JULY 2019 PCWorld 31- WATCHOS APP STORE
The ability to search, download, and install
apps on your wrist is a huge step for the
Apple Watch, but it was a bigger deal when
Google launched the Play Store for Android
Wear (go.pcworld.com/awr2) watches back
in 2017. And Google even let developers
build watch-only apps back then too.
Granted, the state of Wear OS and
compatible devices leaves much to be
desired, but Google can at least claim it
reached watch independence way before
Apple did. - iPAD HOME SCREEN
WIDGETS
One of the biggest WWDC announcements
(aside from that $999 display stand that
doesn’t actually include a display) is the
emergence of iPadOS. Long overdue and
incredibly exciting for iPad fans, the
new OS finally breaks the iPad free
from the constraints of the phone-
first iOS and gives the tablet a bright
future as a true Mac replacement.
But while there’s a lot that’s new,
the most striking visual change—
widgets on the home screen—
arrived on Android with Honeycomb
way back in 2011. We won’t discuss
how sorry the current crop of
Android tablets are, but hey, at least
Google got one thing right.- DESKTOP BROWSING
ON iPAD
At long last, the Safari browser on the iPad will
no longer default to the mobile version of
websites. Apple has finally realized that iPad
users deserve the same internet experience
that you get on the Mac, so it’s opening up
the full desktop version of Safari in iPadOS.
However, anyone who’s used a Chrome
tablet will just snicker since they’ve had a full
browser all along. - LOOK AROUND
Alongside a ground-up rebuilding of its
mapping data in the U.S., with richer detail
and (hopefully) more accurate directions,
Apple introduced a feature called Look
Around, which lets you “explore cities with an
immersive 3D experience that lets you pan
around 360 degrees and move seamlessly
A wrist-sized app store is nothing new for Wear OS users.