Google Smart Watch Platform, Wear the operating system, he did not receive much love from the company, but honestly, neglect is starting to get ridiculous. Conformable 9to5Google, the new owners of Wear OS watches now have difficulty installing certain applications after the company told the developers that it is giving up its method of installing the application.
Behind little, in 2017 Google changed the way Wear OS users (then Android Wear 2.0) downloaded third-party apps on their smart watches. Previously, smartwatch applications were included in phone versions. But Google then introduced an independent app store at the wrist. The move was meant to make Wear OS watches less dependent on phones to work, but the old method was still an option, so if you wanted, you could find out what applications were installed on your Wear OS clock through Apps on your phone Play Store section.
However, last month Google apparently sent an email to the developers saying that this legacy built-in model would be kaput starting March 10th. Into the e-mail, Google said it removes the built-in legacy application model because it has added excessive swelling to the APK for non-smartwatch users. He also revealed that applications that use this method will disappear from Apps on your phone section and would also be undiscovered on the Play Store at the wrist. Developers have also been encouraged to migrate to the new multi-APK model so that their applications can be discovered and reduce bloating on phone apps.
A The independent app store, on the wrist, is not a bad thing. (Hell, Apple only hugged one with series 5.) However, if you have ever used Wear OS, look for applications that you absolutely know it exists it doesn’t always work the way you want it to. For example, I tried looking for well-known apps like Uber and Google Maps in the Play OS Wear Store, just to be scrolled by the interface. Typing on a small screen is never fun, and depending on what processor your Wear OS watch has, everything can be tiringly slow. It’s not horrible if you only download one or two applications. However, if you set up a new smartwatch, it is a lot easier to get out of the apps you already use on your phone, which also works on your watch. Forcing Wear OS users – especially those who have been loyal to the platform for a long time – to download everything through the wrist is stupid. Forcing new Wear operating system users to do this are setting people to hate the platform or underuse one of the more robust third-party smartwatch app stores.
Besides the inconvenience, the other problem here is that if you buy a new phone and pair your Wear OS watch again, Applications on YOur Pfloor tiles the option will also go down in the night. If the apps you’re relying on haven’t updated to the new way of doing things – and let’s be real, some developers didn’t want to prioritize Wear OS apps – you could be in an upward battle. In at least one case, a user with diabetes resorted to Wear operating system subredditing note that after upgrading to a Pixel 5, they could no longer use the accompanying app for their Dexcom G6 glucose monitor. The application was on their phone, but now there was no way to install it on the watch, after the re-pairing required a factory update. There are solutions, of course, but an ordinary person does not have time for this nonsense.
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This particular example is not great. Dexcom definitely deserves a little warmth because it left Wear OS users in a hassle. After all, Google made email developers, this change was coming, and the task is to keep their applications up to date. However, it is also up to Google to invest in this platform to make it worthwhile.
Google is leading the way here. If you’re an app developer, what does it look like when Google prioritizes one YouTube Music app for Apple Watch over your own platform? Should you feel encouraged to release new versions when Wear OS is barely receiving updates? How about Google being aware of “HGoogle was the trigger for Wear OS Assistant broken for months?
One of the biggest reasons why an Android user opts for Wear OS over Tizen from Samsung (though soon you may not have this option) is a more robust app store, Google Assistant and Google Pay. Two of three of these reasons now come with asterisks. Users should not rely on workarounds or even factory reset their Wear OS watches when upgrading to a new phone. Google had the option here to discover another way, to educate users and the developers of what followed.
As much as Wear OS is the bottom line in the world of smart watches, it would all be better to thrive. But after months of stories like this, does Google really want that?