Google gets a lot of things right with Android Wear but there are still some areas that could be improved

Google’s launch of brand new Android software for wearables, first seen running on a few smartwatches, finally means that wearable technology has a solid lowest common denominator.

Until now, no two wearable devices ran the same software, which meant apps and services for one smartwatch wouldn’t run on another.

Android Wear has essentially made other smartwatch operating systems, like Sony’s custom software based on Android for its Smartwatch 2, redundant. Others like Samsung’s Tizen, which powers the Korean manufacturer’s Gear smartwatches, no longer seem quite so attractive for developers.

Google has gotten a lot right in this, the first release of Android Wear, but not everything about the way it works and what it does is fantastic. After a solid week using it, here are some mixed reactions.

The good

Google has taken a less is more approach, which is a good thing. Simple swipes and gestures navigate menus and expand notifications – there are barely any buttons



When buttons are needed, they are big and only one is visible on the screen at any one time – a lot easier to hit while moving around



Tight integration with Android makes notifications useful – without any effort from developers, all apps can send notifications to Android Wear



Granular control over which apps can notify users – disabling noisy apps prevents notification overload



Notifications only show up when needed – reduces clutter and keeps things simple



There is something really quite satisfying about archiving email or dismissing notifications from your wrist



Menu transitions are smooth and fluid, no stutter or lag to be seen unlike some other smartwatches



Alway-on screens with easily read watch faces make Android Wear some of the best smartwatches for actually telling the time



Voice recognition is some of the best seen so far, often better than on an Android smartphone



The “no I said” feature for correcting misheard words is particularly natural and user friendly



A quick Google search from the wrist works very well when trying to settle an argument



The bad

Most advanced features need to be performed via voice, which means talking out loud in public – you will always look like a fool talking to yourself



Accessing installed apps requires launching via voice or digging through to the “Start” menu beneath the search app – a lot of unnecessary swiping and scrolling



A battery life of under two days is poor for a wearable gadget that is attempting to usurp a watch



There is no way to input text without speaking to the watches beyond simple yes or no replies – babbling something into the microphone and hoping it gets it right can be tedious



There's seemingly no way to insert punctuation or proper sentence formatting making you look lazy in your responses to messages

Some things like music controls could be persistent – there have been multiple times where I would have liked to start playing something again without having to ask Google to play a track in hushed tones while on a packed commuter train, which is a bit hit and miss in my experience



The possible fixes

Like Android on a smartphone, Android Wear supports third-party apps that can patch the holes in Google’s software



Wear Mini Launcher – this app adds a little drawer that slides out from the top left with all your Android Wear apps, something that should have been baked into Google’s software



Minuum and FlickKey – two Android keyboard apps that are looking to move to Android Wear. Just some rudimentary text entry for short private messages would be useful



Music apps – a persistent music app or dedicated player with popular playlists or recently played artists would allow instant playback of songs without having to resort to voice commands



Kinetic charging could help extend battery life



Android Wear doesn’t do a lot beyond notifications, including information from Google Now. That makes it only really applicable for the kinds of people, like myself, who are constantly dealing with notifications, who pick up their phone immediately when something goes off.

For others that are less glued to their phones, emails, tweets and text messages, the smartwatch experience doesn’t really provide enough to justify buying a £160 accessory.

But third-party apps like Evernote, IFTTT and Google Maps are already beginning to exploit Android Wear’s potential. Google’s first stab at Android Wear is user-friendly and relatively polished, making a great platform to build upon. Developers and Google alike will have to be careful not to overcomplicate the experience while doing so, however.

• Google smartwatches reviewed: LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live

• Pebble review: simple, efficient and a good watch