In recent months, Google has rolled out a Material You redesign and tile for Keep on Wear OS. Around that time, Google Keep looks to have dropped support for older Wear OS 2 devices.
Currently, searching for Google Keep in the Play Store using a Wear OS 2 watch does not show the app. Visiting from the web/mobile listing and looking at the “Compatibility for your active devices” list says the application “Does not work on your device.”
On a Pixel Watch, version 5.22.452.00.97 is the latest with “Android 11 and up” listed as the requirement.
A user spotted this removal today, and we’ve confirmed it on a Wear OS 2 device that’s not set to receive an update to Wear OS 3. It’s not clear when support was pulled, but it could have coincided with the Material You revamp that greatly modernized everything. The yellow accent color was removed, while pill-shaped containers are used everywhere.
That revamp arrived in September just after a tile to quickly create notes or list was introduced. (That tile later received a Material You overhaul, but do note — sorry — how the text of the “Browse” button is not vertically aligned. For some reason, the tile preview is correctly centered, but the actual tile is not. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch app has not seen any updates and is still using the pre-Google Workspace icon.)
While it’s not surprising the redesign is just for Wear OS 3, removing legacy support is somewhat unfortunate. While there are more Wear OS 3 devices than ever from the Pixel Watch to Galaxy Watch 5/4 and Fossil Gen 6, the active Wear OS 2 user base is likely not insignificant, even if it’s just those awaiting updates.
Looking at a Wear OS 2 device today, the following first-party apps are available: Google, Gboard, Fit, Wallet, Messages, Camera, Clock, Wear OS by Google Smartwatch, and YouTube Music. Existing Wear OS 2 users that have Keep already installed should not be impacted, but app availability/support should be considered when resetting wearable going forward.
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
