Wear OS gets a major re-design

Google just announced a big re-design of its Wear OS in a blog post. The focus here is on usability, new Google Health features and the Google Assistant.

Firstly, the notification menu is easier to navigate, more compact and adds a few nifty shortcuts. For example, a simple swipe up will display all of your notifications and a smart reply is just a tap away. This won't even make you leave your notification stream. And by swiping down, you can now access more shortcuts like Google Pay and the "Find my phone" functionality.

Google Assistant gets smarter and more contextual. It can bring up important information regarding your trip like hotel reservations, flight schedule or what the weather is going to be like. It will warn you if you need to take an umbrella or if there is heavy traffic on the road. It can even suggest nearby restaurants once you arrive at your hotel. The Assistant will get smarter over time and will add more features in the future.

Finally, the Google Health app also gets new features and re-design. The developers' team has worked closely with the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization to introduce new goals that will help you stay in shape. The goals are, of course, based on both organizations' daily activity recommendations and are called Heart Points and Move Minutes. The Health app can be accessed by simply swiping from the right.

All the changes are expected to be pushed next month - probably just in time for the launch of the new Pixel Watch?

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