The WatchBench (TM) app from Alpha Software® lets you build working prototype apps for Apple Watch using just an Apple iPhone and knowledge of the JavaScript language. It is designed for use by mobile architects and others interested in experimenting with writing custom apps and testing them on Apple Watch.

While unlike "real" apps built in native code, which are installed separately on an iPhone or Apple Watch, and have a wider range of object layouts and position customizations on the screen, WatchBench prototypes are much more than simple screen mockups or wireframes. They can be working code that interacts with real, remote data services, have working buttons and menus, and can, given appropriate attention to visual design, look quite polished.

WatchBench projects may be constructed quickly. The API provided to your JavaScript is powerful and concise. What may take many lines of native code can often be accomplished with a few lines of JavaScript calling WatchBench functions. There is extensive documentation built into the WatchBench iPhone app, including sample projects as well as boilerplate function calls and data structures.

See the About section of the support website for videos of WatchBench in action.

This was created by Dan Bricklin, Chief Technology Officer of Alpha Software. Dan is best known for co-creating VisiCalc, the pioneering spreadsheet program back in 1979, as well as Dan Bricklin's Demo Program in the mid-1980's. More recently, he is the author of the popular Note Taker HD app for the Apple iPad. Alpha Software is known for its innovative development and deployment products, including Alpha Anywhere.