iBeacon and WatchO2: does CoreLocation run from the Watch or the iOS device?

Question

Does WatchO2 CoreLocation run from the Watch or the iOS device?

I have made a sample app using WatchOS 1 and an iOS 8 device and noticed that the CoreLocation data that I was getting from the watch extension to get the proximity with the iBeacon seemed to be deriving from the iOS device (when I get the Watch closer to the iBeacon the proximity data does not change anything, but instead it changes when I get the iOS device closer or further away). However with the introduction of WatchOS 2 I would want to get the proximity from the watch and not the iOS device.

Is this possible in watch os 2?

Answer 1

My understanding is that with the watchkit preview released at WWDC 2015, using CoreLocation to range for beacons on the watch itself is now possible. I have not tested this myself yet, so I will defer to others on details.

Answer 2

Bluetooth seem not to be available directly from the WatchOS 2. So the answer to my question is no due to API limitations.

Please comment if otherwise.

There is the possibility to use the connectivity framework to access the phone data, but it is a different design from the one I was after (direct access to watch BLE hardware)