Triaging Gmail and completing Tasks in Google Calendar for Wear OS

Abner Li | Oct 13 2023 - 2:30 pm PT

Back in November, we reported that Google was working on Gmail and Calendar apps for Wear OS. They’re now available, and I’m finding that triaging email from your wrist is weirdly handy.

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Visually, the apps are quite simple. Google Calendar is just the “Schedule” feed found on the mobile client. Each event is a card with some featuring prominent background graphics. A tap opens the details view with location, notes, and the ability to RSVP.

More important is support for Google Tasks entries that appear in the main feed. You can mark as complete, while a Wear OS Tile will show two upcoming tasks. This is a very nice and convenient addition for heavy users of the to-do app, with the other available Tile showing the next upcoming event.

“Calendar” replaces the basic Agenda ‘app’ on Wear OS 4 (Pixel Watch 2) and will open when launched from any date complications.

Then there’s Gmail, which weirdly features a hamburger button to let you open all folders and labels. There are obviously no corners on rounded smartwatches, so its position in the top-left is quite odd but does get the job done. The app is easy enough to navigate, but this main screen is pushing things in terms of info density.

After the subject line, you can tap the sender to see the from, to, and date lines in full. Gmail explains how users can only “View images and links on phone.” More times than not, you’ll have to tap “More” to actually read the body. It’s not auto-expanded by design so that buttons for Archive, Delete, Mark as unread, Open on phone, Reply, and Reply all don’t require a lot of scrolling to get to. This was a good idea and lets me quickly triage.

Gmail also offers a “New Emails” Tile that’s different from the Unread account. Users can only see two messages here.

There’s no in-app interface for creating a new email, event, or task. Instead, you have to use Google Assistant and voice input. I’m not saying I would peck out a long email – though I sometimes do that with SMS/RCS – on the 1.2-inch Pixel Watch screen, but I wouldn’t mind using Gboard to enter finer details that I don’t want to do verbally when in a public or even semi-private space. I think basic, touch-friendly creation workflows should be the next major update for both apps.

With Gmail and Calendar, as well as Keep, Google Workspace is pretty well represented on Wear OS. I’d eventually love Chat and Voice apps that let me browse conversation history just like Google Messages. Overall, these apps take key actions and distill them down well enough to a very small screen. They arguably should have been available from day one of the Wear OS 3 reboot, but it’s better late than never.