Spoločnosť Google at its conference this year Google I/O presented news for Slovaks and Czechs as well. We will receive payments Google Pay on a watch with an operating system Wear OS. These were not officially available in our territory (Google Pay only supported Android smartphones), for functional payments it was necessary to bypass the system. There are other news coming.
New Wear OS: Collaboration with South Korean Samsung
System Wear OS from Google is found in a wide portfolio of watches such as TicWatchwhich you can also buy on our website, well-known Fossil models and more. This time, however, Google directly announced cooperation with Samsung in South Korea.
Working together to create a unified Wear OS platform is intended to bring improvements to both sides at three points - battery life, performance and the application ecosystem. Within Wear OS, major visual changes are coming up with new tools for developers (to customize the system). It is also possible that in the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 we will no longer see the Tizen OS, as in the case of its predecessors, but the new and updated Wear OS.
However, Samsung will also benefit from the cooperation, which in particular needs to expand the ecosystem of third-party applications and also needs to attract more application developers so that the Galaxy Watch portfolio can compete with the American Apple.
Extensions already on Wear OS
We don't know much about this news yet. However, one of the disadvantages of the Wear OS system was its versatility, ie the minimal possibility of customizing the appearance and functions. The system thus looked the same on cheap and expensive watch models. This is now changing and manufacturers will be able to customize the user interface or. their superstructures.
For example, Samsung will be able to offer the design and some functions known from Samsung smartphones on its watches, e.g. the Fossil brand can adapt its environment to more expensive watch models. However, it is not yet known how quickly individual updates of these environments will take place.
Wear OS will also bring a new navigation system that will allow you to switch between applications faster than ever before. For example, you can switch to the music player and back very quickly during training. There will also be shortcuts when pressing the physical button twice. Developers will also be able to customize the so-called. "Tiles" to bring key features closer to users with just one click from the home screen.
The performance as well as the smoothness of the system itself will be improved, applications should run up to 30% faster compared to the current version. Last but not least, the partnership with Samsung can also attract new partners for Wear OS such as T-Mobile or At & t (especially for watches containing an LTE connection).
YouTube Music, Google Pay, and other Google applications are up to date
Updating Google applications is also great news. A minor controversy after removing the Google Play Music app will also be resolved. After a slight delay, a new YouTube Music application with offline playback support is now coming to the Wear OS platform. An update to include this app is expected later this year.
However, YouTube Music may not be the right choice for most users. Google finally brings offline playback support for Spotify. However, we do not know the exact date of this update, it will probably arrive later in the year.
Maps from Google in its watch version is also updated. As early as June 2021, the update will improve the environment of detailed instructions within full navigation. Another update, which will arrive later this year, will also bring the possibility of navigation, even without the need for the presence of a smartphone around the watch. However, we don't know more about this feature yet.
One of the most anticipated enhancements is official support for payments through Google Pay. This time it will be extended until 37 new regionsincluding the following countries: United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Austria, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan and Ukraine. We can also look forward to this update during June 2021.
News in the field of Fitbit
After the January acquisition of Fitbit by Google, we can finally see the first functions known from Fitbit devices integrated directly into the Wear OS system. We can look forward to a familiar daily summary of activities, various exercise regimens, hotspots, and alerts for praising you on your goal.
We don't know yet with which application the data will be synchronized between the Fitbit functions in the Wear OS. In the beginning, however, it's probably syncing with the familiar Fitbit app, not the native Google Fit app. However, this is probably a sensible step, given the more detailed features and customization options in the Fitbit app environment compared to the aforementioned Google Fit app.
For developers
The new Fitbit application for Wear OS was developed based on a new health API from Google. With the new Wear OS, Google itself has worked with Samsung to improve the fitness and health sections. The framework of these sections should be more energy efficient and friendly for developers.
Developers will be able to start building applications for the new Wear OS soon. API data will be available in the coming weeks, and Google will also make available an alpha version of the fitness and health API.
Do you like the new enhancements integrated with Wear OS? You can easily write your observations and opinions to us below in the discussion below the article. Follow also our Facebook and also our portal China Planet and learn more.
