Apple Watch App Development

Steven F. Daniel

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781785886362
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Programming Mobile Devices
• Index: Computer Science

Build real-world applications for the Apple Watch platform using the WatchKit framework and Swift 2.0

About This Book

• Find out how to download and install the Xcode development tools before learning about Xcode playgrounds and the Swift programming language
• Discover everything you need to know about the WatchKit platform architecture, its classes, as well its limitations
• This book introduces you to the very latest mobile platform with hands-on instructions so you can build your very own Apple Watch apps

Who This Book Is For

This book is for developers who are interested in creating amazing apps for the Apple Watch platform. Readers are expected to have no prior experience of programming.

What You Will Learn

• Navigate within the WatchKit interface using the page-based, modal, and hierarchical navigation techniques
• Work with context menus to allow your users to interact with the Apple Watch and respond to their actions to perform a task
• Use the MapKit framework to display a map within the WatchKit interface to track the user's current location
• Build effective user interfaces for the WatchKit platform and integrate iCloud capabilities to synchronize data between the iOS app and the WatchKit UI
• Design your apps for the Apple Watch platform by adhering to the set of User Interface design guidelines set out by Apple
• Reinforce image caching to display animations within the Apple Watch user interface
• Explore WatchKit tables, which allow your users to purchase groceries and pay for them using Apple Pay
• Analyze the new layout system to ensure that your Apple Watch apps work with various screen sizes

In Detail

Wearable are the next wave of mobile technology and with the release of Apple's WatchKit SDK, a whole new world of exciting development possibilities has opened up.

Apple Watch App Development introduces you to the architecture and possibilities of the Apple Watch platform, as well as an in-depth look at how to work with Xcode playgrounds. Benefit from a rapid introduction to the Swift programming language so you can quickly begin developing apps with the WatchKit framework and the Xcode Development IDE. Get to grips with advanced topics such as notifications, glances, iCloud, Apple pay, closures, tuples, protocols, delegates, concurrency, and using Swift Playgrounds, with each concept is backed up with example code that demonstrates how to properly execute it. Finally, discover how to package and deploy your Watch application to the Apple AppStore.

By the end of this book, you will have a good understanding of how to develop apps for the Apple Watch platform, and synchronize data using iCloud between the wearable and the iOS device.

Style and approach

This book takes a step-by-step approach to developing applications for the Apple Watch using the Swift programming language and the WatchKit UI. Each topic is explained in a conversational and easy-to-follow style.

Apple Watch App Development

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Table of Contents

Apple Watch App Development

Credits

About the Author

Acknowledgements

About the Reviewer

www.PacktPub.com

eBooks, discount offers, and more

Why subscribe?

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Downloading the example code

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. Introducing the Swift Programming Language

Registering as an Apple developer

Getting and installing Xcode development tools

Introduction to Xcode playgrounds

Introduction to the Swift language

Variables, constants, strings, and semicolons

Variables

Constants

Strings

Semicolons

Numeric types and conversion

Booleans, tuples, and string interpolation

Booleans

Tuples

String interpolation

Controlling the flow

The for…in loops

What's new in Swift 2.0

Error handling

Binding

Protocol extensions

Summary

2. Understanding Apple Watch

Introduction to the WatchKit platform

Introducing the WatchKit application architecture

Introducing the WatchKit application life cycle

Introducing the WatchKit classes

Limitations of the WatchKit platform

Apple Watch Human Interface Guidelines

What's new in watchOS 2

Watch faces

Photos

Time-Lapse

Time travel

Nightstand mode

Activation Lock

FaceTime audio

Social features

Summary

3. Exploring WatchKit Controls

Building the Guessing Game application

Using Interface Builder to create the watch user interface

Adding our user interface controls – text and labels

Creating Outlets to our Interface Builder objects

Creating Actions that respond to user actions

Building and running the Guessing Game application

Summary

4. Using the Core Location and Watch Connectivity Frameworks

Creating the navigation tracking application

Building the Watch Tracker application – iPhone

Adding and removing annotation placeholders

Handling requests for background location updates

Building and running the Watch Tracker application

Building the Watch Tracker application – WatchKit

Limitations of using Core Location within watchOS 2

Using Interface Builder to create the Watch Tracker UI

Creating the Outlets for our Interface Builder objects

Creating an Action event to handle our map zooming

Using Core Location with the WatchKit extension

Communicating between the iPhone app and the WatchTracker WatchKit extension

Integrating the Watch Connectivity framework – iPhone app

Integrating the Watch Connectivity framework – WatchKit extension

Building and running the Watch Tracker application

Summary

5. Navigating Around in WatchKit

Building the Health Monitor application

Understanding page-based interfaces and navigation

Understanding modal interfaces and navigation

Understanding hierarchical interfaces and navigation

Integrating the HealthKit framework to handle updates

Integrating the HealthKit framework – iPhone app

Building the Health Monitor application – WatchKit

Creating the profile details interface controller's WatchKit class

Creating the Outlets for our Interface Builder objects

Creating an Action event to handle our Start Monitoring button

Using HealthKit to obtain heart rate and pedometer information

Using HealthKit to obtain biological personal information

Building and running the Health Monitor application

Summary

6. Implementing Tables within Your App

Building the Shopping List application

Setting up and provisioning your app for Apple Pay

Configuring our Shopping List app to work with Apple Pay

Understanding the WatchKit table object

Building the Shopping List application – WatchKit

Creating the table row interface controller's WatchKit class

Configuring our product table row controller class

Creating the product class structure to hold product items

Creating the ProductsList property list

Populating our WatchKit table controller with row information

Responding when a row has been selected within our table

Running the Shopping List application – WatchKit

Handling payment requests with the PassKit framework

Building and running the Shopping List application

Summary

7. Adding Menus to Your App

Introduction to gestures and the menu interface

Understanding WatchKit context menu gestures

Understanding the WatchKit context menu interface

Design considerations for WatchKit context menu icons

Understanding the default WatchKit context menu actions

Adding a menu to our Shopping List application – WatchKit

Establishing the WatchKit context menu connections

Design considerations when using Taptic Engine

Learning how to integrate Apple Watch haptics within an app

Running the Shopping List application – WatchKit

Summary

8. Incorporating the Glance Interface in Your App

Introduction to working with WatchKit glances

Understanding the glance controller life cycle

Adding a glance to our Shopping List application – WatchKit

Creating a glance build scheme for our Shopping List app

Creating the glance interface controller WatchKit class

Configuring our glance controller using templates

Establishing glance interface controller connections

Storing information to show within your glance controller

Displaying information within your glance controller

Understanding the glance interface guidelines

Running the Shopping List application – WatchKit

Summary

9. Incorporating Notifications within Your App

Working with WatchKit notifications

Understanding the notification controller life cycle

Configuring the notification scheme for our Shopping List app

Adding Action buttons to your dynamic notifications

Responding to actions within your custom notifications

The difference between static and dynamic interface controllers

Configuring our Shopping List app's dynamic notification controller

Establishing our notification controller connections

Configuring a category for our static interface controller

Scheduling notifications with your notific...

Table of contents

• Apple Watch App Development