What is a complication on Apple Watch

Apple Watch Complications

Complications are small visual elements on the watch face that communicate important information to the user. The term complication comes from watch making, where the addition of features added complexity to the watch construction. Complications are visible whenever the user looks at the watch face, and users can customize which complications are displayed. The number of slots available for complications on a given watch face varies, but most support at least two or three complications.

Complications provide several opportunities for you as a developer:

• Complications let you show important information in a frequently viewed location, making your app more visible to the user.
• When your complication is on the watch face, your app stays in memory, which reduces the amount of time it takes to launch your app.
• When your complication is on the watch face, your app receives more time to execute background tasks, as described in Background Tasks.

Apple recommends that all Watch apps include a complication, even if that complication only acts as a button to launch the app. For information about complications and how to implement them, see Complication Essentials.