Why it matters to you
Smartwatches are useful if you can perform actions without the need of a smartphone, and Uber is helping Android Wear grow up with the option to hail a ride from your wrist.
Attention, Android Wear smartwatch owners: You can finally hail an Uber from your wrist. Support for the Wear app was announced at I/O 2015, Google’s annual developer conference, but it has taken the ride-booking company a whopping 21 months to deliver.
Now that Android Wear 2.0 is available on the LG Watch Sport and Watch Style — with a roll out to current smartwatches arriving at the end of the month — apps can be downloaded directly by the Android Wear Play Store app without the need for a phone. The stand-alone watch features in version 2.0 also mean you hardly need to interact with your phone to hail a ride with the Uber app.
More: Will your watch get Android Wear 2.0? Read our guide to find out
After installation, open the Uber app and you’ll be prompted to sign in — you’ll need to enter your login details via your phone, but you don’t need the Uber app on your phone to do this. You’ll then need to allow the Wear app to access your location — and that’s it. You can then drop a pin wherever you want and press the check mark. Set a destination, choose what type of ride and price you want — you have all the options depending on your location from UberPool and UberX to UberXL and SUV. Tap request, and a driver should be on the way.
You can check the driver’s ETA and progress to you, and the vehicle’s model and license plate number. Once you’re in the car you can view your progress to your destination.
Right now, it looks like Uber is the only on-demand ride-hailing service for Android Wear users — there’s no alternative, though Lyft used to have an app. It’s likely the company is working on a Android Wear 2.0 stand-alone app to compete with Uber.
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You can download the Uber app from the Android Wear Play Store now if you have the LG Watch Sport or Style, but you’ll have to wait until the latest version of the smartwatch operating system makes its way to existing smartwatches later this month.
