Reports suggest the Apple Watch could be about to get its own App Store

Reports have emerged this week which suggest that Apple’s hugely successful Apple Watch could be about to get its very own App Store. Initially reported by Bloomberg, it is thought that the change will be imminent. This progression will see an App Store on the wearable device, significantly changing how users download apps to their watch for the first time.

At present, Apple Watch owners can’t directly download from the existing App Store. To install apps to their device, wearers must first download to their iPhone and then can access on their watch. The proposed change would mean Apple Watch users could download directly to their wrist, even if they didn’t have their iPhone to hand or didn’t want to download an app to their phone first, favouring the watch instead as their primary connected device.

Of course, the launch of a dedicated App Store for the Apple Watch would be a watershed moment for Apple – and for developers. The creation of a watch-only store would mean that app developers could create apps specifically for Apple Watch, giving users a totally tailored experience.

Apple are said to have preparations in hand already for the new launch. The company is thought to be working on several dedicated watch apps but is using the iPhone most popular and functional apps as a starting point. Bloomberg suggests Apple is creating a calculator app for example, specifically for Apple Watch. For app developers, this opens up lots of interesting new design examples, given that Apple Watch will no longer be so heavily reliant on iPhone.

The rumours of a dedicated App Store being launched come ahead of Apple’s annual developer conference, which is scheduled to take place at the beginning of next month. The yearly event always brings with it plenty of news and new product unveilings as well as big updates. This year’s conference is expected to reveal details of new operating systems for all Apple devices along with anticipated updates to several of the core apps across iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac and Apple Watch.

The changes to Apple Watch, including the unveiling of the new Apple Watch App Store are a much anticipated part of the conference and expected to be a big focus when it gets underway 3 June. Apple has previously said that it welcomes challenges from app developers as that pushes its own efforts forward - great news if you fancy conquering the Watch App Store in the future!