Google Wear update picks up remote app installation and a redesigned Play Store

By Michael Allison Published July 20, 2021

Google rolled out a new update to Wear OS watches today, making it easier to install apps remotely and refreshing the Play Store with an Android 12-style Material You redesign.

Writing in a brief blog post, the company shared that users could now search for Wear-supported apps on the Play Store on mobile. All they needed to do was to add “Watch” or “Watch Face” to a search term when using the Play Store, and Google would serve up apps that support the wearable operating system. This means that you would be able to search up “music apps Watch Face” to surface a list of music apps that support Wear once this update rolls out. A new “Wear OS” and “Watch Faces for Wear OS” page in the Play Store will allow window shoppers a chance to browse for apps that they may not have heard of before. You can then install apps to any compatible watches remotely. Google says that it’ll be pre-selecting devices that support this to make it easier for Wear OS users.

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Google will also be refreshing the Play Store on Wear with a new look based on Material You. This design is said to surface important information in cards, making it comfortable to read relevant information about apps. Both updates will be rolling out to the Google Play Store within the next couple of weeks, as well as to Wear OS devices on version 2.x and above.

Despite being a good quality of life improvement, this update isn’t doesn’t top the list of all the things Google’s planned for Wear OS. Google has been working on beefing up Wear in the past couple of months. At I/O in May, the company announced a refresh for the operating system in collaboration with Samsung. As part of that collaboration, Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Watch and Watch 4 Classic on August 11. These will be the first Wear-powered watches from Samsung, and they look to be the most powerful ones so far. New apps from YouTube Music and Fitbit are also coming. Wear OS may have a rocky present, but it’s slowly getting better.

Michael Allison

Former Mobile News Writer

A UK-based tech journalist for Digital Trends, helping keep track and make sense of the fast-paced world of tech with a…

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