New features from Google Play for Wear OS

New features from Google Play will make it easier to discover and download compatible apps for your Wear OS watch.

For the Play Store on your phone, search has been improved with new filters. Add “Watch” or “Watch faces” to narrow your search to relevant apps and watch faces. If you’re just browsing, new curated clusters on the “Wear OS” and “Watch Faces for Wear OS” category pages recommend popular apps for a variety of needs. 

Once you’ve found an app you like, you can remotely install it to your watch directly from your phone’s Play Store. Simply tap ‘Install’ to start downloading the app to your Wear OS device. Compatible devices are pre-selected by default and can be seen by tapping the arrow on the right side of the ‘Install’ button.

The Play Store on your watch is getting a whole new look. Based on the principles of Material You, the new design simplifies the experience of navigating the small surface area of a watch face. Important information is placed in cards, which makes it comfortable to read and make a selection. 

If you need to make an in-app purchase, the Play Store now reliably prompts the purchase page to open on your Android phone or for a URL to open in a web browser, to easily complete your payment. 

These updates will roll out to the Google Play Store on your Android smartphone and Wear OS smartwatch in the coming weeks. 

These updates will roll out to Android phones and watches running Wear OS by Google version 2.x and up.