Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
TL;DR
- At Google I/O 2022, Google announced a bunch of Wear OS news.
- Google Assistant, the return of Google Wallet, and some new Wear OS 3 watches were all discussed.
- A new feature called Emergency SOS is also on the way.
For years, Google essentially ignored Wear OS, the wearable operating system powering smartwatches. However, over the past year, the company has ramped up development for the software in tandem with Samsung, which launched its first Wear OS watch in 2021: the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.
See also: Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
Today, at Google I/O 2022, Google dropped a whole bunch of news related to Wear OS. Here’s what we heard.
Google I/O announcements for Wear OS
- Emergency SOS — If you are in an emergency situation, you might not have the time or mental capacity to take out your phone, unlock it, dial emergency services, and then communicate with someone. With the forthcoming Emergency SOS feature for Wear OS, you’ll just need to hit a button on your watch. Assuming your watch is connected to data through Wi-Fi or a cellular network, it will call emergency services or a friend/family member for you. This service will come to limited areas in 2022.
- Google Wallet — Google also relaunched Google Wallet at I/O 2022. This new version of the app will launch on Wear OS first this year. In the beginning, it will only support payment cards. In the future, though, the new Wallet will be a one-stop-shop for many of your needs. Check out our full write-up of the new Wallet for more.
- More Wear OS 3 watches — As of now, very few smartwatches support the latest version of Wear OS. This year, however, there will be a lot more. Samsung has a new watch — likely the Galaxy Watch 5 — on the way, for example. Google also says Fossil, Montblanc, Mobvoi, and others have 2022 watches in the works.
- Google Assistant — So far, Google’s virtual assistant doesn’t exist on any Wear OS 3 devices. Once again, Google is giving a vague promise of “soon” for Google Assistant on the Galaxy Watch 4 series. When it does arrive, Google promises faster, more natural voice interactions.
- More apps — Google announced that Wear OS versions of the SoundCloud and Deezer apps are on the way this year. It also said “many more apps” are coming soon.
That’s it for Wear OS announcements at Google I/O. For more on the event, check out our full roundup.
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