In spite of its release three years back, not many people have found smartwatches to be as attractive or compulsory as the smartphones. However, the lack of response from the consumers has not stopped the companies from attempting to sell the products to a minor percentage of people who find smartwatches useful.
Google has been in the smartwatch market, alongside Samsung Gear and Apple Watch, since 2014. But, the Android Wear platform is yet to reach the mainstream consumers. To make the smart watch desirable and attractive, Google developed Android Wear 2.0 last year and brought in some updates to the device. The updated Wear 2.0 came with a simplified design, brand new features and new ways by which it can operate without depending on the smart phone.
Smartwatches were designed with an intention to free us from repeatedly looking at our phones. But with time, the watches have proven to be beneficial for tracking health, displaying notifications, and other information like weather updates and upcoming events on its small watch display screen.
Android Wear 2.0 has been updated to provide better fitness tracking experience, automatically detecting workout and exercise schedules, easy and hassle-free access to the notifications, and several other new features. Most of the times when someone is wearing a watch and they do not have any phone in their pockets are the times when they go out for a walk or for working out in a gym. Carrying a smart phone to these places can be burdensome. Android Wear 2.0 ensures that the person does not have to give up connectivity during the times when they do not have the smart phone with them. It lets the consumer receive the notifications, look at a map, make a phone call or send a message through the watch when they are not carrying the mobile phone.
Among several updates and modifications that Android Wear 2.0 received the most noticeable one are as follows:
- The fresh design
- New watch face designs
- Better health tracking
- Better notification handling
- Improved support for Android Pay
- Ability to install applications directly to the watch
The new design is simple and less reliant on hard-to-find signals. Keeping fitness tracking in mind, the Android Wear 2.0 comes with GPS system to track location without the use of a phone. Apps like Google Fit can detect workouts automatically and can even guide the user to use proper techniques.
One can swipe the watch face left or right, and up or down to change the screen for viewing notifications, a list of installed applications. The list of the apps pops up when the main button of the watch is pressed. The familiar “OK Google” command allows the activation of the Google Assistant with the user’s voice. The watch face is customizable.
Earlier, Android Wear had lagged behind Samsung and Apple in the market, but the updated Wear 2.0 has tried to bridge the gap by improving the support for Android Pay.
There is a Google Play Store in the device which allows the user to browse, download, and install applications directly in the watch. It may sound tedious to look up for an app in the tiny smart watch screen, but one can use the Play Store’s website on a PC to install the desired apps to the watch.
There is no doubt that the Android Wear 2.0 is a friendly and easy system to use. Fitness and smart watch enthusiasts may have a lot to discover with the Wear 2.0.
