If you’ve updated your iPhone to iOS 8.2, you’ve likely noticed you have a new app along for the ride. The Apple Watch Companion app has launched alongside the new version of Apple’s mobile operating system.
As you may have found out, the Apple Watch Companion app is on your iPhone to stay, it’s a default app in iOS 8.2, so get used to having it around. (You can hide it in a folder if you don’t want to see it.)
When launching the app, you are greeted with a time-of-day appropriate greeting. You’ll see rotating images of the Apple Watch, along with a “Start Pairing” button, as well as a handy link to connect to the Apple website to learn more about the new wearable device.
The Apple Watch can pair with your iPhone via a camera-based pairing method. Just lineup the Apple Watch in the viewfinder, and the device pairs automatically. We don’t know how well that works, as we didn’t have an Apple Watch handy to try it out. (We can tell you that it didn’t recognize our Pebble smartwatch. – Ed.) You can also pair the device with your iPhone via the tried and true manual Bluetooth pairing method.
Also available in the app is an “Explore” menu, which features three Apple Watch videos, entitled “Reveal,” “Introducing Apple Watch,” and “Health and Fitness.”
The final menu option is the Apple Watch App Store, where you’ll download and install apps to the iPhone, which will then be automatically pushed to the Apple Watch. Currently, the App Store is “coming soon.”
As mentioned above, the Apple Watch Companion app is part of Monday’s iOS 8.2 update, available over the air on your iOS device, or via iTunes.
