First With an Android Wear Payments App? (Hint: Not Google Wallet)
New standalone applications for Google’s Android Wear — — the company’s smartwatch operating system — are starting to hit Google Play store.
But not from Google Wallet.
Oddly, new wearable Android apps, which first began to come to market last week, have noticeably excluded a Google Wallet app.
Lest you think that no wearable payment has been released, consider that PayPal’s Android Wear app would be available soon. PayPal announced in a blog post last week that it was working on a beta app for Android Wear for release to the PayPal Beta Community shortly. PayPal was one of the first third-party developers to announce that it would be working on apps for the Android Wear operating system, joining Lyft, Pinterest, SoundWave, Eat24, and Allthecooks.
Take a look at that list again. Google Wallet has been around since 2011, but it looks like Google decided to partner with PayPal first, instead of releasing a beta version of Google Wallet for Android Wear like the company did with other in-house apps. The Google apps that work with Android Wear at the moment are Google Now, Google Hangouts, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Keep, and Google Calendar. Not Google Wallet.
That’s not to say Google won’t be releasing a Google Wallet app for Android Wear, which is in beta, and we’ve reached out to Google to verify. But, it’s interesting to note that the Mountain View, Calif.-based company decided to partner with PayPal before developing their own in-house competitor.
The PayPal app for Android Wear includes features like check-in to pay, redeem offers, and check notifications. PayPal is even working on some voice commands for the app, as well.
Take a look at one of the first Android Wear apps:
