Google abandons the old Wear OS app model

At the start of Google’s wearable platform, smartwatch apps were bundled with their phone counterparts. Android Wear 2.0 has moved to a standalone app model as part of the Play Store’s introduction on the device. Google is now planning to ditch this legacy approach from Wear OS apps next month.

With Android Wear 2.0, Google decided to make its wearable devices more independent and able to accomplish tasks without having to use the paired phone. One way to do this is to use a Play Store on the watch which allows you to find and install apps directly.

However, Google allowed developers to continue using the original method where phone app downloads included a version of the watch that would then be transferred to the laptop. Today, this old model of integrated app has “limited visibility” on the Wear OS Play Store.

These apps do not show up in search, cannot be featured in store app clusters, and can only be installed through the “Apps on your phone” section of the Play Store on the watch. Additionally, using the old built-in model adds excessive overhead to the APK that is downloaded to a user’s phone whether or not they own a smartwatch.

Google is abandoning this approach on March 10 when those old Wear OS apps will no longer appear in the “Apps on your phone” section, as shown in the cover image above. By being effectively undiscoverable, end users will not be able to install these applications on the watch, which is the case with some downloaded tools.

Developer Malcolm Bryant first raised this issue today (via Android Police) and noted how “it will become more difficult to install several of my utility apps.”

This means that in order for users to install WearOS apps from outside the Play Store, they will have to go through obstacles such as using ADB over wifi. Most non-technical users won’t mind.

Google advises developers to move to the multi-APK model, while reiterating its “continued commitment and investment in the continued growth of the Wear OS platform” since the day Made by Google announced the acquisition of Fitbit .

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