Google Pay and Messages updates are coming to existing Wear OS watches



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The smartwatch news today has been dominated by the new wearable devices powered by Samsung’s Wear OS 3, but Google wants you to know that it hasn’t forgotten about smartwatches running Wear OS 2. Updates to Google Pay, Messages, and other third-party apps will be coming to current devices in addition to Wear OS 3, giving existing owners something to look forward to as they roll out over the coming weeks.

For starters, Google Pay support for contactless payments from smartwatches expands to 16 new countries: Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway , Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, and United Arab Emirates. It was previously possible to use Google Pay from smartphones in these countries, but not from smartwatches.

Next, Google says its Wear OS Messages app will have improved performance so you can easily use it without taking your phone out. The messages will be synced with your paired phone so that everything happening on your wrist is always updated in your pocket.

Finally, there are also “new experiences” on the way to third-party apps like Calm, Komoot, Period Tracker, Sleep Cycle, Spotify and Strava. Google says “many” of these apps will include support for Tiles, Google’s visible widgets that deliver quick snippets of information from supported apps.

In addition to Google’s existing Wear OS 2 operating system, these features will also be incorporated into upcoming Wear OS 3 watches. Here they will be joined by a new YouTube Music app, with support for offline downloads, and an app. Google Maps redesigned.

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