Google has not really paid much attention to Android Wear. The company does roll out some minor updates to the platform with some enhancements every once in a while, but Google has completely avoided fixing the bigger issues with it. Now, it looks like Google is preparing to rebrand Android Wear to Wear OS.

The notification to set up a new watch in the first Developer Preview of Android P makes use of the term “Wear OS” instead of Android Wear. To go along with the new name, Google is also using a new logo which is a stylized ‘W’. This further confirms Google’s intentions of rebranding Android Wear to WearOS.

The announcement will likely be made by Google at Google I/O in May this year. The move also makes sense from Google since Android Wear as a platform is device agnostic as it works with both iOS and Android smartphones. The move to rebrand Android Wear would be similar to what Google recently did with Google Pay under which it consolidated all its payment methods.

Our Take

Here’s hoping that Google also gets around to making Android Wear/wearOS a more efficient and feature-rich platform while at it. Android Wear launched before Apple’s watchOS but the latter has now overshadowed it with its sheer amount of useful features and enhancements which the Cupertino company has managed to add thanks to its rapid pace of development and tight software and hardware integration.