Your WearOS smartwatch just got a very useful Google Maps upgrade
- Google Maps on Wear OS gets new directions for public transport
- Google Wallet passes are finally available on Wear OS
- OnePlus Watch 2 pioneers a new battery-saving notification system
If you own a Wear OS smartwatch, Google has just unveiled some new goodies heading to your wrist – including a handy new Google Maps feature to make your travels a little smoother.
Announced at MWC 2024, where watches like the OnePlus Watch 2 and Xiaomi Watch 2 also appeared, the new public transport directions for Google Maps on Wear OS let you see the departure times of your bus, train or ferry right on your wrist.
Previously, when searching for a destination on Google Maps on Wear OS, only driving, biking, and walking options were displayed. But now you not only get phone-free public transport routes, Google Maps also gives you compass-driven directions to your destination.
This isn’t the only update Wear OS just received at MWC 2024. Google has also finally made Wallet Passes – including things like boarding passes, gym memberships, gig tickets, and loyalty cards – available on Wear OS watches.
While this is something Apple Watch owners have had for years, it does mean that Wear OS watch owners can finally see all the tickets they’ve added to their Google Wallet on their wrist, including the QR codes that are scanned upon entry .
Finally, as reported by The edgethe new OnePlus Watch 2 is pioneering a new under-the-hood notification system that could dramatically improve the battery life of future Wear OS watches. OnePlus’ new wearable is the first to offload notification processing to the watch’s microcontroller unit (MCU), instead of the application processor (AP).
According to Bjorn Kilburn (vice president of Wear OS by Google), this means owners can see and dismiss notifications without involving the AP, allowing it to stay asleep and extend battery life.
As we noted in our OnePlus Watch 2 story, this, and the fact that the Watch 2 contains two chipsets, each with a separate operating system, means that the battery will reportedly last 100 hours.
That’s pretty impressive considering that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, which currently tops our best smartwatches guide, only lasts about 40 hours per charge. And according to Kilburn, other Wear OS watchmakers will be able to use the OnePlus Watch 2’s battery-saving trick.
A sign of things to come?
Wear OS has been something of a rollercoaster ride since it was announced (as Android Wear) almost a decade ago in March 2014. Although it started off well, Wear OS has seemed to be a bit abandoned by both Google and smartwatch makers in recent years.
Fortunately, it is now experiencing something of a revival. These new features may not be earth-shattering, but they show that Wear OS is still being maintained and upgraded. And the arrival of new watches, especially from OnePlus and Xiaomi, shows that it is not just Samsung and Google that are keeping the company afloat.
The downside is that Wear OS is still a pretty inconsistent experience. The OnePlus Watch 2 remains one of the few smartwatches with Wear OS 4, with even recent alternatives such as the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro running Wear OS 3.5.
Last month we also saw Fossil announce it’s discontinuing smartwatches, which wasn’t exactly a convincing endorsement of Wear OS and its ability to compete with the Apple Watch. Still, at least we don’t see Samsung diluting its potential further with Tizen-powered smartwatches, and hopefully these new Wear OS updates are just the start of some bigger upgrades to come in 2024.