Best Free Apple Watch Productivity Apps to Use in 2025

Do you know you can turn your Apple Watch into a smart gadget that does more than tell time? Gone are the days when the Apple Watch was simply a companion to the iPhone. Now, you can explore its App Store to access the best productivity apps online.

From calendar timers to wellness apps and reminders to travel tools, you can find all you need right on your Apple Watch. Besides, with the new Apple iOS update, there’s no better time than now to use the watch to maintain a healthy lifestyle, improve your productivity, and enjoy non-stop entertainment.

However, with millions of third-party apps, selecting the one to download can take time and effort. Not to worry! We’ve explored multiple best productivity apps and have streamlined the list. These Apple Watch apps are better suited for automating tasks from your wrist. And guess what? They’re all free to use. 

Let’s get right into the best Apple Watch apps in 2024!

How to Add Apps to Your Apple Watch

Depending on your Apple Watch version, there are two ways to add apps to it. For the Apple Watch Series 5 or earlier, you’ll need to get apps via the Watch app on your iPhone. With watch Series 6 and above, you can add apps through the Apple watch’s native store.

How to add apps to your Apple Watch from your iPhone

Follow this guide on how to use and add apps to your watch:

1. Go to the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Click “My Watch Tab.”
3. Navigate to the bottom of the screen. There, you’ll find the “Available Apps section,” showing a list of iPhone apps you can install on your watch.
4. Click “Install” on your preferred app to add it to your Watch.
5. After installation, the app will appear on your Apple Watch and move to your iPhone’s “Installed On Apple Watch” section.

How to add apps to your Apple Watch via the app store

Follow these steps:

1. Hold the digital crown on your Apple Watch face to launch the app store.
2. Click the “App Store” icon, and if prompted, press “Continue.”
3. There, you’ll see multiple Apple Watch apps. At the top of the screen, click the search feature to filter the available apps easily.
4. Tap your desired app for download. 
5. Once you select the “Download Arrow,” it will install the app to your Apple Watch. In most cases, it’s essential you enter your Apple ID account and password to download apps.

9 Best Apple Watch Apps to Improve Productivity in 2024

Whether you’re looking for apps to help you organize your to-do list, track fitness, or get a new watch face, this list covers it all. Here are must-have apps for productivity to enjoy the best of both worlds:

1. Todoist: Best to-do list app

Todoist is an excellent management app that helps you stay on top of every task you need to complete daily. With it, you can harmonize your work and social life. Its simple user interface lets you view tasks by order of importance. For example, you can use Todoist to create different lists for your home, work, email, errands, long-term objectives, specific projects, or anything you need to keep track of. 

An outstanding highlight of the app is that it makes collaboration easy, as it integrates seamlessly with tools like Gmail, Slack, and  Outlook. Using its voice dictation, you can tick completed tasks off your list and view deadline reminders on your watch screen. In a nutshell, Todoist is a replica of a hand-written list, but one that requires you to glance at your wrist to prioritize tasks. 

Top features:

• It provides users with customized templates for different kinds of to-do lists.
• Syncs across all Apple devices in real-time
• Reminders and notification pop-ups
• Uses intuitive everyday language recognition
• Centralized team billing

2. Strava: Best Apple Watch App for Fitness

Do you want to take your fitness journey to the next level? Strava is the workout app for you. Instead of checking your phone every second to track your workout and monitor your heart rates, it lets you record your runs, cycling, and swimming data on your watch. 

It comes with an in-built GPS. So, you can rely on its distance results. This feature also allows you to go to the gym without your iPhone. You can view your pace, mileage, and heart rate data using the app. 

Top features:

• In-built GPS
• The cellular version lets you pick calls and stream music on a run.
• Tracks over 30 sports, including yoga, cycling, and running
• Real-time location sharing
• Performance metrics

3. Google Maps: King of Travel Apps

If you’re conversant with Google Maps on your iPhone, you can also use the watch version of the app.  It’s designed to give you directions to ensure you arrive at your destination on time. Different from how it displays the map when you use the iPhone app, it provides step-by-step instructions and alerts to ensure you don’t miss a turn. 

Hence, all you need to do is look at your wrist for guidance. The app also allows you to select your navigation mode, such as bicycle, walking, car, or subway. You can use Google Maps independently if you have a cellular network on your Apple Watch.  

Top features:

• Real-time location tracking.
• Set route options.
• Provides Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA)
• Buzz prompts
• Navigation guides

4. Autosleep: Champion of sleep apps

One of the best Apple Watch apps for improving productivity is Autosleep. It offers a surefire way to perform excellently daily and get enough rest. This app tracks how long you sleep, your heart rate, restlessness, and more. All you need to do is wear the watch to bed, and you’ll get your sleep analysis by morning. 

What’s more? The app also functions without you wearing your watch to bed. You can wear it immediately when you wake up to let the app know you’re up. Autosleep works excellently on Apple Watch models 5 or higher.

