Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Android Wear 2.0 watches can be updated via the Google Play Store

Kyle Wiggers
By

android wear
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
Smartwatches aren’t like smartphones. They’re a bit smaller, of course, but they also don’t tend to receive as many updates. Take Google’s Android Wear for instance: Nearly a year went by before the search giant rolled out Android Wear 2.0, the newest version, to watches that shipped with Android Wear 1.0. But if Google has its way, such delays will now be a thing of the past.

On Tuesday, Hoi Lam, a wearables developer advocate at Google, highlighted a key new feature of Android Wear 2.0: Incremental updates. Smartwatches that are running now get bug fixes, feature enhancements, and other improvements delivered via the Google Play Store, Google’s one-stop software shop.

Recommended Videos

The first of such updates went out in early October, Lam said, and added third-party chat app support to Wear’s Contacts app, made the Google Play Store easier to find for new users, and reduced the touch sensitivity of the watch face selection screen. More are on the way.

Related

“With Android Wear 2.0, new features can be delivered through the Play Store, when the Android Wear app on your watch is updated,” Lam said in a Google+ post. “The aim is to publish more timely improvements between OTAs […] Hope you like them and more to come in the coming months.”

That bodes well for future Android Wear releases, which historically haven’t been timely. The reason? Bugs. Android Wear 2.0, which was unveiled in fall 2016, was pushed back to early February 2017. But when the promised launch window rolled around, only four smartwatches — the Moto 360 Sport, LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, Asus ZenWatch 2, and ZenWatch 3 — got the new firmware. Google chalked the delay up to unforeseen software problems.

Even when development goes smoothly, though, smartwatch manufacturers still have to implement support for individual watches’ buttons and sensors. And some insist on adding custom watch faces, apps, menus, and other complications, which takes more time.

With any luck, incremental updates will help turn things around more quickly.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Kyle Wiggers
Kyle Wiggers
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
Google wants you to know Android apps aren’t just for phones anymore
Person holding Samsung Galaxy smartphone showing Google Play Store.

When most people think of the Google Play Store, the first thing that comes to mind is smartphones. However, the spread of the Android ecosystem is far broader than that, and Google is taking steps to increase awareness of this and make it easier for folks to find apps on the Play Store for their smart TVs, watches, and even cars.

In a blog post today, the Google Play team announced three significant changes that should make it easier for Android fans to discover apps for all their devices, right from their phone. This includes recommendations of apps for non-phone devices, a search filter to focus on only games optimized for non-phone devices, and even a remote install feature that will let you deliver those apps to your Android TV, Wear OS watch, or Android Automotive-equipped car.

Read more
Play ‘spot the difference’ with Google’s new Play Store logo
Google's redesigned Google Play logo.

Google Play, the app store where you likely get most of your Android apps, has turned 10 years old and to celebrate the anniversary, Google has thrown out the old logo and given the online store an entirely new one. Well, when we say “entirely new,” we may be pushing it a little, as the new Google Play logo is still a multi-colored triangle resembling a traditional play button, so don’t expect a huge change.

New Play logo (left) and old Play logo (right) Image used with permission by copyright holder

Read more
Google Play Store now offers third-party app payments, but only for some users
The Google Play store icon on an Android phone.

Google will now open up its Play Store as a result of the European Union's Digital Markets Act, the company announced today. Now, any developers distributing apps or games in Europe (the European Economic Area, to be precise) will be able to sidestep the Google Play billing system with no penalty. The change comes after a similar push in South Korea.

"As of today, Google will not remove or reject updates of non-gaming apps from participating developers for offering alternative billing systems for EEA users. Google Play’s billing system will continue to be required for apps and games distributed via Play to users outside the EEA and for games distributed to users within the EEA. We expect to expand billing alternatives to developers of gaming apps for their users in the EEA, in advance of the DMA's effective date," Google's Estelle Werth, director of EU Government Affairs and Public Policy, said in a blog post.

Read more