Apple has now opened the floodgates and is letting all developers submit Watch apps to the App Store. This means any of the 1.2 million apps can now submit updates including Watch apps (using the WatchKit framework), beyond the select partners Apple rolled out last week.
As a reminder, Watch apps come bundled as extensions inside normal iOS apps. This means customers can update the apps in the iPhone ready for the Watch’s release on the 24th. Apple is pointing developers to the submission reference guidelines for more information on this process.
Apple Watch integration can consist of rich notifications, glances (analogous to Today view widgets on the iPhone) and WatchKit apps, which can offer a wide range functionality. However, the iPhone must be paired to the Watch for these third-party apps to run. A native SDK, which does not have this limitation, is expected later in the year.
Just this morning, we saw Apple Watch updates rolling out from companies like the New York Times, Uber and Flipboard. Expect many more of these updates to begin rolling out soon, once Apple approvals them, now that anyone is allowed to submit Watch extensions.
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