#wearables

wild pheasant breastbone, copper and 4 leaf clover pendant

New bracelets

Made with assorted secondhand fabric scraps and upcycled materials

Note: content originally published on Ourcana owner and creator, "Heni's" Patreon found here

In secret, for myself as an Apple Watch user, I've been working on a Watch app that allows for systems to manage their fronts in any way Ourcana can, using the key principle of "pickup interaction size" that Apple designs around in their application stack.

Human design upfront

Apple uses Human Interface Guidelines to communicate intent in a non-verbal language to users that want to discover new features in their apps. One of the ideas here is that users pick up smaller devices that are closer to them before using a larger device for a more complex task. It's trivial to ask your AirPods (and Siri) which are the smallest Apple device "play some Jazz". But maybe it brings up the wrong track... If you wanted more options you'd use your watch to open the Music app and scroll through the recent Jazz and suggested tracks, maybe pick something. Then the music plays on the same AirPods in the end, but one used a bigger device. Scale this up to a phone where one actually wants to search up "Take Five" and perhaps get the perfect track for the moment. That's a pain to do on a Watch, and on Siri one has to have the thought perfectly formed ahead of time.

Ergonomic and detailed

The most ergonomic interfaces are those that follow this flow. With the Ourcana Watch app, I wanted to model two key user interactions as easy and valuable

View front, change, front

This means add to front operations on members, or change and remove with granular control

I added timers and indicators for a summary of key information at a glance

Watch Complications will come soon to put primary/secondary/aux fronters or more on display if there is room on larger ones onto watchfaces and widgets, including user-provided images and local data

Search, browse, and manage members

All the Ourcana data is presented in some way in a search interface I've written that models Ourcana's filtering settings, and includes an instant "heuristic" mode that weights fronters that front more often or have fronted more frequently in the last entries of the front logs

All this data is computed and indexed locally and on-device only. Profile pictures are automatically resized and converted to WatchOS-native format, and all markdown and formatting elements in Ourcana's iOS app are redrawn within the WatchOS app in some way. Even fonts and iCloud sync transfer with a paired iOS app. Even without an iPhone, the Ourcana Watch app can use a stored PluralKit token (or in the future an Ourcana server login) to reach out over Wi-Fi or cellular to update front statuses globally online with one tap

Here's a sneak preview!

a member in the app

The same member in front in the Watch app

Descriptions on watch transfer over with best-effort

Custom fields in the app...

Perfectly translated on your wrist

Simple stats and actions with more to come as the app evolves

Availability

The Ourcana WatchOS app will be available on iOS as an in-app purchase. For those interested and who have a need I can create redemption codes to unlock the app for no cost. Stay tuned for a future release of this and other work I've had cooking!

The Princess of Wales learns about pioneering state-of-the-art wearables and brain recording techniques during the launch of "Foundations for Life: A Guide to Social and Emotional Development" at the University of East London on 6 May 2026 in London, England.