In September of last year, Apple presented its vision for smartwatches. Since then, the Cupertino giant has maintained a nearly hermetic radio silence, but the news always finds a way to escape. The release of the iOS 8.2 beta 4 has revealed the existence of a Companion App for the Apple Watch, which includes functions aimed at customizing the home screen and configuring alerts, among other things.
We still have doubts about the Apple Watch, we won't deny it. We know most of its specifications and know that there will be great flexibility when choosing models, but it is still Cupertino's first adventure into smartwatches and/or wearable devices. Over time we have learned to suspect any product considered "first generation", and the name Apple automatically causes expectations to be high. The reality is that the tablet market is cooling down, and with eight generations of the iPhone in the same number of years, let's say we find it a bit harder to be surprised. In short, what many expect is that the Apple Watch becomes the company's next star player, but first we need to know a bit more about the software that will accompany the watch.
The Companion app
The first details were exposed with the publication of the iOS 8.2 beta 4. Basically, the official name of the app is "Companion", and those with access have discovered a healthy number of switches to control multiple aspects of the watch. First, Companion allows you to customize the home screen on the Apple Watch. Remember all those dots that represent apps? Well, Companion has a virtual view that enables organizing apps with just a couple of moves. It also includes the Monogram function to stamp one to four initials on the watch face, the ability to track company actions (already available in Glances), and resources to respond to messages either in dictation mode, direct audio, or with predefined messages. The folks at 9to5Mac spent some time with the app.
Accessibility tools will allow the Apple Watch to read the text appearing on the screen, and will offer parameters to reduce transparency, modify the balance of the audio, disable animations, or present text in bold. On the security front, the Apple Watch supports a four-digit PIN, which will be required each time the user wants to pay with Apple Pay, and adds the option for the watch to erase all device information if someone enters the wrong PIN ten times. All arrows point to March as the launch month for the Apple Watch, and its initial price is said to be around $349.
