Google has announced several new features coming to its smartwatch system, Wear OS. The firm has thus presented a new interface for the Play Store, the arrival of Deezer and an offline version of Google Maps.
Samsung may have presented, on Wednesday November 10, its two new connected watches under Wear OS, the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, we are still expecting a major announcement in this area by the end of the year. .
Indeed, Google must present, in the fall, its very first connected watch, the Pixel Watch. This will of course include the Android publisher’s own operating system for connected watches, Wear OS.
Precisely, while we expect a presentation of the Pixel Watch in September or October, at the same time as the new Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, Google seems to be slowly preparing the ground by further highlighting its operating system. for wearables.
As reported by the site 9to5Google, the Mountain View company has indeed unveiled, during the launch of the new Samsung watches, some new features to come for its system. New features that will benefit both owners of watches from the Korean manufacturer and those of the future Pixel Watch.
A modified Play Store, the arrival of Deezer and offline maps for Google Maps
Among the new features planned, we can mention a redesign of the Play Store for Wear OS. This will be the second major change to the interface for connected watches on the Play Store after a major graphic update deployed in July 2021. The new update announced on Wednesday by Google will make it possible to better highlight app selections, see the hottest ones, and get user-based recommendations.
Google also took advantage of the event to announce some more than welcome additions of features and applications. This is particularly the case with music streaming applications. If Spotify or YouTube Music were already offered for Wear OS watches, this will also be the case for Deezer and Soundcloud, which are scheduled to be rolled out later this year.
Still in the area of applications, Google has announced the arrival of a particularly practical function for Google Maps: downloading offline maps. It will no longer be necessary to have your smartphone with you or to take advantage of a 4G compatible watch to be able to navigate on a Google Maps map on your watch. Google’s mapping application will allow you to download the maps in offline mode to be able to consult them later. There too, Google announces that this function of Google Maps for Wear OS will arrive “later in the year“.
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