Another Google App Got Pulled From Wear OS Smartwatches

• Google Clock now exclusive to Pixel Watch; removed from Wear OS downloads for other watches.

• Existing non-Pixel watches keep the app but won't get Play Store updates, including fixes or security patches.

• This follows the Weather app move and signals Google is tightening its Wear OS app ecosystem - expect more closures.

The difference between Wear OS skins is not as evident as it is between Android skins, but it's there. Now, though, it's increasingly getting more marked, as Google is slowly but steadily removing its apps from third-party watches. The latest one is Google Clock.

The native Google Clock application for Wear OS will now be available exclusively for Google's own Pixel Watch line, ceasing support and new downloads for all other smartwatches on the platform. According to Google, the Google Clock app is "no longer available for download on Wear OS smartwatches" unless it is "pre-installed on the Pixel Watch." For existing users on non-Pixel devices who already have the Google Clock app installed, the app will continue to function. However, Google confirmed these users will "no longer receive updates from the Play Store."

This last part is pretty bad. For starters, looking at the time has been the main reason to get a watch since the first wristwatch was made in 1810. If your watch happened to ship with the Google Clock app, you will be locked out of future features, optimizations, and, most importantly, potential bug fixes and security patches. You will have to get a third-party app to handle these features for you, because while the Google Clock app won't disappear from your phone, it will eventually fall behind in updates, which can be bad.

The decision mirrors the company's recent handling of its new Weather app and signals that Google is taking bigger steps towards closing down its ecosystem of apps, at least on Wear OS. It's a complete 180 from what the company wanted to do years ago, where it wanted everyone, Google or not, to use Google apps. Google, for its part, addressed the change by noting that watch brands "offer their own default clock apps on Wear OS." This is true to a degree, but some might still use Google Clock anyway. While Samsung, for instance, has long utilized its own app suite, this might not really be true for all smartwatches.

It's not a great omen that Google is painting Pixel Watch as the "first-choice" watch for Wear OS by doing stuff like this, but I fully expect this to keep happening with other Google apps.

Source: Google