How to Create an Apple Watch Complication for an MFi HA for which the smartphone app can also run on the Apple Watch.
My demonstration here is specifically for the ReSound Smart 3D app and involves iOS v14.2 and WatchOS 7.1. But it should work for any other OEM HA MFi smartphone app that also allows you to install a Apple Watch version of the smartphone app on your watch. And it is intended to solve problems like that for the ReSound Smart 3D, which claims to have a “complication” for the Apple Watch but that complication doesn’t show up functionally for me on my Apple Watch.
What is a “complication?!” Essentially, it is a shortcut that can appear on your chosen watch face Home Screen that allows you to launch some aspect of an app (or the entire app itself) by tapping on the complication icon. That way you can avoid extra steps of going to the app list or the docker on the watch to scroll, find, and launch the app. Below is a photo of my current Infograph watch face with a red arrow pointing to the ReSound Smart 3D app SHORTCUT that I created as a complication to launch the Smart 3D app on my watch.
The app won’t quite launch straight away. A confirmation screen zips up with “Run 3D App?” and I just tap on the RUN button to get the app going. It all happens VERY FAST on an Apple Watch 6. The watch has to be connected to your iPhone via BT/Wi-Fi as the watch is essentially serving as a remote control to the iPhone.
Here is a step-by-step illustration of how I created the ReSound watch SHORTCUT complication on my iPhone. It should work for other HA OEM smartphone apps that can be installed on the Apple Watch, too.
On the iPhone, I launch the SHORTCUTS app, tap the MY SHORTCUTS tab on bottom left, and click ALL SHORTCUTS (red arrow) on the screen that comes up.
On the ALL SHORTCUTS screen, I tap the “+” sign in the top right to create a new shortcut.
On the NEW SHORTCUT screen, I tap “Add an action.”
On the ADD AN ACTION screen, I pick the SCRIPTING CHOICE
On the SCRIPTING screen, I pick the “Open App” option.
After choosing the Open App as the Scripting action choice, one will be back on the New Shortcut screen with the Scripting Action added but no app to launch chosen. Click the CHOICES button.
On the CHOOSE APP screen, I scroll down and pick the “Smart 3D” app choice
After choosing one’s hearing aid app (Smart 3D for me), one is back on the New Shortcut screen and one clicks NEXT to configure the Shortcut icon color and name
On the next page, the two arrows point to the locations by which one can configure Shortcut icon color and name. After doing so, click the DONE button at the top left.
The last few steps are to make sure the Shortcut created on the iPhone will also be available on the Apple Watch to use as a “complication.” In the ALL SHORCUTS page loaded from the MY SHORTCUTS tab in the iPhone Shortcuts app, find the shortcut that you created and tap on the “…” menu choice.
On the shortcut details page (3D App shortcut in my case), click the further “…” menu of choices in the upper left.
On your shortcut DETAILS page, make sure the “Show on Apple Watch” option is checked.
I am assuming anyone who wants to do this knows how to add and remove “complications” from an Apple Watch face. Now when you edit complications on a Watch face and want to add the scripted launch of your HA app, under the Shortcuts list for complications, you should find the shortcut that you created and named as above. After adding the shortcut as a complication, you should be able to directly and VERY rapidly launch your HA app from your watch Home Screen.
Creating this tutorial was pretty “complicated” (pun intended). Hope I didn’t omit anything useful.
There is a bit of flakiness in the dependability of the Shortcut complication. Usually it works GREAT! But I went through a period where the the app on the iPhone worked great but neither launching the Shortcut on the watch nor launching the app directly on the watch would connect me to the HA app. Tried rebooting watch, iPhone, HA’s but nothing rescued connecting from the watch. Then after letting everything sit overnight and charging and rebooting my HA’s, the watch app was back to working great. I wondered whether rechargeable HA battery level might be a “complication?!”
The other complication is that it’s supposed to be possible to take Apple Watch screenshots by pressing the crown and side button on the watch simultaneously. Doesn’t work for me. So much for everything with Apple “just works.”
But the Apple Watch Gen 6 with a ReSound Smart 3D app Shortcut as a complication on my watch face Home Screen is astounding. And who knows, maybe I can also create a shortcut (double simultaneous virtual button press?!) to take the Apple Watch screenshots that I haven’t been able to manage manually (all the screen captures above except for a cell phone photo of the watch face were done via the iPhone Shortcut app).