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Finally, navigation on Google Maps with a Wear OS smartwatch won’t rely on a smartphone. This feature is rolling out to those using a Wear OS 3-powered smartwatches. Also, only watches with LTE support or a stable WiFi connection will be able to benefit from this smartphone-free experience.
An announcement of this feature’s availability was made public via the Google support page. It will become available to users around the world via an update to their Wear OS smartwatches. With the update, users will no longer need to carry their smartphones around to be able to use Google Maps.
Breaking the limitations with Google Maps for Wear OS
Previously, using Google Maps on a Wear OS smartwatch was a bit of a hassle. To use the map feature, you’d need to open it on your smartphone and then get turn-by-turn directions on your smartwatch. This way, the smartphone is giving directions to be displayed on the smartwatch.
On its own, the smartwatch didn’t have access to Google Maps and relied solely on a smartphone. With an update to the Wear OS 3 software, this limitation on Google Maps is coming to an end. Now users will be able to use the maps feature directly from their Wear OS watch as long as it has a stable internet connection.
An LTE smartwatch is best to enjoy smartphone-free usage of Google Maps. A WiFi-only smartwatch can also enjoy this feature as long as it has a stable internet connection. So, the first step to using this feature is to ensure that the smartwatch has a stable internet connection.
The next step is to launch the Google Maps app from the watch. The app can be downloaded directly from the Google Play Store. Now, input your destination into the map, select the mode of transportation, and get directions directly from your smartwatch. With this, you don’t need to carry your smartphone with you before you can use Maps on your Wear OS-enabled smartwatch.