Apple releases SDK for Apple Watch

Apple has made the SDK available for its Apple Watch watch. The development tools are in the beta of iOS 8.2. The manufacturer does not say when it will release its smartwatch, but Apple previously mentioned a release in early 2015.

The SDK called WatchKit can be downloaded from Tuesday, Apple says. The company hopes that many developers will create apps that take advantage of the smartwatch’s features, such as Force Touch, the pressure-sensitive touchscreen, and the Digital Crown, the round button on the side.

In any case, Instagram says it already has an app for the Apple Watch, which according to Apple should be released in 2015. It is not yet known which developers will come up with apps. The documentation that Apple has put online also shows the screen resolution of the various types of watches. The 38mm version has a screen resolution of 340×272 pixels, the 42mm version has 390×312 pixels. Developers must therefore also put images in their app in multiple formats. The SDK also shows that apps run on the iPhone: the phone receives user input via Bluetooth from the watch, calculates in the background how the app should respond to it and streams the result back. Only the elements of the interface are stored on the smartwatch’s memory, to make the whole thing faster.

Apple announced its smartwatch in September, along with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Then the company said the watch should hit the market in early 2015. Later there was a rumor that spoke of the spring of 2015. The Apple Watch costs in its cheapest version 349 dollars, converted and including VAT around 336 euros.