Companion app leak reveals new Apple Watch features

Apple Watch
The Apple Watch is almost here

The Apple Watch's companion app, which we only just learned about yesterday, has revealed some of the Apple smartwatch's new features.

With the Apple Watch iOS app, users will be able to control Apple Watch settings, including Apple Watch app settings and the ways the smartwatch interacts with the iPhone, reports 9to5Mac.

The app shows the Watch's storage info, including stored songs, apps and photos (confirming it will have usable storage space and, likely, different capacity options at differing prices).

The companion app will also let users rearrange Apple Watch home screen app icons, but there are some far more interesting new Apple Watch features than that.

Complications

The site says users will be able to customize their Apple Watch faces with digital "monograms," like their initials.

That's a type of feature they're calling a "complication," an optional extra that can be disabled. Another is a feature that tracks a single stock on the Watch face.

The Apple Watch can reportedly display a small red dot on the face to notify you when you have an iPhone notification, and wearers can respond to texts with either voice dictation, actual voice messages or canned default responses, and can switch between these methods on the fly.

With Maps, Apple Watch users can choose whether to enable haptic feedback for turn-by-turn directions, and the Apple Watch also has a number of accessibility features, like other Apple products.

Health and security

Security is a factor as well: the iOS Apple Watch companion app will let users set passcodes for the wearable, and the Apple Watch can be set to wipe if 10 incorrect passwords are entered in a row.

And unsurprisingly activity and fitness plays a big part, with settings like "stand reminders" when you've been sitting too long, activity progress and heart rate tracking controllable via the app.

The Apple Watch will be out in a matter of months, so keep an eye out for more on it as its release date approaches.

And don't forget that you can go test drive the Apple Watch right now.

Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.


Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.