But Mr. Huff added, “We’re still figuring out how users want to use an app on their wrist.” So far, the Weather Channel has focused on delivering notifications — like lightning alerts — and tracking weather in real time by asking people to confirm with a tap on the wrist that it is raining or snowing where they are. Mr. Huff said the Weather Channel expects to do more with the watch when Apple releases the new version of the watch software in the fall. “We’re really bullish,” he said. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook and produces a photo- and video-sharing app, was also an early adopter, after it concluded that browsing and liking photos were natural activities for those viewing the tiny screen. “The Apple Watch allows us to make the Instagram experience even more intimate and in the moment,” Instagram said in a statement. “We’re excited about the launch of this platform.” Tap Tap Tap, the app studio that makes the photography app Camera Plus, introduced a version of its software for the watch this year. The watch app acts as a remote control to let users use the iPhone camera from afar. John Casasanta, a founder of the company, said it made the watch app for experimental purposes — and he remained skeptical about the device. “I haven’t seen a single thing that makes people say, ‘I have to get this watch,’ ” he said. Apple is trying to make it easier for developers to make more powerful watch apps. The company has released a tool kit for developers that gives them deeper access to the watch’s heart-rate and motion sensors, among other components. The first batch of smarter watch apps will arrive this fall, according to Apple. Even without many of the most prominent apps, owners of the new device appear to like it. Ben Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies, said that based on responses from a panel of 1,000 Apple watch owners who were contacted in the last week, consumers reported high satisfaction with the product and few who had bought the watch had stopped using it. “We have constantly come up with the sentiment that people really, really like it,” Mr. Bajarin said.
Few of the major tech companies have provided apps for Apple Watch users, despite a lengthy gestation period. Neither Facebook, nor Google or Snapchat have launched apps for the Apple Watch platform, with some claiming it's difficult to offer a featureful app with such limited screen dimensions, and Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel commenting "Why would you look at a small picture when you can look at a large one on your phone?".