Google’s Android Wear 2.0 platform launching next month
The new OS will bring an on-watch Play Store and support for standalone apps
The next iteration of Google’s Android Wear platform, Android Wear 2.0, looks set to officially launch in early February 2017. As per a report by Android Police, the company has sent a mail to developers notifying them of the launch of Android Wear 2.0. The email notifies developers that the new update has an on-watch Play Store and brings support for standalone apps, which do not require a phone to be connected. Hence, any app that hasn’t been been updated will not show up on the watch’s Play Store after the launch of Wear 2.0.
Google had first unveiled Android Wear 2.0 at Google I/O 2016 and was supposed to launch it later that year. However, the company announced that it had delayed the launch of the platform to early 2017. Last month, Google also said that it plans to launch two new Android Wear smartwatches in the first quarter of this year. This came after Motorola announced that it was not planning on releasing a new version of the Moto 360 smartwatch. It is not yet known if Google will unveiled Android Wear 2.0 alongside the two new smartwatches.