Smartwatch Apps You'll Want to Try

Here are four quick ways to make your watch more useful for training, task management, travel, and fun

By Allen St. John

July 6, 2023

4 Apple watches each with a different app on the screen (iTranslate Converse, Things 3, Lifesum, and Rules)

From making contactless payments at Starbucks to helping you track down a lost smartphone, today’s smartwatches can do plenty of slick tricks. Here are four popular apps that make your watch even more useful and fun.

Travel: iTranslate Converse

Are you in Milan but your Italian is limited to “Parlo solo inglese”? iTranslate Converse provides real-time translation in more than 30 languages. You speak a phrase into the mic on your watch and the app will say and display the translation.

Find out whether a smartwatch is right for you and if a smartwatch can be as good as a medical alert system.

Organization: Things 3

If you’re ready to venture beyond paper to-do lists, Things 3 takes task management to the next level, turning both long- and short-term projects into satisfying checklists perfectly suited to your wrist.

Fitness: Lifesum

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a personal trainer to help steer you through your daily fitness routine and nutrition choices? Lifesum is the next best thing, with guidance for calorie counting, hydration reminders, and tracking of both your workouts and daily activity.

Fun: Rules

If you want a game app that might also challenge your memory, try Rules, which serves up a series of fun and intuitive—but intriguingly tricky—puzzles that require you to remember and apply a series of Simon Says-style instructions.

Editor’s Note: This article also appeared in the August 2023 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

Allen St. John

Allen St. John has been a senior product editor at CR since 2016, focusing on digital privacy, audio devices, printers, and home products. He was a senior editor at Condé Nast and a contributing editor at publications including Road & Track and The Village Voice. A New York Times bestselling author, he's also written for The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Rolling Stone. He lives in Montclair, N.J., with his wife, their two children, and their dog, Rugby.