The Odd Thing Apple Banned from the Apple Watch

Developers making apps for the Apple Watch have a new rule: You can’t make a watch app.

Apple had already been rejecting time-telling apps from the Apple Watch App Store, but it finally codified that policy into a formal rule, 9to5mac reports.

What this means in practice is that Apple Watch developers can’t sneak new custom watch faces onto the device. Unlike many competitors, the Apple Watch doesn’t support watch faces made by anybody but Apple. There is a chance, however, that Apple could open up that possibility later this year.

The Apple Watch went on sale April 24, though most models are currently backordered until June. The device, Apple’s first wearable, starts at $349 and goes up to $10,000 and above depending on options. It comes with ten watch face options, each with some customizable elements.

See What's Inside the Apple Watch

The display is carefully removed, revealing the innards of the Apple Watch

iFixit

A plastic tool is used to remove the device’s battery. The Apple Watch sports a 3.8 V, 0.78 Wh lithium-ion battery, which has a life of about 18 hours for general use before needing a recharge

iFixit

The Taptic Engine is the tiny motor that provides force feedback whenever the watchface is pressed or when the user receives a notification. Here, we see that it is attached to the Apple Watch’s speaker

iFixit

The antenna assembly is removed, which likely controls the watch’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality

iFixit

Removing the digital crown bracket is the final step before having access to the Apple Watch’s integrated computer chip, the S1

iFixit

Deep in the Apple Watch’s casing is the S1, the integrated computer chip that gives the device its smarts. It’s extremely difficult to remove

iFixit

At the bottom of the watch case lies the plethysmograph that serves as the Apple Watch’s heart rate monitor. The device may also be able to measure a user’s blood oxygen level, but Apple hasn’t promoted this feature, possibly due to FDA regulations

iFixit

The separate components of the Apple Watch

iFixit

1 of 8

Advertisement

Write to Alex Fitzpatrick at alex.fitzpatrick@time.com.