You no longer have to depend on the Internet to provide you with third-party Apple Watch accessories, as the company has started stocking them in its gleaming, glass-covered retail locations.
The first accessory on offer is a minimalist charging dock that will be compatible with watchOS 2’s Nightstand Mode when the firmware update launches this fall.
MacRumors reports that it has spotted ElevationLabs’ NightStand at an Apple Store in North Carolina, where the accessories come packaged in Apple-friendly, minimalist packaging that help it fit in with the first-party fare it’s sharing space with.
The NightStand page on ElevationLabs’ site only shows the dock coming in black, red, and blue, but MacRumors spotted additional pink, green, and white versions that will let you coordinate your Apple Watch’s resting place with any color of Sports Band you might own.
“NightStands are now come in some beautiful new colors & new packaging – available in Apple Stores around the globe beginning today,” ElevationLab says in a blog post. “For any designer, to see something you made out in the wild is a special experience. So today is a real trip for our tiny little Portland company.”
If you don’t want to hunt for your magnetic charger again, stop by an Apple store and pick one up. Premium silicone construction, minimal, locks to your bedside via air suction, and the cord removes easily for travel. And it will be even better with Nightstand Mode coming in WatchOS 2 (we’ve been using the beta version and its a really great/smart/useful feature).
Apple touted the upcoming Nightstand Mode as part of its watchOS presentation at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. It lets the Apple Watch work as an alarm clock and uses a landscape display mode when the device is resting on its side. The NightStand dock holds the watch in this position, which probably helped it score its position in stores.
This is just the latest in Apple’s recent, more hands-on approach with its third-party vendors. In addition to presenting companies with guidelines to make their packaging store-ready, the company is also being more obviously selective about what ends up on its physical shelves to promote current and upcoming features. It recently stopped selling Nest devices at retail and gave its space to its rival ecobee3 smart thermostat, which is compatible with Apple’s HomeKit smarthome framework.
Evan Killham is a freelance writer who lives in Nebraska and isn’t interested in football, so he has plenty of time to play and think about video games. He has written for Bitmob and GamesBeat and sometimes, he even goes outside. But not too often because he’s heard there are bees out there. Occasionally, companies send free units for review. Evan subscribes to Cult of Mac’s Reviews Policy and also does not keep the items he receives for possible coverage.
3 responses to “First third-party watch accessory hits Apple Store shelves”
Very cool! I was just wondering the other day when Apple would start carrying 3rd-party Apple Watch accessories, since they already carry quite an assortment of iPhone/iPad compatible 3rd-party accessories.
Um … why are the watches shown upside-down? Part of the point of Nightstand Mode is to allow the Digital Crown and side button to serve as Off and Snooze buttons for the alarm.
But, all of the marketing images shown here and on the ElevationLab site, show the buttons on the bottom, defeating their intended purpose. Seems a silly oversight, for a product which seems to have had great attention to detail, otherwise.
I have one of these, it works well although a heavy (third-party) watchband can cause it to slip off the charger sometimes when that one is attached.