Google opens the back door: Android smartwatches are facing great innovation
Owners of an Android smartwatch will have more freedom of choice in the future. The new update to Wear OS 3 makes it possible to use alternative assistants – for example Samsung’s Bixby. On the other hand, Google had previously blocked. The recently announced collaboration between Samsung and Google appears in a new light.
When Samsung and Google announced in May that they would do a common cause for smartwatches in the future, it was a minor sensation – after all, the South Koreans had developed and expanded their own Tizen operating system for years. So why, asked many observers at the time, is Samsung switching to the Wear OS camp so suddenly? At least one reason should now be known.
Alternative assistants land on Android smartwatches
Smartwatches based on Wear OS 3 will in future be much more open to adjustments by manufacturers. This also includes the Integration of alternative digital assistants on the clocks (source: 9to5Google). If owners of an Android smartwatch previously had to use the Google Assistant, in future they will have greater freedom of choice and can also use alternative assistants if they wish. In the case of Samsung smartwatches, that would be Bixby, for example.
So far, Google has strictly prevented such major manufacturer adjustments that go deep into the system. The US group wanted to create a uniform user experience and that Avoid the chaos that has always prevailed on Android smartphones.
It is still unclear whether alternative assistants are generally allowed – including Amazon’s Alexa – or only the alternatives to the Google Assistant, which are provided by the Manufacturers of the smartwatches come themselves.
Do you need a smartwatch? In this Video let’s show you what to look out for:
Samsung’s focus is on One UI
Such adjustments are likely to have been a condition of many that Samsung dictated Google to abandon its own Tizen platform and instead use Wear OS on its smartwatches. The Galaxy Watch 4, which celebrates its debut on August 11th, is also advertised by Samsung as the “One UI Watch”. Wear OS 3 may be the basis of the watch, the However, Samsung’s focus is on its own user interface and the seamless integration with your own smartphones.
