Google and Samsung today announced partnership to take on Apple in the smartwatch market. As part of this partnership, Google and Samsung are combining the best of WearOS and Tizen into a unified wearable platform. With the new wearable platform, apps will start faster, battery life will be longer and you’ll have more choice than ever before, from devices to apps and watch faces.
In this upcoming platform, apps start up to 30% faster on the latest chipsets with smooth user interface animations and motion. You can read about the new features and experiences of this new wearable platform below.
A whole new consumer experience
Managing tasks with your watch is easier than ever with new navigation capabilities.
We’ve made it faster than ever to get things done. From anywhere in the watch, you can access shortcuts to important functions, like switching to your previous app.
Animation demonstrates how to swipe to see new Tiles.
And there are more ways to customize your home screen carousel with Tiles from your favorite apps like Calm, Sleep Cycle and Flo. You can easily choose what information you want at a glance, and which actions you want to have just a swipe away.
The best of Google on your wrist
Google Maps and Google Assistant are being redesigned and improved. Google Pay will also be redesigned and add support for 26 new countries, beyond the 11 countries currently available. YouTube Music will also arrive on Wear later this year, equipped with features like smart downloads for subscribers to enjoy music while on the go.
Health and fitness tracking is essential for wearables. With the latest Wear update, we welcome Fitbit’s many years of health expertise to the experience. The best of Fitbit, including features like tracking your health progress throughout your day and on-wrist goal celebrations, will motivate you on your journey to better health.
More and better apps
New apps for Wear are arriving on Google Play.
We are also making it easier for our developer community to build great apps (including new Tiles!) for the platform, and reach millions of consumers all over the world through the Google Play Store.
New tools, like a Tiles API and a watch face design editor built by Samsung, make it a breeze to develop new experiences on wearables. New and rebuilt apps from developers like Strava, adidas Running, Bitmoji and many more are coming to the platform. For a glimpse at what’s in store, watch this behind-the-scenes look at how the Spotify team has revamped their Wear app.
