Something to look forward to: One problem with the Apple Watch has always been its dependance on the iPhone. Since Series 0, the device has been inextricably tethered to the phone. Even with the introduction of LTE connectivity starting with Series 3, the watch is still dependent on the iPhone for app purchasing and installation. That may soon change.
Bloomberg reports that anonymous insiders with Apple have revealed that Cupertino is working on adding a native App Store to Apple Watch. The current method of purchasing watch apps involves installing iPhone companion programs to your phone, which automatically add the corresponding app to the watch.
Programs and utilities that you already use on your iPhone, such as Spotify, make sense to have a counterpart app. However, for other apps that you may only use on your watch, having an unnecessary iPhone companion taking up storage space is not ideal.
The sources say that having the store on the watch would allow users to install apps straight to the watch, bypassing the phone altogether --- similar to Google Play on Wear OS.
The possibilities for watchOS developers would be wide open. Alternatives to some of Apple's native iPhone/Watch apps like Stopwatch and Weather would begin popping up. Original third-party watch-centric apps would also start making an appearance and improving without the devs having to worry about an iPhone-compatible counterpart.
The insiders also said that Apple is working on native apps for the watch as well including new health applications, a version of Books to play audiobooks from your wrist, and a calculator, which should bring a smile to the face of anyone who owned a watch calculator in the 1980s.
The sources did not have a timeline for when this would all come together, but it should be unveiled at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference. September seems a likely release window for anything announced at the WWDC since that is when Cupertino traditionally likes to launch big updates. We will have to wait and see.
The 2019 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference starts on June 3 and goes through June 7. Be sure to follow our coverage here.