Survey reveals which Apple Watch apps most popular, new Apple Music subscriber data

The results of a Wristly survey published today reveal a new look at Apple Watch behavior among early adopters and adds some insight into how many Apple Music users plan to subscribe after the 3-month free trial. The survey is the latest in a continuing series and captures responses from more than 1,300 people, Wristly says, marking its largest pool of participants yet. In it, Wristly shows what apps Apple Watch users are using most often, what type of apps they enjoy most on their wrist, plus how many participants also own an Apple TV. Also interesting is the crossover between Apple Watch users and interest in Apple Music.

In terms of specific apps, the survey found that Dark Sky, Fantastical, and Overcast top the most popular choices among Apple Watch users that responded. Dark Sky offers hyperlocal weather forecasts, including alerts for up-to-the-minute precipitation reports. Apple Watch includes a built-in weather app, but Dark Sky compliments it in functionality. Runner-up Fantastical offers Apple Watch a streamlined calendar with reminder features, while Overcast fills the missing podcast app space.

While Dark Sky, a weather app, tops this app list in this week’s results, Wristly also notes that weather apps in general are said to be most popular among early adopters. Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned during the company’s last quarterly earnings call that social apps including Twitter and Line are popular on the platform.

The survey also learned that media consumption isn’t exactly popular in the Apple Watch’s current form. Most users never consume videos sent via iMessage, view synced photos, or playback music, although Wristly rightly predicts that syncing photos will likely be more popular with watchOS 2.0 when personal photos can be used to create watch faces. The app landscape is also set to change when Apple Watch apps gain a lot more access to the hardware and become less dependent on the connected iPhone version.

Other tidbits included in the survey include some 77% of participating Apple Watch owners also owning an Apple TV. This is not surprising as both are more niche devices than the iPhone, for example. Wristly asked the question as a method to gauge participant bias rather unscientifically. Finally, the survey learned that over half the participants plan to pay for Apple Music after starting the 3-month free trial period. Another 35% answered that they were undecided while 1 in 10 of the responding Apple Watch owners said they would not pay.

Apple said at the beginning of the month that 11 million trials have started for Apple Music so far, later adding that only 21% of trial users have stopped using the subscription music service. Apple has since kicked off a new wave of advertising for its new service.