Best Wear apps: Essential downloads you need in your smartwatch life

Monday

April 23, 2018

By David Nield

@davidnield

Android Wear apps is now just Wear apps. That's because Google has decided to rebrand its smartwatch operating system from Android Wear to Wear OS. Why? Because it wants to start offering the same watch experience for Android and iPhone owners, so it's ditching Android from the name to make things a little less confusing.
While the name has changed, getting those apps on your Wear smartwatch hasn't. You can still browse from the companion app or thanks to Wear 2.0, you can download them straight from the Play Store on your watch to make life that little bit easier.
Essential reading: Best smartwatch 2018
Still, some Wear apps that sound promising just don't cut it once downloaded. So to save you time, we've rounded up the ones we think are worth your time. With Wear 2.0 around and growing by the day, we're starting off with the apps that have been enhanced for the latest version of the OS, often adding features that let them better stand alone from your smartphone.
Many still have Wear 1.0 versions, but you won't benefit from the enhancements of their native-running updates.
Whether you own a LG Watch Sport or Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45, or are rocking a new Ticwatch E or Emporio Armani Connected, read on for the best apps for you.

Foursquare

The overhauled Foursquare app on Wear 2.0 is a delight to use, with easy navigation helping you find the best food, drink and activities in your local area. There's a handful of complications to choose from too, meaning you can get straight to the top coffee spots in the area with one easy tap.
Free, Download Foursquare app

App in the Air

If you're flying, you're not going to find a better assistant than App in the Air. It gives you all your flight information right there on your wrist, including real-time boarding and flight status. You'll also get airport tips and maps. Oh, and it works offline. And yes, there's automatic check-in.
Free, Download App in the Air app

Strava

Strava has given its app an update for Wear 2.0, letting it work on the watch independently. For devices like the LG Watch Sport, which include built-in GPS and LTE, this means you can now track your runs and biking sessions sans smartphone. It also gives you another fitness platform to choose from besides the default Google's Fit app.
Free, Download Strava Running and Cycling GPS app

Wear Casts

The first standalone podcast app for Wear, Wear Casts lets you download podcasts to, and stream from, the watch. The app will create playlists too, and let you know when the latest episodes of your favorite apps are available.
Free, Download Wear Casts app

Uber

The ride-hailing service is available for Wear 2.0 as a standalone app, so if you have LTE connectivity you won't even need to have it paired to a phone. The app lets you call a cab and check the status of your ride, although it doesn't have the full functionality of the smartphone app.
Free, Download Uber app

Facer Watch Faces

There's no end of watch faces to browse through on the Wear store, but that's not to say they're all good. Perhaps you want to make one of your own, in which case Facer is at hand with its excellent Wear face customizer app. And while you can build your own, Facer has also partnered with watchmakers like MVMT to provide exclusive watch faces too.
Free, Download Facer Watch Faces app

Spotify

The world's most famous streaming music service has made its way onto Wear at last, though it's not quite the full Spotify experience. You can't search, but you can browse through a list of your playlists and recently played songs/albums to play them again with a tap of the screen.
Free (subscription required), Download Spotify app

Nest

Even on Wear 2.0 you'll still need the phone app to get Nest working, but once they're paired you can use your watch to control your home heating (assuming you do, in fact, have a Nest thermostat of course). So what makes it better on Wear 2.0? Rotational input, friends. Assuming your watch has a digital crown like the LG Watch Sport and Style, you'll be able to use it to adjust the temperature. It's the little things, eh?
Free, Download Nest app

Glide

Glide's phone app wants to make sending and receiving video messages as basic as texting, and on the Wear app, enhanced for Wear 2.0, you can watch video and hear audio from your conversations. You can also send back audio if your watch is rocking a mic like the LG Watch Sport's.
Free, Download Glide app

Lifesum

If you want to keep track of your food intake, Lifesum gets even more handy on Wear 2.0 as you don't just get to track independently on your wrist, but you also get complication widgets for the watch face. Keeping tabs on those calories is now more simple.
Free, Download Lifesum app

Telegram

WhatsApp supports Wear but still doesn't have a standalone app, so if you're looking for something more functional, Telegram is a great choice. It offers a full messaging experience across your different devices, and works nicely on Wear - stickers included.
Free, Download Telegram app

Papercraft

Despite the small screen size and limited input options offered by Wear devices, there are some pretty neat games for Google-powered smartwatches, including PaperCraft. The game is set in space but your ship is made of paper and so are all the bad guys you have to blast your way through. A lot of fun if you've got a bit of time to fill.
Free, Download PaperCraft app

CloudPlayer

There are several music player options for Wear but we like CloudPlayer because it comes with a fantastic Android app as well. You can use it offline or with OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive, and it essentially lets you build your own personal Spotify with your own MP3 files. The Wear app gives you instant control from your wrist.
Free, Download CloudPlayer app

IFTTT

IFTTT stands for 'If This Then That', and enables you to link apps together to create applets to perform certain actions – for example, IF your weather app says it's going to rain THEN tell your Philips Hue lights to turn blue. The IF Wear app enables you to automate a host of tasks such as sending automated SMS messages by tapping your smartwatch.
Free, Download IFTTT app

Wear Reader

Your wristwatch might not be the ideal device for getting through large chunks of reading but if you do have to browse through an article or two then Wear Reader is the perfect option, giving you the ability to read ePub, PDF, Word and plain text documents one word at a time. You can set your own word rate and there's a handy night mode available too.
Free, Download Wear Reader app