Of all the applications Google could have released for the Apple Watch, they chose the most underwhelming of the bunch.
The Mountain View, California-based company launched Google News & Weather on Tuesday, marking the first venture outside its own smartwatch platform. Similar to Google newsfeed, the News & Weather app summarized over 60,000 publications, breaking them down to "Technology" and "Sports" categories, among others.
Headlines are accompanied by pictures, though users aren't able to read entire articles, nor are they able to transfer readable content onto iPhones. Despite its namesake, the app also does not offer weather alerts.
Apple Watch debuted with over 3,500 apps last month, and social media giants like Twitter and Instagram have already committed to creating iOS-capable content for it. Google, however, hasn't shown much of an effort in competing, despite figures showing Apple Watch sold more smartwatches in a single day than Android Wear sold in an entire year.
Some estimates have 2.3 million Watches pre-sold compared to 720,000 total sales for Androids in 2014.
The problem Google runs into is in producing more apps for the Apple Watch. They make their Android Wear obsolete in doing so.
Google's search engine and Maps are far superior to anything Apple offers. If the Watch grows in popularity - having already garnered seven times more apps upon release than the iPhone did in 2008 - users will find similar maps and search engine app, ultimately making Google's version dispensable.
The smartwatch market won't be Google's end-all, be-all. They'll survive by offering services both manufacturers and app developers can afford. Apple's customer base tends to spend more money in the Apple Store than Android users spend in Google Play.
Apple's profit margin may end up winning the smartwatch war, but Google will still reach a broader audience.
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