The weather can play a big role in your day, often influencing how you get ready, and it’s especially crucial if you rely on public transportation for your commutes. Luckily, our phones are pretty good at keeping us informed, providing the latest weather details at a glance so we won’t ever be surprised.
So it does come as a bit of a surprise that Google is removing its popular Weather app from Wear OS 6, and will no longer include it in future versions of the OS. The big news comes direct from Google, keeping things pretty simple on why this big change is happening now (via 9to5Google).
A big change
Google shares that third-party watch brands now often include their own weather apps, which makes it unnecessary to include one by default in Wear OS. We get what Google’s saying here, and it makes complete sense, since we know that building the app and keeping it up to date comes with costs, but I think most people would appreciate at least having the option to install Google’s Weather app.
Those concerned about the app disappearing on their current wearable will be happy to know that won’t be the case in most instances. Google has shared that wearables running Wear OS 5 and earlier will still be able to download and use the app from the Play Store.
When it comes to Google’s own devices, it will be updating the Weather app to the new Pixel Weather app, or the Pixel Weather app will be included on the device by default. If you have a watch from any other brand running Wear OS 6, the Weather app will no longer be available.
However, that doesn’t mean the app won’t run, as the brand states that if you had the Google Weather app on your watch prior to updating to Wear OS 6, it’ll keep working like normal. So if you have it already, you’ll want to make sure you don’t accidentally erase it.
Of course, you can always use the default Weather app from the watch’s brand, or if there isn’t one, you can download a third-party app from the Play Store. For the most part, this is a pretty big change, especially since the weather is a big part of most people’s day.
With that said, a quick search in the Play Store will provide plenty of options to get the forecast on your wrist. And who knows, you might find something better than the Google Weather experience.
