Android Wear - Smartwatch

Android Wear is the app that connects an Android smartphone or an iPhone with a Wear OS-based wearable. If you own a smartwatch running Wear OS, you’ll need to download Wear OS.

Design 5/5

Being made first of all for Android, the app looks quite Googlish (even in its iVersion). The interface is watch-centered, letting you see how your watch behaves. Its menu lets you select which notifications to send to your wrist. When it comes to watch faces, the app lets you adjust their settings and displays the changes in real time.

Usability 4/5

When set up, it improves the usability of your watch-and-phone pair, sending anything you need to see to your wrist. Notifications from apps are set up in this app. It also integrates your health data (steps, heart rate, routes, and so on) and shares it with other health apps.

If you are concerned about the way your watch looks, you can select faces for it within the app. Google offers both free and paid watch faces, with various designs and features, sport-, business-, or weather-oriented. Choosing them is possible on the smartwatch itself, but it’s more fun on your phone.

On Android devices, you just need to install this app and complete the pairing using it (not using the default Bluetooth options in Settings!). Then it runs in the background constantly and provides message delivery and fetching data from the watch’s built-in sensors. On an iPhone, you’ll have to keep the Wear OS app constantly running. While providing interaction decently when active, the app loses it when in the background.

Features 4/5

Regardless of your platform, with Wear OS-based watch, you can enjoy the power of Google Assistant. You’ll be able to speak your command to your watch, and the app on the phone does the rest.

The app also lets you remotely control your camera and music player. You will be able to take more than traditional handheld selfies, but those from a distance within Bluetooth range.

In-app purchases 5/5

The app is free, but it lets you access Play Market for Wear OS. Though, in fact, you make your payments right from the watch, with a standalone Market app, the payments are impossible without this app. If you have an NFC-equipped Wear OS device and use it for payments with Google Pay, you’ll also need to connect your card through the app.

The Bottom Line

Android Wear (a.k.a. Wear OS) is a must if you have a wearable with it. Standalone as they are, Wear OS devices, even LTE-powered, are better with a phone. It doesn’t require high performance or the latest Android/iOS version. But we must warn you that the app assumes you only have one wearable, and it has no option of switching without erasing the previous one’s data. If you wear various watches as accessories for different situations, that may be an issue.

• Graphics 5
• Gameplay 4
• Controls 4
• Replay Value 5

Pros

Necessary for connecting Wear OS devices and phones;
Compatible with old devices and OS;
Lets you adjust your notifications;
Fetches health data from sensors;
Offers lots of watch faces.

Cons

Doesn’t work in the background on iPhone;
Fails at switching watches.