Apple Watch owners, have you ever felt like there must be more your fancy wrist gadget can do besides just display notifications and fitness stats? With thousands of apps available for the Apple Watch, there's a whole world of possibilities out there, my friends.

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We've dug deep into the dark underbelly of the App Store to discover the very best Apple Watch apps that will make you feel like you'll never want to take this baby away! From spontaneously transforming into a Dick Tracy-style walkie-talkie to meditating like a Zen Buddhist monk on your lunch break, these apps showcase the versatility of the Apple Watch.
9 City maps
Citymapper on Apple Watch is great for navigating cities. Anyone who relies on public transportation to get around knows the constant struggle of juggling maps on their phone without missing a stop. But with this app, everything is on your wrist! The turn by turn directions are so clear and easy to look at. It gently taps you when they need to get off the bus or train so you never get off and sail past your stop. If there are any delays or changes, it will be updated in real time.
Beyond directions, it's also great for quickly checking bus times, customization to show transport information, and the maps also work offline, which is great when you're on the subway. It can make your commutes and adventures much less stressful. All in all, if you need to navigate public transportation regularly, the Citymapper Apple Watch app is an absolute must.
8 Headspace
The Headspace app makes it so easy to squeeze mini meditations into busy days. The app is super responsive and easy to navigate with the digital crown. There are neat little animations that guide users when starting a meditation session or selecting a sleep track.
One of the best features is the mindful moment reminders, which can be set to go off a few times during the work day. When you feel stressed or overwhelmed, tap the reminder notification and do a quick one to three minute breathing exercise. It's enough to clear your head before going back to work. The sleep sounds and unwind sessions are also great to use in bed. Overall, Headspace makes meditation convenient and accessible.
7 Nike Run Club
The Nike Run Club (NRC) app is every runner's ideal partner, providing comprehensive tracking and personalized coaching tailored to your goals. Designed specifically for the Apple Watch, the NRC lets you take advantage of a flexible and powerful running experience right from your wrist. You can track your vital statistics in real-time, such as pace, distance and heart rate, while receiving audio feedback to monitor performance. Another great feature is the tailored guided workouts based on your fitness level with coaching from world-class athletes that adapt as you improve.
After your run, you can dive into a wealth of data in the app while seamlessly syncing your fitness metrics with Apple Health. You have access to a complete library of on-demand guided runs, can complete global challenges with other runners, map your favorite routes and tag mileage for all your shoes in one place. With social tools, personalized training plans, music integration and robust tracking features fully optimized for Apple Watch, the Nike Run Club app offers an unbeatable complete running companion to help you reach your training goals.
6 Strive
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Strava has become the indispensable exercise companion for those who want to track their active lifestyle. You can record outdoor runs, hikes, swims and more without lugging around a phone. Crucial real-time metrics such as pace, distance and heart rate are easily displayed mid-workout to keep you informed. Smart use of the watch's built-in GPS and sensors provides all tracking options without any additional hardware. Auto-pause, audio progress updates, and quick access complications further refine the usability of Strava for Apple Watch.
But it's not just about functions during training. The automatic sync means that recorded activities on the watch can be transferred seamlessly to the Strava phone app once in range. This provides full access to performance graphs, maps, analytics and community features after each training session. For serious athletes, subscription upgrades like Beacon even offer live tracking and safety alerts.
5 Todoist
Staying on top of ever-growing to-do lists can be a challenge, but the Todoist app for Apple Watch makes task management easy even on the go. This smartwatch customization streamlines the most important functions for increased productivity directly from the wrist. The simple interface lets you go through core actions like adding tasks, setting due dates, and marking items as complete with just a quick tap or voice command. For even greater convenience, Todoist offers custom clock faces that provide real-time progress indicators and upcoming deadline alerts.
Siri integration also increases the hands-free potential, so creating a task is as easy as dictating a reminder without missing a beat. With multiple view options for organizing tasks by list, calendar, or kanban-like boards, Todoist caters to different preferences. It even supports collaboration through shared tasks, comments and files. By focusing on quick, frictionless interactions, Todoist for Apple Watch makes task management much easier to integrate into busy modern lifestyles.
4 AutoSleep
AutoSleep has earned its reputation as a premium sleep tracking app designed specifically for the Apple Watch. It works its magic in the background by using the watch's sensors to automatically detect when you're asleep and awake—no need to open an app or press any buttons. Throughout the night, it tracks sleep stages, heart rate, sound levels and more to give you a detailed analysis of your sleep quality when you wake up. Best of all, AutoSleep doesn't require a separate clock app to be open or running. This is perfect if you find that watch apps are draining your battery or cluttering your screen.
Everything syncs seamlessly in the background with the iPhone app, where you can customize themes and views to your liking as you check in on your previous night's sleep data. Since the Apple Watch already does a good job of tracking health stats like heart rate, AutoSleep takes advantage of these existing sensors. This enables deeper sleep analysis without significantly reducing battery life.
3 Spotify
Spotify has been busy revamping its Apple Watch app to make streaming music and podcasts from your wrist better than ever. The newly updated interface looks nice with larger album covers and smoother graphical transitions as you navigate the app. The changes aren't just skin deep either. Now Spotify Premium subscribers can listen to playlists, albums and podcasts directly on their Apple Watch, no iPhone required. Download your favorite songs, playlists and podcasts directly to your watch for phone-free listening.
Interacting with content also gets some handy upgrades. Swipe to like songs in playlists or download albums and podcasts directly from the app. For podcast junkies, automatic bookmarking makes it easy to pick up where you left off. Siri voice commands add hands-free control to change tracks, search for artists and more. The battery life is also optimized so that streaming sessions do not drain your watch before the end of the day.
2 Water reminder
Water reminder apps are a game changer for staying hydrated on the go. With Water Remind, you can easily tap to log every sip during your busy day. No need to pull out your phone every time! However, it goes beyond basic tracking. Personal daily goals ensure you stay hydrated based on your stats, and fun reward systems with unlockable characters make achieving goals exciting.
Syncing with Apple Health ties everything together. Your fluid patterns integrate seamlessly with other health data for a unified view. This allows you to discover trends and optimize other areas such as sleep, activity or diet. Overall, water reminder apps conveniently solve the hydration challenge.
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