You only install the new Google Maps and YouTube Music on the new Wear OS 3

New versions of applications Google Maps a YouTube Music pre wear OS owners of smart watches with an older version of this system will probably not be pleased. According to the portal 9to5Google you will only install them on the latest system Wear OS 3, which so far only uses new watches from Samsung.

The need for a new version of Wear OS was confirmed by Google itself at the beginning of the month

Google announced earlier this month that Google Maps and YouTube Music will require the latest version of Wear OS. However, there were still reports that at least YouTube Music could be installed on a watch with an older version of the system in an unofficial way. Portal 9to5Google unfortunately, he has now refuted this assumption.

An attempt to install YouTube Music on an older Motorola Moto 360 watch failed

Its editors first extracted the new YouTube Music from the Samsung Galaxy Watch4 to an APK file and then tried to install it on an older Motorola Moto 360 watch. Unfortunately, the installer showed them an error message explaining why this is not possible. The new YouTube Music application requires an API level of the system at level 30.

This means a system built at least on Android 11 and higher. The latest Wear OS 3 is built on it, while the previous version is built on Android 9.0 Pie (API Level 28). If someone hopes that the application can be modified in some way for an older version of Wear OS, they will probably be disappointed. A well-known mobile security analyst and Android enthusiast refuted it on the social network Twitter @linuxct.

Needless to say, Google Maps is one of the most useful tools and a necessary navigation application on Wear OS. For YouTube Music, the situation is a bit different, as there are alternatives to the new version of Spotify. Fortunately, it also works on smart watches with an older version of the Wear OS system.