- Google Calendar finally has a native app for watchOS
- However, Google has also just pulled Google Keep for the Apple Watch
- There are now only three Google apps for watchOS
It’s fair to say Google app support for the Apple Watch isn’t the most comprehensive, so the arrival of a new Google Calendar app for Apple’s wearables would normally be something to celebrate – only the Google Keep app has disappeared at the same time.
The arrival of Google Calendar was spotted by the team at 9to5Google. It’s a pretty basic app, but it does the job: you get a week’s worth of events, plus current Google Tasks, and the color coding is carried over from the main app.
You can’t create new events or reminders from the Apple Watch, but there are two complications available, for showing the next appointment and the current date. In fact, it seems to be almost an exact match for Google Calendar on Wear OS.
The news of Google Keep getting pulled from watchOS was also reported by 9to5Google. That takes the number of official Google apps on the Apple Watch back down to three – with Google Maps and YouTube Music the other two.
Users are losing out, again
It’s disappointing to see that Google Keep is no longer available for the Apple Watch, because it’s just the kind of app you want at-a-glance access to. It’s perhaps not a surprise, though: the watchOS version of the app hadn’t been updated for years.
And it’s a shame that Google is so reluctant to put its apps on Apple’s wearable. No doubt it would rather people went with Android and Wear OS, but Google’s apps for the iPhone are some of the best in the business, and constantly updated.
That means the millions of users with an iPhone and an Apple Watch are missing out when it comes to getting their Google app info on their wrists. That’s more likely to push the masses towards Apple’s own native apps, rather than Android.
Perhaps the arrival of Google Calendar for watchOS is an indication that Google Keep will soon return in a new and improved form – perhaps to coincide with the rollout of watchOS 26 later in the year – but we’re not going to be holding our breath.