5 ways to get more out of your WearOS smartwatch

I’ve been using WearOS for quite some time and have found it to be a great companion for my Android phone, but the watch also stands out as another helpful piece of technology.

Like me, many users of WearOS devices tend to discover along the way that the OS offers more than meets the eye. Within the first few months, it seemed like I was discovering new features daily. 

Also: How we test smartwatches at ZDNET in 2024

From tracking fitness, sleep, and health to helping you answer your phone, smartwatches do much more than tell time. If you believe you’re not getting the most out of your WearOS device, these tips can help you eke out just a bit more joy from your watch.

1. Install apps from your phone

Out of the box, your WearOS device probably has the right collection of apps to get you started. The Google Play Store also carries several new and improved apps you can install directly on your watch using your phone. 

Open the Google Play Store on your phone, tap the Apps button at the bottom, and then tap the Categories tab at the top. From the resulting list, tap Watch Apps, where you’ll find a plethora of both free and paid apps to install, including WhatsApp Messenger, Spotify, Purple Diary, My GPS Location, gym workout trackers, to-do lists, sports alerts, water trackers, and more. You’ll also find even more watch faces to choose from. 

2. Customize hardware buttons

If your WearOS device is a Galaxy Watch 4 or 5, you can customize what the hardware buttons do. There are some other WearOS watches that offer this functionality (Pixel Watches not being one of them) and how you configure them will depend on the watch.

Also: 10 settings I changed on my WearOS smartwatch to improve battery life

On the Galaxy Watch 4 or 5, open Settings and scroll down to tap “Advanced features.” Then look for “Customize keys.” From there, you can assign different functionality for double and long presses. However, the options are limited — for example, the bottom button can be set to either navigate back to the watch’s main screen or open a list of recent apps.

3. Contactless payments

Thanks to NFC and the Google Wallet app, your watch can be set up for contactless payments like your phone. Your watch should already have Google Wallet installed, but if not, you can install it from your phone. 

Also: 6 reasons why I switched to a digital wallet, and you should too

The card you want to add must already have been added to your phone. Next, open the Google Wallet app on your watch — on the Pixel Watch, do so by swiping down and then tapping the wallet icon. If your card isn’t automatically detected from your phone, tap the plus sign and select the card you want to add from the list. 

Once added, you can use your watch to make purchases by opening the Google Wallet app and holding it near the payment terminal. 

4. Find your phone

Do you misplace your phone a lot? Good thing you always have that watch on your wrist — you can use it to locate that hidden device. This feature should already be installed on your watch and is linked to your phone. To use it, swipe down on your watch face and tap the phone icon. 

Also: I spent weeks testing Samsung’s $649 Galaxy Watch Ultra – what I learned

This will cause your phone’s alarm sound to start ringing, even if your phone is muted, and will keep doing so until you stop it.

5. Enjoy music (without your phone)

Finally, you can listen to music without having to use your phone. All you have to do is connect a pair of Bluetooth headphones to the watch by going to Settings > Connectivity > Bluetooth and finding any pair of headphones you’ve already associated with your phone. 

Place the earbuds in pairing mode before tapping the entry on the WearOS device and pair them. Next, download your music or podcast with the Spotify app. If your watch has LET connectivity, you can start streaming directly from the Spotify app; if it’s Wi-Fi-only, you’ll have to download music while connected to a network. 

Also: I changed these 5 settings on my Android phone to instantly boost the audio quality

To download music, open the Spotify app on your watch and swipe left twice. You can then select from Downloads, Playlists, Podcasts, and more. Navigate to the music you want and tap the download button. This will save the music to your watch, so you can listen through your headphones without having to carry your phone with you.