If you got yourself an Android Wear device during the holidays, or if you have yet to install other apps on your wearable for one reason or another, then you will now have an easier time accessing all the apps available as the Google Play Store now has an Android Wear section. This is a great way for developers to create more apps for the platform as discoverability is now better. Users will also now have an easier way to look for apps that they can install on their smartwatches.
The Google Play Store is famous, or rather infamous, for not adding new categories or sections on their app store. The most recent one was the Family category, added in June of last year, but there hasn’t been anything major before that. There is not even an Android Tablet section there, so apps that are meant for both or either smartphones and/or tablets are all mixed up there. So having an Android Wear section is a pretty big deal, both for developers and users.
The section is broken down further into several categories. You have Essentials for Wear for those who are installing apps on their smartwatches for the first time. You also have several categories for watch faces, which are of course one of the more important things for wearables. A big section also is for health and fitness related apps, since a lot of the smartwatches have tracking features, heart rate monitors, etc. You also have sections for mail, social, productivity, shopping, travel, etc.
Most likely, a lot of OEMs (and even traditional watch makers) will still churn out smartwatches, particularly on the Android Wear platform. So that means developers will also be creating more and more apps. Having an Android Wear section in the Google Play Store is a good thing for everyone all around.
SOURCE: Google Play Store
