Android Wear 2.0

At the Google I/O keynote this week, Google unveiled Android Wear 2.0, the company’s biggest update yet. I watched the keynote and then watched some overview videos and here’s essentially what they added:

• A swipe-like keyboard
• Watch Complications
• Smart Replies
• A cleaner app launcher
• Improved speed

I know what you’re thinking. This sounds very much like what the Apple Watch has been able to do since watchOS 2.0. You’d be right too. Everything about yesterday’s announcement regarding Android Wear was underwhelming. It didn’t feel like they announced anything that made me think “wow, they are really stepping up their game here.”

One they they did do that I very much appreciate is improve the speed. If you have an Apple Watch, there’s no doubt that speed s one thing you’d love to have more of. Still, everything else feels very meh to me. And I’m curious how much that’s going to open the door for Apple to take a commanding lead in the smartwatch space. In just a few weeks, Apple will hold their developer conference (WWDC) and I’m hoping watchOS 3 is a significant improvement over watchOS 2.

Check out the video below of Android Wear 2.0. It’s a good update for Android Wear users, but it doesn’t have anything to makes me wish I had an Android Wear watch.