Rumor: Apple wants to give developers more space on Apple Watch

Developers may soon be able to place widgets on the ‘clock screen’ of the Apple Watch. Until now, developers have had relatively little freedom on Apple’s smart watch, but that may change.

Currently, developers can only stream apps to the Apple Watch, from a compatible iPhone; it is not possible to run apps locally. Apple has been planning to make native apps possible there for some time, but according to 9to5Mac it doesn’t stop there: Apple might also want to give developers access to the screen of the Apple Watch on which the clock can be seen.

At the moment that is not possible: only Apple can make watchfaces for the smart watch and developers cannot tap into that. By letting developers place widgets on the watch screen, this will change somewhat, although as far as we know Apple has no plans yet to let developers design watch faces themselves.

Furthermore, Apple is said to have plans to make the Apple Watch a remote control for the new Apple TV. The company would also consider letting the watch track sleep, something that is not possible at the moment. It is unclear whether the watch would have to be equipped with new hardware, but that is likely. Apple would also like to warn users if they have an irregular heartbeat. This is already technically possible: the device has a heart rhythm sensor. However, the feature may not be available due to legal objections.

Finally, Apple would like to give the watch the possibility to give users a warning when they threaten to forget their Apple Watch somewhere. To that end, the relative distance from the watch to the phone’s wireless signal would be measured. In addition, users should be able to locate it on a map and erase it remotely, although the watch must be connected to the internet via Wi-Fi to do so.