You’ll be able to board by just tapping your wrist, one day
With the release of the Pixel Watch earlier this year, all of our attention has been on Google and whether or not this effort would finally lead to the company getting serious about Wear OS as a full-featured mobile platform. After all, Android-based smartwatches constantly feel like they’re playing catch-up to phones, and it’s usually anyone’s guess when (or even if) new functionality will make its way over to our wrists. Thankfully, Google has put together a little preview for us of what we can expect from the Pixel Watch, teasing that Wallet will add support for transit cards… at some point.
Late last week, Google shared a round-up of topics users have been asking about in the company’s Pixel Watch support forums. In addition to touching on things like the lack of formal Qi charging support and tips on extending battery life, the company mentions that a future software update will allow Watch owners to use their transit cards stored in Wallet.
Unfortunately, that’s about as much as Google is willing to commit to at the moment — not even a vague ETA beyond just “later.” Until then, the rest of us will just have to be jealous of Pixel Watch-wearing commuters in Japan, who already have access via its Suica system (lucky).
As much of the initial Pixel Watch excitement has worn off, the regular arrival of new features like transit card support are going to be key to keeping Google’s first smartwatch feeling relevant. With big Pixel Watch Black Friday deals meaning that a whole lot of new users are about to come on board, we really hope Google makes sure to prioritize feature upgrades like this one.
