Apple Watch Arrives: Over 3,000 Apps For New Smart Watch Available; Here Are 5 You Should Download First

Apple will begin shipping its highly anticipated Apple Watch on Friday to consumers who had pre-ordered the device. After the latest Apple smart watch reaches consumers, they will have thousands of apps to choose from as the company launched a new app store for the device on Thursday.

The new App Store for Apple Watch includes more than 3,000 apps, up from the 1,000 mentioned by Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this month. The number of Apple Watch apps currently available for the device is massive, given that users, including most developers, are yet to get their hands on the device.

The Apple Watch app store has a variety of app collections in several key categories, including family, travel, health and fitness, creativity, work and communications. There are other categories which include get started, quick-fix games, what's nearby, get the score, learning on the go and savvy shopping, CNET reported.

The Apple Watch apps, developed by using an Apple-supplied toolkit called WatchKit, are merely extensions of the iPhone apps, rather than self-contained. However, this would change as more features are introduced to the smart watch, making it more independent of the iPhone, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Here's a list of five apps worth downloading as soon as you get hold of the new Apple Watch:

Dark Sky

The Dark Sky app can provide weather information for a particular location up to an hour in advance, with stats on wind, humidity and visibility. Users can also see a 24-hour timeline of weather conditions for the next five days.

Evernote

Evernote for Apple Watch allows users to quickly dictate notes, view recent notes, perform searches and set reminders. Users can also see content related to an upcoming meeting.

Twitter

According to Apple, the 140 characters fit nicely on the Apple Watch screen. Users can easily glance at their news feed, retweet or 'favorite' posts directly from the watch. Users can also compose tweets on the device using the voice dictation feature.

Citymapper

Citymapper shows the fastest routes to a particular destination. Based on the user’s current location, the app provides step-by-step instructions for catching the nearest bus or train, and lists the next three arrivals so users can choose when to leave. The app uses the device’s haptic feedback functionality to tap users’ wrist to let them know that they have reached their stop.

PayByPhone Parking

PayByPhone Parking app sends a notification 10 minutes before the meter expires, allowing users to add more time without having to go back to their car.

The Apple Watch is available in 38 different combinations, with prices ranging from $349 for the aluminum Apple Watch Sport to $17,000 for the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition. Users will need to have an iPhone 5 or a newer version for the phone to run the latest smart watch.