It’s all about de apps, ’bout de apps, no question.
This is the song we’ve been singing ever since the Apple Watch was a mere blip on the horizon. For all the talk about wearability and stylishness, the Apple Watch was going to make it or break it on the basis of its functionality, that is to say, on the strength of its apps. What would it take for Apple Watch users to keep spinning that Digital Crown on the side of the device, in search of those apps they simply couldn’t do without?
It turns out that a lot of the old smartphone apps make a good fit with the Apple Watch. Twitter, for example, seems tailor-made for the device, since 140 characters fit perfectly on the small screen on your wrist. Anyone participating in an auction on eBay will love the convenience of being easily notified on bids without pulling out the smartphone. And Shazam promises to work faster and easier when it’s located on the end of your arm.
New apps made especially for the Apple Watch are going to have to earn their stripes on the go, and it takes a while for users to become familiar with and accustomed to them. What really helps a new app is the association with brand names that are already popular with the public, and Apple Watch has announced a couple of biggies: The New York Times and Citibank. Surely these names alone will drive traffic to the new apps.
New York Times to Deliver ‘One-Sentence Stories’ to Apple Watch
The venerable New York Times, the Old Gray Lady of journalism, recently announced a partnership with the Apple Watch.
The Times’ app will deliver a simple overview of a news event to the Apple Watch screen, something they call “one-sentence stories”.
These news snippets, covering all the outlet’s departments including business, politics and the arts, will be created “specially for small screens”. Calling it “a new form of storytelling”, the Times also plans to squeeze photos onto the screen that correspond to the short, bulleted news summaries.
Critics argue that one-sentence news stories is another word for “headlines”, and there is some validity to that argument. But the truth is that the Times is generally regarded as the premier news outlet of record in the U.S., and their editorial choices are second to none. The Times said that “editors on three continents will be dedicated to The Times’s core mobile apps, including Apple Watch, 24 hours a day.”
Furthermore, if a particular story strikes the interest of the Apple Watch user, they can use Apple’s Handoff feature to read the full article on their iPhone or iPad. Or they can tap ‘save for later’ so they can read the whole article at a more convenient time. We think the Times imprimatur is a genuine draw for anyone who’s at all interested in current affairs.
Citibank the Only Financial Institution to Partner With Apple Watch
Beyond the news of the world around them, personal banking details are another thing that’s top of mind for many people, and wrist notifications might be something that really turns them on, financially-speaking. The Citi Mobile Lite App will enable Citi U.S. debit and credit card customers to view account balances and recent transactions, and will also allow them to receive real-time notifications of credit card transactions at a glance right on their wrist. The app includes transaction alerts that show color-coded visuals of how close users are to their credit limit.
Really, who hasn’t wanted to take a discreet peek at their balance after making a scary-big purchase somewhere? We think this app is a winner.
The partnership is a big step for Citibank too, making their brand more contemporary as they modernize and update the customer experience. Citibank’s Digital and Marketing Officer Heather Cox said that creating experiences for wearables is the start of a broader attempt to deliver more relevant and, more importantly, readily available information to consumers — without making them search for it.
But the weight of their brand brings an instant credibility to the Apple Watch too. If you are already a Citibank customer, this could very well be the app that makes the difference between buying the device or not. It is a classic win-win partnership for both Citibank and the Apple Watch.
What about you? Does discreet and updated personal banking information at your wrist have any interest for you? And if you are a news junkie, doesn’t a New York Times news alert on your wrist have real appeal?