I would like to give a hint to the user, that my iOS app supports the Apple Watch.
So I would like to link/open the Apple Watch companion app from within my iOS app, very much similar to opening the Settings App using ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL: [NSURL URLWithString:UIApplicationOpenSettingsURLString]];)
This shall enable the user to directly navigate to the Watch companion app to setup my app for the watch.
I could not find any URL which would open the companion app in general or specific to a section of the companion app.
If direct linking is not supported, I am also interested in alternative approaches for this use case.
Thanks in advance!
EDIT:
I checked the WatchKitSettings Info.plist file in the simulator to see if it registers any URL schema, but it does not.
I guess it's not possible to programmatically launch the watch companion app from iOS. The opposite way would be possible: to launch the iOS app in the background upon receiving a message from the watch. See WWDC talk Introducing Watch Connectivity.
You could check WCSession.defaultSession().watchAppInstalled and ask the user to launch the app if it is true.
Previously, it was not possible to launch the WatchKit App from the iPhone app, but the iPhone app could be launched—only in the background—with the openParentApplication method.
As of WatchOS 2, however, it is now not possible for either app to cause the other to launch. Instead, there are new methods for queueing changes to be picked up when the other app is launched in the future.
One partial solution for your use case could be displaying a local notification which could be tapped to open the watch app. The primary flaw in such an approach is I do not believe there is a way to limit this notification to the Watch only, so it would also appear on the iPhone where if tapped it would bring the iPhone app to the foreground. Messy if implemented like this, and therefore not worth it I'd have thought, even if it could pass app store review.
Related
In an iPhone app, it's easy to check whether a user has Background App Refresh enabled for an app with UIApplication.shared.backgroundRefreshStatus (documentation here).
For Apple Watch, a user can go into either the Watch app on iPhone or the Settings app on Apple Watch and go to General > Background App Refresh and turn it off for specific apps or all apps.
Is there an equivalent to UIApplication.shared.backgroundRefreshStatus or some other way that I can use to determine if the user has disabled Background App Refresh on Apple Watch for my app or all apps?
You can't (iOS 13.6.1, Watchos 6.2.8)
The method for registering background app refresh:
scheduleBackgroundRefresh(withPreferredDate:userInfo:scheduledCompletion:)
does not give an error if Background App refresh is disabled for the specific app and for all apps. And there's no other way
I am making an independent Apple Watch app (but with a companion iPhone app which is not necessary for the watch app to function.)
The app uses WatchConnectivity to sync data between devices if iPhone companion app is installed. I am able to call session.updateApplicationContext() on the iOS app and receive session(didReceiveApplicationContext) on the Watch app. But going the other way is not possible. I always get an NSError code of 7018 which means the iOS companion app is not installed.
I have made sure both watchOS and iOS app are installed in simulator (and tested on my actual devices, iPhone 11 & Watch series 5.) But getting the same failed results from watchOS -> iOS.
I noticed there is a new WCSession instance variable available for watchOS 6.0+ isCompanionAppInstalled. When I read this variable after my WCSession is activated on my watch app, it always return false.
Is there anything else I need to look out for? I am thinking maybe there is something I did wrong in all the different info.plist. But I have checked them multiple times.
my info.plist files:
In my watch app:
WKWatchKitApp is YES
WKCompanionAppBundleIdentifier is com.abc.myapp
In my watch extension:
App can run independently of companion iPhone app is YES
NSExtension
WKAppBundleIdentifier is com.abc.myapp.watchkitapp
NSExtensionPointIdentifier is com.apple.watchkit
iOS app bundle identifier is com.abc.myapp
watchOS app is com.abc.myapp.watchkitapp
watchOS app extension is com.abc.myapp.watchkitapp.watchkitextension
Is there anything else I might be overlooking?
Thank you very much for any help/insight you can offer into this.
Ok. I found a way to get rid of the error and have the watch connectivity work from watch to iPhone.
Originally I wanted the watch app to be independent so in the watch extension target in Xcode, the check box "Supports Running Without iOS App Installation" is checked. But as soon as I uncheck this box, WCSession.isCompanionAppInstalled returns true and error goes away. Syncing from watch to iPhone starts working.
So hopefully this is not intended behavior and will soon be fixed by Apple. (I filed a bug report.) But for now, I am just going to leave the independent watchOS app unchecked because I do want WatchConnectivity in case iPhone app is installed by user.
Thank you for reading and good luck with your programming.
