Android Wear is now WearOS because, iPhone!

Android Wear is Google’s platform specifically meant for wearables that has been around since 2014. You know, smartwatches and stuff. Those things that most of us fancy having at some point but don’t necessarily need, to be honest. You will also be within reach if you referred to it as one of the Google-backed platforms that have been shunned by Google’s biggest partner in the Android space, Samsung, thus effectively making it an unlikely bystander in a game it was meant to dominate. The other platform is Android TV.

Much as it may not have gained traction and warded off the irresistible Apple Watch OS, which has just one product, the, sigh, Apple Watch, Android Wear still boasts of having at least 50 watch models from the biggest brands in the world under its roof. Not a mean feat by any means. Since Android-Wear-based watches, like those made by Chinese device maker Huawei, are very stylish, they have also attracted even those that are not entirely beholden to Google’s ecosystem. Like, iPhone users.

So as not to alienate them further, Google is taking the extraordinary step of actually embracing everyone who uses Android Wear devices but is not really an Android type of person i.e. they own an iPhone and are, essentially, mostly hooked to the other side of the fence. It is doing this by making everyone who uses watches powered by its wearables platform feel equal. Thus, it is dropping the name “Android” from the platform’s name. Going forward, what we have known for the last half a decade as Android Wear will simply become Wear OS. Or, to be more precise, WearOS by Google. Not bad, really.

The obvious thing here is that there are no any associated feature changes or updates that come with the name change so everyone can rest easy.

Furthermore, Google is pushing the update that reflects the current state of things to almost all the Android Wear watches out there through the latest version of the Android Wear app. The app only covers the basics, like the interactions that can be made via the user interface, though. You know, things like having everything show “WearOS” on the watch will require an over the air firmware update which most watches can expect to receive since Google has time and again reigned in on its partners to make sure they don’t tamper with the software on Android Wear devices to make things like these easier to execute (it’s also what, reportedly, has put off Samsung). As such, all these devices can expect a smooth switch over to WearOS branding: