With watchOS 2, Apple introduced a number of developer-friendly features for the Apple Watch, some of which have a bigger impact than others. The most notable of these features, in my opinion, at least, was the support for third-party complications. Complications are little tidbits of information that app developers are allowed to display on Apple-designed watch faces, making information available at a glance right on the watch face. You see, Apple still hasn’t opened the platform up for third-party watch faces, so this is the next best thing that you can get. And we really appreciate it, because these complications are pretty useful.
The challenge however, is that there is no easy way to find apps that offer complications for the Apple Watch. A section was added to the iTunes App Store that features app that run natively on the watch, but it doesn’t help you figure out which ones offer complications. And with the millions of apps the App Store boasts, it’s not possible to find these manually. Hence, we decided to go on a hunt for the best third-party complications for Apple Watch, and here are our top picks.
Another thing before we move forward; not all complications are suitable for all watch faces, and not all watch faces support complications either. In general, there are three watch faces that we will talk about: Utility, Modular and Simple, and we will also take a look at which watch face offers the most useful complication for any given app. Please also note that if some complication is compatible with the Simple watch face, all others that support complications apart from these 3 would also support that, because their layout is the same.
Best Third-Party Complications For Apple Watch
The Weather Channel
‘The Weather Channel’ is the app that barely needs an introduction. Available for free at the iTunes App Store, this reliable weather app shows forecasts, current weather conditions, winds, weekend weather, sunrise and sunsets, and several other things. The Apple Watch complication is a bittersweet affair, because it doesn’t offer too much customization and primarily shows only precipitation percentage on the watch face. Combined with current temperature, that’s what most people would usually ask for, but it’s not as customizable as some other weather apps.
Developer: The Weather Channel Interactive
Suitable Watch Face(s): Any
Availability: The Weather Channel on iTunes App Store (free)
iTranslate
iTranslate is a handy little app when you’re traveling to a foreign country, as this app provides a live translator to convert any phrase/text from one language to another. It also offers a wide variety of language choices, adding to its usefulness. The Apple Watch complication for iTranslate brings the common-phrase translation to your wrist, where based on your selections in the original app, the watch will show you translation for most of the common phrases from your preferred language to the target language. The best part? The complication suggests a new phrase every time you use it, especially based on time of the day. As you can see above, 8:41 p.m. merits a good night, and that’s what I got.
Developer: Sonico GmbH
Suitable Watch Face(s): Modular only
Availability: iTranslate on iTunes App Store (free)
Cycles Period Tracker
Whether you’re a woman (for whom this app is directly aimed) or a man in a relationship, you’d appreciate the power of this app that allows you to track either your own period or the period of your significant other respectively. The watch complication for this app offers different sets of information on different watch faces, with most being shown on Modular where you get days left util the period and fertility. Other watch faces offer smaller tidbits, like the day of period, days left in period etc. Cycles has a lot of options to configure and play through.
Developer: Perigee
Suitable Watch Face(s): Modular, Utility, Simple
Availability: Cycles Period Tracker on iTunes App Store (free)
Watch Smart
Watch Smart is a unique app with a very simple function – it connects your iPhone to the Apple Watch as a sound monitor. The iPhone listens for noise and if it exceeds a certain level (that you can configure), it will send an alert to the watch. The idea is that this way, it can serve as a baby monitor, for instance.
The complication for this app doesn’t show much except flashing when your receive an alert. Since that’s the whole point of the app, it’s pretty useful.
Developer: Tobias Donder
Suitable Watch Face(s): Utility only
Availability: Watch Smart on iTunes App Store (free)
ETA
ETA is great. The sole purpose of this app is to get your driving times and directions to the destination of your choice, and with Apple Watch complications support, you get the most critical piece of information right on your wrist. ETA also supports public transit duration notifications in certain select cities of the world, and keeps expanding its database. This complication is suitable only for the Modular watch face, owing to obvious reasons.
Developer: Eastwood
Suitable Watch Face(s): Modular only
Availability: ETA on iTunes App Store ($2.99)
Lifesum
Lifesum is a unique health and fitness app that helps you track your food intake, exercise and weight loss, and generally keeps track of your body energy levels. The Apple Watch complication for Lifesum basically shows what your current body energy levels are based on the input data that you’ve provided. You can make inputs on the watch directly as well, making it easier to keep track using Lifesum without ever taking your phone out of your pocket.
Developer: ShapeUp Club AB
Suitable Watch Face(s): Utility and Modular
Availability: Lifesum on iTunes App Store (free)
Event Countdown
Think of ETA but for everything and anything in your life. As the name suggests, Event Countdown lets you configure any event, from your significant other’s birthday to when the next file is due to your boss to the next medication, and keep track of that event from your Apple Watch.
Owing to the nature of these reminders and how they’re displayed, I recommend using this complication only with the Modular watch face.
