The Apple Watch can do a lot of neat tricks but the one thing it can’t do is offer internet browsing. Until now.
One developer has done the inevitable and tinkered with the Apple Watch OS to enable it to run a web browser. In a video that appeared on 9 to 5 Mac it shows well-known jailbreaker, Comex, prodding around a Google homepage on the smartwatch.
With 38mm and 42mm display sizes there’s good reason why the Apple Watch doesn’t come with a Safari app and this video manages to reinforce that. The webpage doesn’t fit to screen size and shows the user having to scroll a lot to see anything on the postage stamp sized viewing area. So don’t get too excited just yet.
However, despite its rather rudimentary delivery this will excite all the jailbreakers out there as it shows the Apple Watch can run external code giving developers a whole basket of opportunities.
Comex has not released any further details of the hack but an official SDK is on its way later this year so expect lots of new features to be heading to the wrist when that arrives.
Apple Watch: everything you need to know
If you want to know everything about Apple Watch, including UK release date, pre-ordering, delivery times, apps, price and other features, you’ve come to the right place. Scroll down to read our full round-up.
Jump to:
- Apple Watch Release Date
- How to buy Apple Watch
- Apple Watch Design
- Apple Watch Features
- Apple Watch Price
- Apple Watch Apps
- Apple Watch Accessories
- Apple Watch: how to remove a scratch
- Apple Watch: won’t work with tattoos
Apple Watch Release Date: When can I buy Apple Watch?
Apple started taking pre-orders of Apple Watch on 10 April, and sold nearly 1 million units on the first day in the US alone. The first shipments of the device are set to arrive with their new owners on Friday 24 April and it’s still available to pre-order online now. However, current delivery times in the region of two months.
Nevertheless, this may still be a better idea than heading down to the store on launch day, not least because it’s unclear when launch day actually is.
9to5mac noticed the “Available 4.24.15” message had been removed from the Watch section of the US Apple website on 15 April. The same message was removed from the UK site a day later.
Before
After
The same day, French website iGen also published what it claimed was an internal memo from the company’s head of retail to staff, which stated: “Many of you have been getting questions asking if we will have the watch available in stores on April 24 for walk-in purchases. As we announced last week, due to high global interest combined with our initial supply, we are only taking orders online right now.”
“I’ll have more updates as we get closer to in-store availability, but we expect this to continue through the month of May,” she said, adding that Store employees shoud “continue to help [customers] place their order online”.
Apple Watch Release Date: Where can I buy Apple Watch?
If you want to buy an Apple Watch, your best bet is to buy online. While you can currently make an appointment to try on the Apple Watch if you want to see how it looks on your wrist, Apple Stores won’t be stocking the device until at least June.
However, it seems that even buying online doesn’t guarantee you’ll receive your device any time soon. According to Slice Intelligence, a company that measures “digital commerce activity”, only 22% of the 1.7 million Apple Watches pre-ordered in the US alone arrived with customers on the first weekend. Of the remaining 78%, just under 550,000 are expected to be with their new owners between 27 April and 11 June. However, a whopping 38% have no idea when their Apple Watch will arrive.
Where can I buy Apple Watch Edition?
The high-end, high-price, limited edition Apple Watch Edition, which you can read more about on the next page, is available to buy only from Selfridges in London, Galeries Lafayette in France, or Isetan in Tokyo. Given the starting price for this particular model is £8,000, it’s unlikely they will sell out quite so rapidly.
It’s also, according to 9to5mac, a much harder device to return. On taking the Apple Watch Edition back to an Apple Store to return it, a member of the floor staff will visually inspect it to ensure it’s in good condition and hasn’t had any alterations such as engraving. It will then be passed to a specially trained Genius Bar member, who will use special tools including a microscope and gold weight scale “to ensure that no gold has been removed … to be sold on secondary markets”. Once the device has been approved for return, the Store manager is then called to carry out the refund.
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