Google showcases upcoming standalone travel, fitness, & messaging apps for Wear 2.0

From more devices with built-in cellular connections to more powerful apps, Google is focussing on making smartwatches truly independent from the phone with Wear 2.0. Following the fourth developer preview earlier this week, Google is sharing how upcoming apps will take advantage of the new features.

Wearable apps will take a bigger focus moving forward, with an on-device Play Store to browse and download. Just this week, Google announced the ability to make in-app purchases as part of a new way to monetize on the platform.

Foursquare’s upcoming Wear 2.0 app focusses on delivering rich notifications. Once in the app, search performance and general responsiveness gets a “big boost.” Meanwhile, health tracking service Lifesum’s new Wear app compliments their full one with an easier way to “track water and meals throughout the day.”

Besides the app experience, watchface complications are more powerful in Wear 2.0 thanks to an official API. Video messaging app Glide is now able to live broadcast directly from any face through shortcuts.

While Android Wear’s major release was delayed from this fall to early 2017, it appears that by launch there will be a good number of quality apps that take advantage of the operating system’s latest features. Overall, launching with a full ecosystem and feature set is best for the ever shaky future of smartwatches.