WRAL News App Now Supports Apple Watch

The WRAL News app from the Capitol Broadcasting Co. CBS affiliate in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., has been upgraded to push content to the Apple Watch.

WRAL News app users can access breaking news and headlines via the Apple Watch by updating their existing app to include the watch extension. They can also view the DUALDoppler 5000, 7-day and hourly forecasts at a glance.

In August, research firm IDC reported the shipment of 3.6 million Apple Watch units in the second quarter of 2015. These figures suggest that the watch has sold more units out of the gate than the iPad or iPhone signaling a growing interest in wearable devices.

“We’ve seen significant growth in our iOS apps across Apple devices since we first launched in 2008, and we’ve remained dedicated to providing our audience with richer, more engaging user experiences as behaviors and technology have shifted,” said John Conway, WRAL.com general manager. “Making WRAL News wearable is a major milestone in our overall digital strategy.”

WRAL was the first TV station to live stream to mobile devices in December 2007 and launched the first local TV news app for the iPhone one year later. The organization released an updated app for Apple and Google mobile devices in February to make it easier to customize the user experience, comment, access live video streams, interact with push alerts and engage with location-based weather content.

“Our goal is to make it easy for our audience to get the breaking news and weather information they count on anytime, anywhere,” said Jake Seaton, WRAL.com digital product manager. “The watch is designed to make notification more seamless than ever, and in breaking news situations, every second counts. We’re thrilled to expand our mobile suite to include the Apple Watch.”

The WRAL News app is available for free to iOS users here. Users who already have the WRAL News app installed should be prompted to download an update, which will include the Apple Watch update. Users must have the Apple watchOS 2 to access the application.

WRAL News is also now accessible in Apple News, a news aggregating app available for iOS 9 users. To add WRAL News into their Apple News feed and Favorites, users can search for “WRAL” and tap the plus symbol.

Additional free iOS and Android apps, including the WRAL Weather, WRAL Sports Fan, High School OT, Out & About and WRAL TechWire apps, can be found in the app stores and on the WRAL.com mobile download page here.