Google’s new Wear OS Phone app brings Quick Replies to smartwatches

Google has released a new Wear OS Phone app for Android Wear smartwatches that allows you to send messages and make calls in a more streamlined way. 

Wear OS Phone has a feature called Quick Replies that allows you to reply to a call using SMS, much like you can currently do on your Android phone. 

We think that this feature could actually be more useful in Wear OS, as when you’re in a place where you’re unable to take your phone out of your pocket but know an important call is coming through, the ability to swiftly shoot back a reply would be great. 

Are you free to talk?

As long as you’ve got a watch running Android 8.0 Oreo, even if it doesn’t have cellular capabilities, you’ll be able to use the new app to look at your contacts, call history, and make and receive calls. 

The last of those is obviously dependant on your watch having a microphone and speaker, but even if it doesn’t you can take advantage of a feature that allows you to dial a number on your watch and then complete the call on your phone. 

The new app is rolling out globally in the Google Play store now. 

Via 9to5Google

Andrew London

Andrew London is a writer at Velocity Partners. Prior to Velocity Partners, he was a staff writer at Future plc.