By now we know it well, Google and Samsung have joined forces and intend to make the Wear OS 3 project better and more versatile. The two companies stated in an interview how the collaboration was born and what were the focal points that attracted the two giants of world technology. What convinced the two companies more than anything else is obviously the desire to be a significant player in the world of smartwatches, which individually they have never managed to be.
In fact, both Samsung and Google have never managed to be particularly incisive both in terms of sales volumes and in terms of the user base but they intend to change this with Wear OS 3 and for this reason, they intend to play in the long term, such as any project that aspires to be a winner.
Specifically, Google realized that the technology applied to the world of health had not been properly exploited by previous versions of Wear OS. Samsung has improved this aspect, participating in the development of new interfaces that can also be used by third-party developers who make better use of the hardware of the new generation smartwatches.
Samsung, on the other hand, admitted that its ecosystem was very limited as Tizen did not offer many popular apps such as Google Maps and even the connection with the smartphone was never at the level of smartwatches as refined as Apple Watch. Fitbit, which was bought by Google sometime before this partnership, should also be part of this match.
At the moment, however, the times for the integration of projects and features developed by them are not yet ripe, but Fitbit has confirmed that all this will change. However, Samsung is not afraid of competition from other companies although they can take advantage of Wear OS, given that with One UI it believes it can stand out sufficiently and can offer customers something more.
At the moment Wear OS 3 is a platform with high potential but with a very small user base since the only smartwatch released with this OS is Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. Many of the old devices released with previous versions of Wear OS will not be updated and the few that will be able to access the new OS will do so later in time. What’s worse is that some third-party developers have already dropped support for Wear OS versions prior to 3.
In fact, Strava, one of the most popular apps for tracking physical activity, very popular with cyclists and runners, is the first to do this. The situation becomes paradoxical if we think that this app is in fact actively developed for a single smartwatch. Of course, this situation is destined to change but users of Oppo Watch for example will certainly not be happy, and with good reason.
This, among other things, is not a very understandable move for Strava itself, given that in fact, it cuts out most of its users and the growth prospects of the new Wear OS both in terms of smartwatches and users are certainly not rosy. at least not in the short term. However, we hope that this is an isolated decision that will not be followed by other companies or developers.
