An almost full-fledged Google Maps app pops up on Android Wear

Yesterday we reported about the latest version of Google Maps for Android (v9.9) that came with a pretty humble changelog - apart from the translucent status bar, there were hardly any other noteworthy changes. It turned out that this was only at first sight, as the update brought a pretty handy functionality hidden in plain sight, as it required us to look at our wrists to notice it.

Version 9.9 of Google Maps for Android brings a dedicated Google Maps app straight to Android Wear that can either be fired up by launching it from the drawer or by saying "open Maps" when your smartwatch is listening to you. Previously, you could only get directions to a specific location, but now you can experience a mostly full-fledged version of the app, which allows you to browse it

Core Google Maps features like pinch-to-zoom, true north/ device direction switching, and scrolling around are on board; you also get a handy virtual zoom in/out buttons and a power-saving display mode, which displays the map in black and white. Still, the app is quite limited at this time - if you opt to start navigation from Google Maps on your watch, it redirects you to your phone and opens app on it.