Apple now inviting all third-party developers to submit Watch apps to the App Store
on a smartwatch Todd Haselton / TechnoBuffalo : Apple Watch app submissions underway ahead of launch Dave Mark / The Loop : Apple's call for Apple Watch apps, and “a small group of people” Lord Amhran / AppleInsider : Analyst predicts 1M Apple Watches sold over launch weekend, 2.3M by June Joe Rossignol / MacRumors : Apple Begins Accepting Apple Watch App Submissions From All Developers Tyler Lee / Ubergizmo : Analyst Predicts 1M Apple Watches Sold Over Its Launch Weekend Adriana Lee / ReadWrite : Apple Watch Developers Can Now Submit Watch Apps To Apple Chris Barylick / O'Grady's PowerPage : Apple invites Apple Watch submissions from all third-party developers
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple staged the Watch app rollout in waves: it first showcased apps across productivity, health, travel and shopping categories in March, then released a curated first set of partner apps from Alipay, Evernote, Expedia, Line, NYT, Target, WeChat and WSJ before launch. By early April Tim Cook said 1000+ apps had been submitted while access was still limited.
Opening submissions to all third-party developers converts that hand-picked pipeline into an open one — the supply mechanism behind the more than 3,000 apps the Watch App Store launched with weeks later.
First-order effects
- Every registered iOS developer can now ship WatchKit extensions alongside their iPhone apps, ending the exclusivity of Apple's hand-selected launch partners like Evernote and Target.
- Developers are building against a device they largely cannot test on, which pushes first-generation Watch apps toward simple, glance-based interactions rather than rich native experiences.
Second-order effects
- Big-brand apps (WeChat, WSJ, Target) now share shelf space with long-tail indie submissions, forcing differentiation on glance speed and complication design rather than feature count.
- The flood of submissions gives Apple a large behavioral dataset on what works on a wrist-sized screen, feeding directly into the watchOS improvements previewed at WWDC in June.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the Watch becomes Apple's next two-sided platform: hardware sales (analysts projected 1M units over launch weekend) drive developer investment, and app breadth in turn justifies the hardware purchase.
- A successful open-submission model would extend the App Store's gatekeeper economics — review, ranking, revenue share — to a new wearable category before rivals have comparable installed bases.
The trend: Wearables are following the smartphone playbook where launch hardware matters less than how quickly a platform owner opens third-party app distribution.