The partner's Apple Watch Watch Referee app allows NHL strips to keep the focus

A custom Apple Watch app, which was developed by an NHL Channel partner for the National Hockey League referee, included complicated programming and an iterative design process that simplified the use of technology during the games.

Presidio, a technology services and software providers based in New York, created the NHL Watch Comms app. The app provides on-act civil servants-to call the derivations and violations of the reinforcements-with what Presidio has referred to Situation communication. That means Apple watches the app vibrate the synchronization with the game and penalty clocks as the end of a period or a punishment.

“When the NHL spoke to us, they looked for an opportunity to help the officers in the cases where their eyes have to be in two places at the same time,” said Gail Backal, Practical Head of Digital Strategy at Presidio.

For example, on-ice officials must be aware of the music box and at the same time observe the action, says Backal. Similarly, the officials have to keep an eye on the penalty watch and the gameplay. In the latter case, added it, the Apple Watch Referee -App uses the haptic notifications of the phone to help the officials to ensure that a player does not leave the penalty area early – and keeps out of the way when the door opens and the players storm on the ice.

After the app was tested in earlier NHL seasons, most referees and lines use in the current one: According to Presidio, it has an adoption rate of 92.5%. At the beginning of this month, the NHL expanded the use of the indoor arenas app to an outdoor game in the Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

For Channel partners, smartwatch apps are a niche on the market for mobile apps. Smartwatch apps for referees are a niche in a niche: a brief review of the inventory in the Apple App Store found about half a dozen o'clock apps for play officials.