At Samsung’s Unpacked event, where Samsung unveiled its latest foldable handsets and Wear OS-powered smartwatch, Google announced something that consumers will love. Wear OS-powered watches will soon allow users to navigate using Google Maps even without their phones.
Currently, Wear OS smartwatches can display navigation instructions, but these come from a Bluetooth-connected smartphone nearby and appear more like notifications than a standalone experience.
Google says that users will be able to go for a run or a bike ride, leave their phone behind at home, and still able to take advantage of the navigation features provided by YouTube, once this feature is added to the operating system. As part of offline navigation, the smartwatch will likely use its own GPS and downloaded maps to provide directions. This way, users can set up a route on their phone (or watch when connected to a phone), then set off without the phone once the route is loaded.
As not every Wear OS watch is going to receive this feature, it is not sure which timepieces or Wear OS versions in line to receive it.
In any case, since this announcement was made during the launch of the Galaxy Watch 5 line, users of Samsung’s latest smartwatch will get the first crack at it. In addition, it’s unclear whether the technology involved will limit the feature to LTE-enabled devices.
A year ago, Samsung and Google teamed up to combine Tizen OS, which has been used on the Galaxy Watch since its launch in 2018, with Wear OS. The combined software, still called Wear OS, opens apps faster, allows longer lasting batteries, as well as supports more apps and watch faces.
The Google Pixel Watch, which is set to be released this fall, should also be able to support this Google Maps feature, although this has yet to be confirmed.