Business
Google designs its first app for Apple Watch
New York, May 14
Google has entered the fray
for providing apps for Apple Watch and recently launched an updated
version of the iOS News & Weather app which is compatible with the
smartwatch.
Google's first app for Apple Watch -- Google News
& Weather -- which was previously available for smartphones, will
now allow users to get a quick summary of news headlines from the Apple
Watch screen, TechCrunch reported.
There have been no shortages
of Apple Watch apps since the device was launched in April, but so far
Google had stayed away. The app is very basic, though. You can swipe
through headlines and images, but cannot read stories or summaries right
from the app.
The app presents about a dozen headlines with an accompanying photo for each, organised around topics like sports and fashion.
However,
users can't click through to read the entire or article or easily send
the content to their phones. There's also no weather functionality as of
yet.
Despite the barebones approach, the app is a signal that
Google may eventually roll out some of its more robust apps on Apple's
new device.
Google has its own smartwatch platform, Android Wear,
that predates Apple Watch. But with the Apple Watch having sold more
units on its first day than Android Wear watches sold in a year,
according to one estimate, Google may be willing to go where the users
are, even if it's not their own device.