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Why E*Trade jumped at new complications functionality for Apple Watch

With results for E*Trade?s Apple Watch application showing that the most popular features require the least navigation, the company quickly jumped at the opportunity to leverage the new complications functionality. 

Complications are small elements on the watch face that provide quickly access to frequently used data, with users able to customize the face to install the ones they want to see. Apps can add support for complications and display app-specific data, which is what E*Trade is doing in its updated app for the Apple Watch. 

?The complications update will bring investors even closer to monitoring the investments that matter to them,? said Kunal Vaed, senior vice president of digital channels at E*Trade Financial. ?Being able to keep an ever-watchful eye on one?s portfolio is critical to our customers, and now they can access market data with a wrist turn.  

?And one tap on the E*Trade complication leads you directly to the app, where investors can view account, portfolio, and watch list summaries, as well as visual snapshots of market indices and core metrics such as volume and performance,? he said. 

?From there, handoff functionality allows users to seamlessly transition from the watch to the phone for a more in-depth experience and additional information.?

As the wrist turns
Apple?s Watch OS 2 operating system, which was announced during the summer, got a firm release date this week of Sept. 16. 

One of the new features in Watch OS 2 is complications, which enable developers to deliver information more seamlessly, a key benefit given the small screen size on smart watches. 

E*Trade is planning to launch a new version of its Apple Watch app that takes advantage of complications with an eye toward delivering the most relevant, timely information to users as seamlessly as possible. 


The new app builds off of usage data for its current Apple Watch app that suggests the most popular watch features have the least navigation. 

Information that matters
E*Trade introduced its Apple Watch app this spring, providing essential market data in an engaging and simple format to help investors and traders keep a watchful eye on the markets and their portfolios (see story). 

The company has seen its customers quickly embrace new Apple functionalities as they look to stay on top of the fast-moving stock market. 


For example, an E*Trade executive at the 2015 Mobile Marketing Association Forum New York revealed that 45 percent of the company?s daily users leverage its iOS 8 biometric security function, enabling users to sign into their account by pressing their finger against an identification button (see story). 

?While still in somewhat early days, adoption [of the E*Trade Apple Watch app] has been encouraging,? Mr. Vaed said. ?Our research with customers shows unambiguous signals: First, the most popular Apple Watch app features are those with the most seamless navigation; and second, glances are popular because they deliver portfolio information to customers with a simple swipe. 

?The development of complications functionality builds off of this research, allowing us to more quickly connect customers to the information that matters most to them,? he said. 

Final Take
Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Marketer, New York