“Exciting new experiences, right on your wrist.” That was the promise made by Apple’s senior vice-president of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller at last month’s launch of Watchkit, the software development tool for the forthcoming Apple Watch.
Watchkit, said Mr Schiller, will enable developers to build apps that Apple Watch wearers can use to turn off house lights after they have left home, find the latest flight information on their way to the airport or make alternative plans to get there if their train or bus is late. American Airlines has already built an Apple Watch app, as has social-media photo company Instagram.
According to a report from Deloitte, downloads of mobile apps to smartphones and tablets are slowing, but the stream of coming devices could trigger a development gold rush, which is likely to kick-start another phase of the app economy’s development.