Top features:

• Smart alarm
• Advanced sleep metrics
• Calibration accuracy
• Valuable sleep trends
• Live sleep tracking

5. Headspace: Best Apple health app

Headspace is an app on Apple Watch designed to improve your mental wellness. It’s all about helping you regain mindfulness and reduce stress. You’ll find it particularly useful for meditating, staying motivated, and detoxing. 

With the app, you can start your day by reading short stories or expert advice for inspiration. Using your health data, Headspace triggers its SOS feature to call for help. Undoubtedly, this feature will come in handy whenever you’re stressed or anxious. The app’s subscription costs about $12.99 monthly, so we advise you to use its free trial to see if it’s a good fit for your overall well-being and wrist.

Top features:

• Focus exercises
• Sleepcasts
• EAP services like coaching, therapy, and psychiatry
• Mindfulness tools
• Meditation sessions

6. Fantastical: Best calendar app

Fantastical is one of the top Apple productivity apps for Macbook, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. This calendar app lets you add events, view upcoming entries, and read appointments. Unlike the native Apple calendar, you only need to dictate your event, like “dinner at Subway by 5 pm,” and the app interprets and inputs it.

Besides, Fantastical allows you to optimize your watch face with complications. In other words, it changes your Apple Watch interface, allowing you to view tasks, alerts, and reminders for events that most matter to you. You can integrate it with tools like Google Meet, Zoom, and Hangout for better use.

Top features:

• Integrates excellently with Google Meet, Zoom, and Hangout
• Customizable watch complication
• Natural language input
• Quick templates from existing events
• Event reminders

7. Spotify: Best music/podcast app

Since Spotify is one of the best apps for iPhone in 2024, it won’t hurt to have the free version on your watch. It lets you access various podcasts, songs, and albums right from your wrist. With it, you can use Siri to adjust volumes, control playbacks, and skip tracks without needing your phone. If you can’t download Spotify, Apple Music is the best alternative. However, it doesn’t have a free trial period, so you’ll need to pay for its subscription.

Top features:

• Playlist creation
• Excellent audio quality
• Save music for offline listening
• Audio customization
• Recover deleted playlist

8. Watch Face by Facer: Best Apple Watch App interface for customization

Are you tired of how bland your watch face is? Watch Face by Facer is the best app for you. The watch features over 10,000 collections of original brand designs to make your Apple watch more appealing. You’ll appreciate this app on Apple Watch if you need a way to customize your watch face personally. It offers a free plan to access several designs, but you’ll need to pay for its subscription to get more options.

Top features:

• Integrates with health app
• Provides several original designs
• Automates Apple Watch face changes
• Customizable watch faces and complications
• Simple UI

9. Spark: King of email apps

Spark app is one of our favorite email clients for Apple Watch. It works excellently on small screens and integrates with your calendar. Using the app, you won’t need to worry about your most important emails getting lost in the inbox. 

Spark focuses on email management, letting you sort personal emails and newsletters by category. It features sizeable buttons that blink whenever you get an important email. With it, you can decide whether to snooze, reply, delete, or archive any email after reading it.  The app sends a reminder for messages you snooze once you’re at your work desk.

Top features:

• Big notification buttons
• Smart email sorting
• Collaborative tools for sharing and discussing emails
• Quick replies
• Snooze messages

Tips to Improve Your Productivity at Work

The day is almost over, and you realize you’ve barely completed most of your tasks. And you wonder what the problem could be? Here are productivity tips you can incorporate into your schedule to feel more accomplished. They include:

• Create a simple to-do list
• Break your tasks down into manageable and bite-sized milestones
• Make time block frames in your schedules
• Create a workspace that makes you motivated to work.
•  Use a calendar app to keep track of deadlines and meetings
• Avoid distractions like social media notifications, personal phone calls, and email pop-up banners. 
• Give yourself breaks to avoid burnout.

Frequently asked questions

What technology will Apple Watch use in the future?

The next generation of the best Apple Watch models will have a refined look with several health widgets. In 2024, users can use the Apple Watch to monitor blood pressure and detect sleep apnea. Besides, Apple offers features to notify users of hypertension whenever it’s detected.

Which running apps drain the Apple Watch the most?

If you use Apple’s iPhone or the Apple Watch Ultra, you will likely struggle with fast battery drainage. Now, every native Apple Watch app can affect your battery. Luckily, the following tricks can help you increase your device’s usage:

• Use power-saving mode
• Free storage by deleting unnecessary apps
• Adjust display settings
• Disable location services
• Turn off the background app refresh

What is the best shopping list app on Apple Watch?

Grocery is among the best shopping apps to use. It makes your shopping experience smarter and more seamless. The app lets Siri chip in grocery items you may need from the market. This way, you get a list of recipes and household items essential to stock up your pantry for later use.

Try the Best Apple Watch Apps 2024 Today!

You can download thousands of apps on your Apple Watch to improve productivity. It’s 2024, and watches have become smart devices that do more than tell time. With several amazing apps that let you use your Apple watch properly, you can enjoy endless possibilities from your wrist. From tracking your fitness goals with Strava to enjoying non-stop entertainment with Spotify, these apps make you more productive and push your limits.