First teased at Google I/O, Meta simply introduced that WhatsApp is formally rolling out to Put on OS smartwatches beginning at this time, offered you’ve got a Put on OS 3 smartwatch.
The app itself isn’t difficult. It’ll permit customers to start out new conversations, reply to messages, and take calls from the wrist. They’ll additionally have the ability to reply with voice messages, emoji, common textual content, and fast replies. And you probably have an LTE-capable Put on OS 3 watch, you’ll have the ability to reply to messages with no need your cellphone close by.
The primary factor right here is timing and attain. For starters, the Samsung Unpacked occasion is subsequent week, the place we’re anticipating to see the brand new Galaxy Watch 6 and, if rumors are to be believed, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. There’s a very good probability that Samsung’s new watches would be the first to run Wear OS 4 — simply because the Galaxy Watch 4 lineup was the primary to debut Put on OS 3. Releasing the Put on OS app now builds momentum going into Unpacked whereas additionally making Put on OS extra interesting to WhatsApp’s 2.24 billion active users. Meta additionally will get to develop its wearable presence on a longtime platform, particularly because it shelved its own smartwatch ambitions final 12 months.
That is additionally a continuation of Google’s push to bolster Put on OS’s third-party app ecosystem. Alongside WhatsApp, the corporate famous at I/O that Spotify is ready to release new Tiles for its Wear OS app this 12 months, whereas Peloton additionally just lately launched its personal Put on OS app.
In different phrases, it’s a win-win for everybody concerned.