If you have "App is only available as a standalone watchOS app" in Info.plist, delete it even if it is false. Leave only "App can run independently of companion iPhone app". Also don't forget to set "WKCompanionAppBundleIdentifier" for Watch App (not extension). At least it works on real device for me with these parameters.
This seems to be a bug. Sometimes when I start my WatchOS app, it gets WCSession.isCompanionAppInstalled = false all the time, even though the companion app on the iPhone is running, and other apps are able to communicate with the phone.
This seems to go away when I force-restart the app on the watch (press side button, then swipe the app to the left and press the big red button, then start the app again). After the restart, everything seems to work fine.
This has happened only on Testflight builds so far. If it happens in production builds, I'm going to file a bug.
My iOS app will not launch in the Simulator if I uncheck "Supports Running Without iOS App Installation".
I would like to give a hint to the user, that my iOS app supports the Apple Watch.
So I would like to link/open the Apple Watch companion app from within my iOS app, very much similar to opening the Settings App using ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL: [NSURL URLWithString:UIApplicationOpenSettingsURLString]];)
This shall enable the user to directly navigate to the Watch companion app to setup my app for the watch.
I could not find any URL which would open the companion app in general or specific to a section of the companion app.
If direct linking is not supported, I am also interested in alternative approaches for this use case.
Thanks in advance!
EDIT:
I checked the WatchKitSettings Info.plist file in the simulator to see if it registers any URL schema, but it does not.
I guess it's not possible to programmatically launch the watch companion app from iOS. The opposite way would be possible: to launch the iOS app in the background upon receiving a message from the watch. See WWDC talk Introducing Watch Connectivity.
You could check WCSession.defaultSession().watchAppInstalled and ask the user to launch the app if it is true.
Previously, it was not possible to launch the WatchKit App from the iPhone app, but the iPhone app could be launched—only in the background—with the openParentApplication method.
As of WatchOS 2, however, it is now not possible for either app to cause the other to launch. Instead, there are new methods for queueing changes to be picked up when the other app is launched in the future.
One partial solution for your use case could be displaying a local notification which could be tapped to open the watch app. The primary flaw in such an approach is I do not believe there is a way to limit this notification to the Watch only, so it would also appear on the iPhone where if tapped it would bring the iPhone app to the foreground. Messy if implemented like this, and therefore not worth it I'd have thought, even if it could pass app store review.
I want to know if there is anyway to keep my WatchKit app running in the background, or if I can possibly program it to launch (i.e. transfer from inactive state to active state) once a certain condition is fulfilled?
My app is running perfectly while the WK App is open and active, and it even runs fine when the iPhone is asleep, or when the parent iOS app is in BG mode. However, I really need my app to continue running in the background on the watch itself. Is this possible?
Not possible. Because Apple Document for watchkit clearly mentions that "WatchKit extensions do not support background execution modes,they run only while the user is interacting with the corresponding app on Apple Watch.".
You can refer apple document Link to Apple Doc
Read Communicating Directly with Your Containing iOS App.
Can we show some static UI in the watch when iPhone is not reachable to AppleWatch?
Suppose I forgot my iPhone at car seat , and when I move from car, Is it possible to shows some static UI in AppleWatch that you forgot your iPhone?
From an Apple evangelist on https://devforums.apple.com/thread/254576?tstart=0
The end result is that if iPhone is unreachable, the app will not
function. There is not a way to currently cache information to keep it
alive or seemingly so.
Actually you don't have to do anything. I noticed on the real Watch, that Apple will present a default "iPhone unavailable" screen in case the iPhone is out of reach. Similarly, Apple will also present a default "flight mode" screen when the Watch is in flight mode :) . See attached screenshots.
In WatchOS 2, it is now possible to have a WatchKit App that runs on the Watch when the iPhone is not accessible.
Previous answer:
It is clear from Apple's public statements and the WatchKit API that third party developers do not need to manage the connectivity between the watch and the phone, and indeed cannot even if they want to.
Given Apple have publicly indicated that Watch app interactions are expected to be measured in seconds, not minutes, and that developers need to assume that their Watch app could be quit at any time (and the associated WatchKit extension) it seems highly likely that there will not be any option to present static content in the event of the phone being unreachable—as the Watch OS will immediately take over the process of interacting with the user.
It seems almost certain that this will change later in 2015, given developers have been told there will be an SDK to develop 'fully native' apps at that time.
Technically speaking you could start off the app storyboard scene with static content. if the phone is unreachable, then this scene will be displayed. But as soon as your app, whether programmatically or by user interaction attempts to use anything from the WatchKit Extension, a spinner will appear.