New Google Pay and Messages apps coming to current Wear OS smartwatches

Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch 4 will benefit from a bucketload of improvements when it comes to software. Spotify recently revealed that it will bring offline listening to its Wear OS app on both Android and iOS devices, but that the Galaxy Watch 4 will be the first to use this feature.

Google is doing something similar with the new YouTube Music and Google Maps apps, which will only be available on newer Wear OS smartwatch models like the Galaxy Watch 4. Two other apps that will be coming to the Galaxy Watch 4, Google Pay and Messages, will receive updates on the older Wear OS 2 smartwatches.

The new Google Pay app will be released with expanded support for 16 new countries including Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, and United Arab Emirates.

The updated Messages by Google app will allow Wear OS users to receive messages and reply directly from their wrists without needing to take out their phones. The Messages app on the Wear OS will sync with Android phones.

Aside from these two updated apps, Wear OS 2.0 smartwatches will also get a handful of third-party experiences in the coming weeks, including Calm, Komoot, Period Tracker, Sleep Cycle, Spotify, and Strava. Of course, these will also be available on the new Wear OS 3 smartwatches, which will also get the new YouTube Music app and the redesigned Google Maps app.