Spotify gets official Apple Watch app

The long-awaited Spotify app for the Apple Watch is now live. It’ll give Apple Watch users an easier way to navigate the app as well as make it easier to connect to other devices via Spotify Connect. It’ll let you play or stop music and podcasts, skip tracks, rewind a podcast by 15 seconds, favorite tracks, and access music playlists and other recently played tracks. You’ll need to have the latest version of Spotify (v.8.4.79) to gain access to the app. But you may or may not have access to it just yet as the company says it’ll be rolling out in the coming week. You can also expect features, like playing music and podcasts offline, at a later date.

Audible is now available on Apple Watch

Audible is now available on Apple Watch. Audible is releasing an update to the Audible App that will allow Apple Watch users to enjoy Audible directly from their devices. This is made possible by Apple’s new operating system, watchOS 5.  

With the new update, watch users can sync Audible books from their libraries to their watches; play Audible books on the go via Bluetooth; and control playback from the watch face – as long as they have downloaded the latest version of the Audible App. Most significantly, this means that users will no longer need to carry their iPhones with them to access any of this functionality as it will work directly from the Apple Watch.

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Need a new Twitter client for the Apple Watch? Try Chirp

After Twitter pulled its official app for Apple Watch, Australian developer Will Bishop saw this as an opportunity to develop a third-party client for the social network on Apple’s smartwatch. Twitter has not taken kindly to third-party clients so we won’t know how long this one will be up. But for now iOS users have Chirp as an option. This lets users quickly reply to Twitter notifications, browse your timeline, catchup on trends, view people’s profiles, and many more. You can customize the app’s interface too by toggling on or off different elements like Images, Retweet Counter, Like Counter, Retweet & Like Buttons, and Timestamps. This will show you what you want to see and help declutter the Watch’s tiny screen.

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Apple quietly kills off Modern Buckle band for the Apple Watch

Apple has a habit of quietly killing off products and the latest one to get the axe is one of the original Apple Watch bands: the Modern Buckle. While still available in the UK online store, it’s disappeared in the Canadian one. According to Engadget, the last time the Modern Buckle was seen on Apple’s online store was back in March. If you try to click on a search result link that leads directly to the band’s listing, you’ll get a redirect that says, “Looking for something? We thought so. However, the product you’re looking for is no longer available on apple.com. But we do have similar products to show you."

The Modern Buckle was available for the 38mm and retailed for $149. This limitation and mid-range price might have affected the decision to discontinue the product. But if you’ve been eyeing it, now might be time to start scouring online before it disappears completely.