The first Apple Watch app could launch this month

At some point in April, Apple is going to have a lot of customers walking into stores looking for demos of its new watch device — with that in mind, it makes sense to get at least one fully fledged app ready as soon as possible (and to train staff how to use it). That may be why we’re hearing rumors that Apple is working with some of its biggest partners to get the first round of Apple Watch apps ready by February 12.

The leak comes courtesy of MacRumors, which says that “some high profile app developers and partners” have been asked to get their software ready by the middle of this month. That shouldn’t be out of the question considering we saw some early screenshots of potential apps from the likes of BMW, Starwood Hotels and American Airlines at the launch event in September.

MacRumors speculates that Apple wants to get its staff used to these apps as soon as possible as well as putting the potentially flaky battery performance to the test. These early apps could also be used in presentations or another press event — perhaps to showcase the capabilities of Apple Pay when it’s used with a third-party platform. We’ll have to wait and see, but keep your eye on the iOS App Store over the next couple of weeks.

At this stage most of the questions about the Apple Watch have been answered. Apple has given an extensive overview of its features, the development kit has revealed most of the device’s functionality (there’s even an online demo) and the majority of the wearable’s specs have been published too. We still don’t know the pricing of the various models, except the $349 figure for the cheapest edition.

Expectations for the arrival of the Apple Watch will be higher in the light of Apple’s impressive financial report for the last quarter. The Cupertino company sold 74.5 million iPhones in the last three months of 2014, and if a sizeable portion of those people are interested in an Apple Watch too then Tim Cook could have another hit on his hands.