watches. It works very well on a smartwatch-sized screen. The app works anywhere in the world, making it an excellent tool for those who travel, as well as those who want to discover new things in their local city or town.
When you open the app you can tap on one of many categories: food, coffee, fun, nightlife, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, dessert, shopping, special, and trending this month. The app includes comments from the global community and a rating for the restaurant, shop or place you are reviewing
The Foursquare City Guide can give you turn-by-turn navigation and you can choose your navigation app of choice within this, so if you want to bring back Google Maps, here is your chance. If you want more detailed information about a place, then you can see this on your paired smartphone or iPhone.
IFTTT - Try Something Different
Apple Watch/Wear OS – Free
IFTTT can be the place to turn to when you want actions to happen that were never built into an app by its developer. IFTTT stands for ‘If This Then That’ and is one of the best ways to think about what this application could do.
An example of an IFTTT action would be to send a photo to your smartwatch every time you take one on your smartphone. It isn’t the most exciting app for your smartwatch, but it is useful for crossover tasks where you want or need similar information on all your devices.
Runeblade - Fancy an Adventure?
Apple Watch – Free
Runeblade is a game designed specifically for your Apple Watch and it falls into the RPG gaming category. It is the first fantasy adventure game for the Apple Watch and there are 1,000 levels to work through. Runeblade provides a compelling story to follow where you can discover magical artefacts, upgrade your powers, and win battles along the way.
There are many more gaming apps to choose from in the store, to suit your preferred style of playing. Just bare in mind the smaller screen can affect certain gaming experiences. If you download loads of apps to try, don’t forget to delete the apps that you don’t want to save space. This will help to ensure that your smartwatch keeps its tip-top performance whilst ensuring your battery lasts as long as possible.
Wrist List - The Shopping List App
Wear OS – Free
This cool note-taking app is available from Google Play, and has been specifically built for a range of Android smartwatches: the Samsung Galaxy range*. This application makes grocery shopping much easier and quicker, and saves using paper which can easily be lost or even forgotten. Simply create your shopping list on your phone by typing in products you need or searching through the app's custom-made categories. Later, as you are shopping, quickly swipe right to delete items from your list as you pick them up.
Todoist is another solid choice for this type of application. For Wear OS, it allows you to add things to your to-do list and satisfyingly tick them off when completed.
*Supported watch models are: Samsung Gear, Samsung Gear 2, Samsung Gear 2 Neo and the Samsung Gear S.
There you have it - a variety of apps for both leisure and business. Whatever you use your smartwatch for, many of these choices will provide you with an invaluable experience as you transition to the phone on your wrist.
