Apple Watch owners who download free apps often find the watch features they want locked behind a subscription, and Engadget has identified five apps whose core wrist functions cost nothing. All five run on watchOS 27, which Apple released in September 2026 alongside iOS 27, macOS Golden Gate and other major OS updates, and they work on the Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2, SE 3 and newer models.
The pattern is common. Spotify's free tier will not play anything from the watch and only lets users control music playing on another device, while Pocket Casts puts standalone watch playback behind its $39.99-per-year Plus Plan. Hiking route planner Footpath places watch features in a paid tier, and Komoot requires new users to buy Premium before sending a route to a device. The App Store notes that apps marked Get rather than with a price can still include in-app purchases.
Pedometer++ is a free option for step tracking, made by indie developer David Smith, who redesigned the watch app for version 8 in April. Core features at no cost include a running step count, watch face complications, and starting and tracking indoor or outdoor walks, runs and hikes from the wrist, all syncing with Apple Health. A Premium tier costs $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year for watch maps, offline maps for workouts, Live Activities on the iPhone lock screen and Expedition Mode, which Smith says cuts constant heart rate tracking to extend battery life by up to 40 percent. The free version shows ads.
Nike Run Club has no paid tiers or in-app purchases, and its watch app has tracked runs without a phone since 2019. It offers Nike's audio-coached Guided Runs, always-on stats, live pace charts, streak badges and a Nike watch face that moves with the wearer. A 2026 update lets cellular Apple Watch users share their live location during a run. Bevel turns data the watch already collects into daily recovery, sleep, strain and stress scores, the kind Whoop provides through bands whose cheapest subscription is currently $199 per year. Bevel made most of that free in December 2025 and also offers nutrition tracking, strength training logs, cycle tracking and a journal. Bevel Pro adds an AI health coach, health records, a biological age estimate and training plans for $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
Overcast provides standalone podcast playback and cellular streaming on the watch, supported by non-intrusive ads for other shows with an optional subscription to remove them. A single developer maintains it and rewrote the watch app from scratch last year, adding Double Tap for play and pause, Smart Speed and Voice Boost. Streaming over cellular drains battery faster than Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and weak signals and speaker playback also use more power. Shazam appears as a separate watch-only app called Shazam Music Recognition, developed by Apple, free with no in-app purchases and requiring watchOS 11 or later, with history syncing through iCloud. All five can be installed from the App Store on the watch or through the Watch app under My Watch and Available Apps.
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