The Google I/O held yesterday was full of news, especially regarding AI, but there was also room for veiled criticism of Apple and various surprises that interest us even though they do not affect Apple devices. One of those surprises is that WhatsApp had its moment of glory presenting its native application for WearOS.
For WhatsApp it is quite a milestone, because until now applications beyond iOS and Android have always been encapsulated web pages or plug-ins dependent on notifications, as has happened in watchOS. And of course, that makes you wonder things.
All the functions of your WhatsApp, on the watch
In WABetaInfo they have been able to detect this application for WearOS independently, obtaining screenshots like the one you see just above to be able to link the WhatsApp of an Android with the WearOS application. You can see the moment of the presentation in minute 83 of the keynote:
Thanks to this new native application, whoever has a WearOS smartwatch will be able to check their chats, start new conversations, record audio messages and react to the messages you receive. Everything from the watch, without having to take your mobile out of your pocket.
There are many more functions than we have right now in watchOS, where there is no WhatsApp application itself, but rather a “help” system that reflects iOS notifications on the Apple Watch. From there we can receive and answer messages, but in a more basic way than if we had a complete and native application.
But let’s look at the glass half full: the fact that WhatsApp has worried about having a native WearOS application may mean that we will soon see the same thing on watchOS. You may have to spend some time for it, but the very competition between platforms should produce a more level playing field between them.
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