Developer: Liem Ta
Suitable Watch Face(s): Utility and Modular
Availability: Event Countdown on iTunes App Store ($1.99)
Hourly Wages
If you work on an hourly rate or freelance that pays by the hour, this is the app for you. As the name suggests, this free app will keep a track of how much you’ve earned at a given time based on the hourly rate that you’d earlier prescribed. The complication for hourly wages lets you see your earnings right on the clock face, and what’s even better is that this is one of those rare complications that supports watchOS 2’s Time Travel, allowing you to see how much you’d have earned in the next four hours, for example. Pretty neat, eh?
Developer: Liem Ta
Suitable Watch Face(s): Utility and Modular only
Availability: Hourly Wages on iTunes App Store (free)
Monogram Plus
Want to personalise your Apple Watch despite the fruit company not allowing it. Take a look at Monogram Plus. This app basically lets you use one of the complication spaces on supporting watch faces to add a monogram of your liking, from an 8-bit pixel icon to initials to your full name. There is a good amount of pre-made monograms that you can use, or fashion one of your own to use with your Apple Watch.
Developer: Joseph Goldstein
Suitable Watch Face(s): Any
Availability: Monogram Plus on iTunes App Store ($0.99)
BeWeather 2
A second weather app on this list might sound unfair, but trust me, BeWeather is nothing like the Weather Channel app. This is the most customisable app that you’ll find on the iTunes App Store, and not just on the iPhone but for the Apple Watch version as well, including the complications that it supports. BeWeather’s complications can show a lot more detail than the stock weather app, has icon customisations, and have more information on your watch face, too.
In the same breath as BeWeather, an honourable mention is Carrot Weather – an equally-priced app that offers diverse notifications and forecasts that are unlike any other app.
Developer: Bellshare Inc.
Suitable Watch Face(s): Modular preferred
Availability: BeWeather 2 on iTunes App Store ($3.99)
Spentable
Spentable is an expense tracker for your Apple Watch. Nope, you didn’t read it wrong – this app is primarily one that will allow you to keep track of your expenses from your wrist. Not that it doesn’t have a really decent app for the iPhone, it sure does. But Spentable is all about easily recording your expenses, and what better way to do that than your watch. The complication for this app shows different data depending on the watch face that it is being used with. For instance, on Modular, you get month-to-date and today’s expenses, while on Utility, you will get only that particular day’s recorded expenses. Tapping either will take you directly to an expense entering interface. Pretty easy.
Developer: Oursky Ltd.
Suitable Watch Face(s): Modular & Utility only
Availability: Spentable on iTunes App Store (free)
Cord
Cord is a voice messenger for iPhone that works by sending short, 12-second messages to your recipients. The whole idea seems to be like audio-based Snapchat, at least to me. Hence, the Apple Watch app for Cord, and the accompanying complication, all seem to have the sole goal of getting your message out ASAP. That’s exactly what this watch face complication does. You hit the complication on your Apple Watch, record your message, pick the preferred contact and done.
While Cord’s complication doesn’t show any information on your watch face, we feel it makes the list because it’s highly practical. I mean, you want to send a short message and you don’t even need to launch the app on your watch? How easier can it be?
Developer: Cord Project
Suitable Watch Face(s): Any
Availability: Cord on iTunes App Store (free)
SilentLog
SilentLog, as the name suggests, logs stuff silently? So what does it log? Primarily your steps taken, distance travelled, time stayed in one place etc. Oh, and you can add pictures of various aspects of your life to it, too. The complication for Apple Watch shows the pedometer count, and in some cases, time stayed in one location along with that, and the Modular complication even shows where it was that you stayed.
Developer: Rei-Fronteier Inc.
Suitable Watch Face(s): Utility, Modular and Simple
Availability: SilentLog on iTunes App Store (free)
Sleep++
This free sleep tracker is one of the best and must-have apps that you can get for your Apple Watch. Sleep uses your watch to track and log the time you slept and the quality of sleep you got. The complication for this allows you to quickly indicate when you’re starting sleeping and when you wake up, making it simpler to get log entries in. On the Modular watch face, the complication will even show how much sleep you got last night.
Developer: Cross Forwarding Consulting LLC
Suitable Watch Face(s): Utility, Modular and Simple
Availability: Sleep++ on iTunes App Store (free)
OmniFocus 2
Quite frankly, no Apple Watch apps list can be complete without OmniFocus. This is the most comprehensive task management solution for iOS, and is available for all iDevices. The complications for Apple Watch show the most relevant information, including details of a single task that you want to focus on, or an overview list of tasks. The idea behind this complication is to keep you abreast at any given moment of what needs your attention most in life.
On, just so you know, OmniFocus 2 is $39.99 in the App Store, making it one of the most expensive apps out there.
Developer: The Omni Group
Suitable Watch Face(s): Modular preferred
Availability: OmniFocus 2 on iTunes App Store ($39.99)
SEE ALSO: 10 Best Apple Watch Docks
That’s it for now – we will keep updating this list from time to time, so keep checking back. And if you have some suggestions that should be included here, drop us a comment.
Abubakar Mohammed
