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Google Wallet for Wear OS now lets you store hotel keys, IDs, and more

By Tsveta Ermenkova

Published: Dec 03, 2024, 6:29 AM

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A person wearing Google Pixel Watch 3 on their hand.

Google Pixel Watch 3. | Image credit – PhoneArena

Google Wallet is a handy app that lets you keep your bank cards, IDs, tickets, badges, and more all in one place. While the app on Android phones has supported all of these and more for a while, Google is now expanding the app's capabilities on smartwatches so you can carry everything right on your wrist.

Just like on your phone, Google Wallet will let you store things like hotel keys, campus IDs, and work badges on your Wear OS smartwatch. Wear OS is the operating system on most of the best smartwatches, such as the Galaxy Watch from Samsung, Google's own Pixel Watch and more.

This update comes a year after Wear OS added support for passes with QR codes and barcodes. Before that, the Wallet app on your smartwatch was mostly limited to credit and debit cards, along with a few transit options.

A smartwatch with a black strap is shown tapping against a contactless payment terminal.

With Google Wallet, you can make payments effortlessly without even having to take out your phone. | Image by Image credit – Google

I think it's awesome that Google Wallet now supports hotel keys, campus IDs, and corporate badges, as it can be a huge convenience when your hands are full. Whether you're heading to the office or lugging all your bags around at a hotel (because, let's face it, not everyone has a bellhop on hand), being able to access these things without digging through your pockets or bag is a game-changer.

But that's not all for Google Wallet on Wear OS. Google is rolling out the app to even more locations, so now you can use Google Wallet in 91 countries! This all comes with version 24.47 of Google Play services, which is still being rolled out and isn't widely available just yet. It may take a little longer for this feature to show up on your device.

In other news about Google's apps, the company is working on adding an "I'm feeling lucky" feature to Gemini's homepage. And speaking of Gemini, Google's AI assistant can now make calls and send messages without needing to unlock your device. Plus, after much anticipation, Google Maps users will now get incident notifications from the Waze community.

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Tsveta, a passionate technology enthusiast and accomplished playwright, combines her love for mobile technologies and writing to explore and reveal the transformative power of tech. From being an early follower of PhoneArena to relying exclusively on her smartphone for photography, she embraces the immense capabilities of compact devices in our daily lives. With a Journalism degree and an explorative spirit, Tsveta not only provides expert insights into the world of gadgets and smartphones but also shares a unique perspective shaped by her diverse interests in travel, culture, and visual storytelling.

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