Facebook’s Parse adds local data support for Apple Watch

Facebook wants to ensure that Parse, its mobile app backend, is the best possible place to run all types of apps. Toward that end, today Parse announced new support for local data storage for the Apple Watch in its iOS and Mac OS X software development kits (SDKs).

Local storage means Apple Watch apps can store data on the watch, just as iOS apps and Mac apps can store data on their respective devices. Parse will help manage all those data stores and keep them in sync.

“This means that your app’s local data will always be seamlessly available and in sync between your app and its extensions as well as Apple Watch apps,” Parse software engineer Nikita Lutsenko wrote in a blog post on the news today.

The addition should be convenient for Apple-centric developers, as more companies start to ship Apple Watch apps.

Many developers have already tried Parse — more than 500,000 apps have been built on it — and this could make it a more compelling choice than other mobile backends.

It’s been possible to move data between devices before, but this announcement is a matter of making the job easier for developers and for consumers. With the updated SDKs, developers don’t need to force users to log in on multiple devices, Lutsenko wrote.

The updated SDKs are available today.