Google Wallet for Wear OS now lets you store hotel keys, IDs, and more
Google Pixel Watch 3. | Image credit – PhoneArena
This update comes a year after Wear OS added support for passes with QR codes and barcodes. Before that, the Wallet app on your smartwatch was mostly limited to credit and debit cards, along with a few transit options.
With Google Wallet, you can make payments effortlessly without even having to take out your phone. | Image credit – Google
I think it's awesome that Google Wallet now supports hotel keys, campus IDs, and corporate badges, as it can be a huge convenience when your hands are full. Whether you're heading to the office or lugging all your bags around at a hotel (because, let's face it, not everyone has a bellhop on hand), being able to access these things without digging through your pockets or bag is a game-changer.
But that's not all for Google Wallet on Wear OS. Google is rolling out the app to even more locations, so now you can use Google Wallet in 91 countries! This all comes with version 24.47 of Google Play services, which is still being rolled out and isn't widely available just yet. It may take a little longer for this feature to show up on your device.
In other news about Google's apps, the company is working on adding an "I'm feeling lucky" feature to Gemini's homepage. And speaking of Gemini, Google's AI assistant can now make calls and send messages without needing to unlock your device. Plus, after much anticipation, Google Maps users will now get incident notifications from the Waze community.
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