Learning WatchKit Programming

Book excerpt: Create Breakthrough Apple Watch Apps with the WatchKit Framework With its Apple Watch and WatchKit framework, Apple is challenging developers to build exciting and innovative apps for Apple Watch. iOS developers who master Apple Watch programming now will have the same huge “early mover” advantage that early iPhone developers enjoyed. Learning WatchKit Programming is a complete, hands-on tutorial for all iOS developers who are ready to design and build tomorrow’s hottest new wearable apps. Leading iOS development trainer and author Wei-Meng Lee covers all of the fundamentals of Apple Watch development and the WatchKit API, from application architecture and design to navigation, notification, and glances. Using practical Swift code examples designed for clarity and simplicity, Lee guides you through building apps from the ground up and shows you how to integrate those apps with the iPhone for expanded capabilities. The perfect companion to other mobile development books in the Learning Series, this guide helps you extend your iOS skills to a whole new environment, build apps that solve a new set of problems, and reach millions of people in the new Apple Watch marketplace Coverage includes Getting started quickly with WatchKit and Apple Watch development Storyboarding apps and testing them on the Apple Watch Simulator Mastering Apple Watch’s multiple-screen navigation Building highly efficient interfaces with Apple Watch UI controls Customizing each screen’s look and feel, and passing data between them Responding to user interactions via buttons, switches, sliders, or Force Touch Displaying information via labels, images, or tables Communicating between an Apple Watch app and its containing iOS app Calling web services from Apple Watch Displaying short- and long-look notifications Customizing notifications to display your message’s essence more quickly Implementing glances to give users a faster way to gather information Localizing your Apple Watch apps All of this book’s sample Swift code is available for download at informit.com/title/9780134195445.