With the new Apple Watch, which the company showed off at a big press conference last week, it’s clear Apple wants to make it an indispensable tool for travelers that is, travelers willing to shell out $350 for the most basic version, or $10,000 for the 18k gold, top-of-the-line version.
The Apple Watch wants to change the way you shop, talk, exercise, and no surprise — travel. During a keynote presentation on March 9, Apple VP Kevin Lynch demoed a few examples of how users could utilize Apple Watch apps while traveling, such as ordering a Uber car, boarding an American Airlines plane, and unlocking a hotel room door at a W Hotel.
While the Apple Watch and other wearables are still nascent, unproven technology, several top-tier travel-related companies have already announced support. Here’s a look at some of those that will be ready in time for when the Apple Watch goes on sale on April 24. Apple has its own native Watch apps, like Workout and Activity for fitness-tracking, but to install third-party Watch apps, you’ll need iOS 8.2, which is now available as an over-the-air download.
The upgrade has a few new features, including the Apple Watch app, which is where you’ll find the Watch app store. Apple will feature all the apps and games you’ll need to get started when you unbox the Watch—just don’t expect them to be like iPhone apps. “Using Apple Watch during the day is really about brief interactions,” said Kevin Lynch, Apple’s vice president of technology, during Monday’s Apple event.
“Many of these are just a few seconds long.” Watch apps take advantage of Glances, where you swipe up to view information, and actionable notifications, which work similarly to notifications in iOS. For messaging apps like WeChat, that means you can reply by tapping on the notification as it pops up on your Watch screen, which opens the app and lets you reply with text or stickers.
If you need to see information about an upcoming trip, the American Airlines app will display details in the Glances view. Sales force will have business information at the ready, and MLB’s At Bat will show you baseball scores.
TripCase Travel App
Having already launched support for Android Wear, Samsung, and Pebble smart watches, it only makes sense that you should expect TripCase to be among the first travel apps for the Apple Watch, and we aren't going to let you down.Since the Apple Watch was announced, TripCase developers have been hard at work, thinking through the user experience and applying those creative designs to the actual app itself. As we put the finishing touches on the app, the TripCase Apple Watch travel app will be ready soon, and we’re really excited about it! As you can see, with the TripCase Apple Watch travel app, you’ll be able to see your upcoming trip items on your wrist.
Of course, we also want to make it easy for you to take action from the TripCase Apple Watch travel app – you can easily click to open TripCase on your iPhone, use our convenient “Remember This Place” feature, call your airline, travel agent, or hotel directly, or even immediately access our new TripTime widget, right on your watch.
And don’t worry – you’ll also continue to receive the real-time travel notifications that you already expect on your iPhone, delivered straight to your Apple Watch. The TripCase Apple Watch travel app is planned to be available when the watch launches on April 24th. Other Watch apps will try to deliver the same experience as on iPhone, but miniaturized. Instagram will let you scroll through your feed using the digital crown, and you can hail a Uber just as easily on the Watch as on your phone.
We already saw Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ SPG app, which turns the Apple Watch into a hotel room key, but now we know that Alarm.com’s Watch app will let you open your garage door remotely. That’ll come in handy for locked-out kids (and, let’s be honest, adults). Shazam’s Watch app can listen for songs that are playing and display lyrics on your wrist.
The Watch has a few other impressive features we saw at Apple’s Monday event, including Passbook integration so you can scan your boarding passes and concert tickets straight from the Watch face. Apple Pay will also be as easy to use on the Watch as on the Phone, though there’s one extra step involved: You have to double tap the digital crown to bring up the credit card stored on your Watch and then hold your wrist near the NFC terminal.
The Watch sends you haptic feedback, or light pressure, to let you know the transaction is complete. Marriott didn’t unveil many details, but it will have an app ready when the Watch goes on sale. Guests can check in or be notified when a room is ready. Marriott did say it would be the first major hotel company to accept Apple Pay, which Watch wearers can use as a payment method. Marriott International in the App Store
You can’t book flights, but Apple Watch users can use TripAdvisor’s app to find travel-related information such as restaurants and landmarks. Using your location, the app can display things for you to do nearby. We hope it will integrate airline seat maps from SeatGuru into the app eventually. American’s app received a big plug during Apple’s keynote, but the functions demonstrated are pretty much what we can expect from other airlines.
The app notifies you when your flight is about to take off, and gives you real-time info if there are any changes. The app lets you check-in to a flight, shows all relevant details about a flight, displays your boarding pass, and arrival information such as connections and baggage claim. Starwood, the hotel company that owns brands like Sheraton, Westin, and W, goes beyond displaying reservation details. It lets you bypass the front desk completely.
After checking in, the app shows your room number, which you can head straight to and use the watch’s NFC function to unlock the door. If you booked your flight and hotel via Expedia, you can use its Watch app for flight info like gate and departure time, but you’ll still need to use another app for boarding. You can also use it to check in and check out of hotels. Need a car to or from the airport? Like the smartphone app, Uber’s Watch app shows you available cars for hire that are nearby.
It lets you request a car, and it will display relevant information such as a picture of the car and the license plate number, as well a photo of the driver and his/her rating. If you’re traveling to a destination where you don’t speak the local language, Babel’s app might come in handy. Using your location, it displays words that might be useful for that situation.
For example, if you’re at the airport, the app will show words pertaining to that environment, such as “departure” and “luggage,” or foods that might be served as a restaurant. Citymapper is a public-transit app that covers many major world cities, including London, New York, San Francisco, Paris, and Berlin. For its Apple Watch app, Citymapper will use your present location to help you find the quickest route via subway or bus. It even shows you how to get to a station and bus stop, and taps you when you've reached a stop. It’s perfect for getting around unfamiliar cities.
Managing flights
The Air New Zealand app receives flight information, displays boarding passes, and sends notifications like boarding calls. Having your watch ping you when boarding begins could help passengers avoid missing flights, and help airlines expedite the process. The app will also have a countdown clock for flight departure.In Air New Zealand lounges, users can even order coffee from the Watch. EasyJet claims to be the first low-cost carrier to launch a Watch app. The European airline’s app works similarly to Air New Zealand’s, but users can share information about their flights via Twitter and Facebook. They can also peek at info like pre-departure and check-in info, local currency exchange rates, weather at destination, and flight status via Watch’s Glances feature. The app will be available in five languages at launch.
The Apple Watch comes with a “taptic engine” that taps users on the wrist as an alert something Kelly says could turn into invaluable flight alerts for travelers.
"As a business traveler or frequent flyer, the quicker you get alerted to a change, the better chance you have of getting re-accommodated," he says, noting he often misses flight alert texts from airlines because he doesn't feel the phone vibrating in his pocket or, worse, in his bag while going through security.
"So I think having that ability to get tapped right away on your wrist could be a really, really good tool for travelers." American Airlines, for one, has already announced an Apple Watch app that helps passengers check-in to flights and collect bags.
