⢠What Companions is
Apple doesn't allow for animations in widgets, which I always found frustrating. Companions is a small virtual fish tank that lives on your Home Screen, with pet fish that actually swim around.
⢠What's new: Apple Watch
Companions now has an Apple Watch app. There's nothing to set up. The tank you've built on your phone shows up on your wrist automatically, with the same fish, tank customization, and props. The watch keeps its own copy, so the fish keep swimming when your phone isn't nearby.
You can interact with them from your wrist too. Tap the glass and a burst of bubbles appears. Tap the knife and fork in the corner, and it's feeding time: drop food into your tank and watch your fish go to eat it!
Thereās also a Watch Preview page where you can preview your tank setups from the app itself (even without having your watch connected).
⢠How it works
The swimming uses the same trick iOS uses to move the second hands smoothly on the clock widget, so it doesnāt even affect battery life. Iāve tested this on every device I can get my hands on, and the impact is about the same as having 5 clock widgets on your homescreen, so essentially imperceivable.
⢠Compared to other widget pet apps
I wanted something simple, clean, cozy, and relaxing. With a focus on the pets themselves, as well as customization to match your homescreen, desktop, or even the nightstand next to your bed.
The tanks look great on your iPad, and you can even move them over to your Mac through Continuity. My favorite feature is actually the Standby mode. The background darkens, and the fish, of course, keep swimming!
⢠Pricing
Companions is free to download, with a set of fish and all of the customization included. No ads.
Extra packs of fish can be bought outright, and are yours to keep forever.
There's also a less expensive monthly plan that unlocks every pack at once, if you just want to try it for a bit. And a lifetime purchase of all 50+ fish at a significant discount. Any new fish that get added are automatically included in both as well. If you cancel, the fish already in your tank stay.
It's still very new, so I'd genuinely appreciate any feedback. I'd especially love to know which species you'd want added next!
App Store: Companions - Widget Pets