Google's Wear OS 7 is getting Gemini Intelligence. While this feature will be available with select watches being released later this year, Google says this artificial intelligence tool will provide "proactive and personalized help to our users so they can focus on what matters." When the company announced Gemini Intelligence, it highlighted how Android is transitioning from an operating system into an "intelligence system."

The built-in AI includes features that make boring tasks more straightforward, like ordering your favorite takeaway food or using the same Uber route. Another useful function is turning spoken thoughts into polished text, which could help users brainstorm even without their phone around.

Even though we'll have to see how Gemini Intelligence will work with select Wear OS 7 devices, Apple is nowhere near adding built-in Apple Intelligence features to the Apple Watch. With watchOS 26, the standout feature is Workout Buddy, which acts as an AI coach for your workouts, but it only works if you have an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone nearby. Other features include Genmoji and priority notifications, but they're also reliant on your iPhone. That said, with rumors suggesting watchOS 27 will be a small upgrade focused on bug fixes and general stability improvements, it seems Wear OS 7 will remain the most interesting update for smartwatches this year.

Not only is Google bringing built-in AI to Android smartwatches, but it's also allowing third-party apps to take advantage of that. One way Google is enabling developers to leverage artificial intelligence is through the AppFunctions API. With it, they can integrate Google Gemini and other AI agents into their apps, so they can get tasks done using voice. Some of the examples Google gives, though, aren't very impressive, such as starting a run or reminding a user to pick up something at work at a certain time. However, some other possibilities are very cool, like "Create a new playlist with the top jazz albums from this year," or "Find the noodle recipe from Lisa's email and add the ingredients to my shopping list.

With the second part of the examples, Wear OS 7 shows how far the agentic experience can go, whereas Siri on the Apple Watch can only start a workout, play a song/playlist/album or even help you send a message to someone. Still, getting cross-referenced information from an email and then creating a shopping list from it is similar to what Apple previewed a couple of years ago at WWDC 2024 and what it expected Siri to do with Apple Intelligence, but it never did. While the new Siri is finally expected to tap into users' data, it's unclear whether this functionality will be exclusive to iPhone users or could expand.

While developer conferences are designed to help developers create better apps for the ecosystem they work in, that does not necessarily mean companies give them access to all the tools. To this day, Apple still limits access to some core features, claiming it's protecting users' privacy. Still, with Wear OS 7, Google is making it easier for developers to create third-party fitness trackers.

The new Wear Workout Tracker experience includes a few must-have fitness app tools that developers won't have to worry about when creating their apps, such as heart rate monitoring, media control, and other features that could entice more developers to build apps for the Android platform.

For example, my favorite fitness app for Apple Watch, Gentler Streak, is exclusive to the Apple ecosystem, and to this day, there are several apps that are Apple ecosystem-only. With Google offering more tools, this could prompt Apple developers to port their fitness apps to Wear OS or even improve the current experience. Google says it's working with ASICS Runkeeper to bring some of these features to life. More importantly than that, the company needs to offer developers the same tools it uses, as in Apple's case, it usually makes me track workouts with the main Workouts app, because some little perks, like workout awards, are limited to the built-in experience, limiting not only my experience with third-party apps, but also that of other users as well.

Last but not least, Google is revamping the system media controls in Wear OS 7. If you use an Apple Watch, you probably realized how tricky it is to use the media controls on Apple's watchOS. For example, you can (usually) get information on what's playing from the Smart Stack, but once you tap it, there's always a delay on what's actually playing. If you want to connect third-party headphones or press the shuffle button in Apple Music, you need to tap several times to find this option. The whole Apple Music experience is also a mess, and trying to control multiple media sources across different devices is just unreliable.

To avoid that, Google says Wear OS 7 offers more control and a better experience to help users manage their media. For example, if you have YouTube Music playing on your Android phone, you can easily control media options on your smartwatch as long as you have "Auto-launch Settings" enabled. The new Remote Output Switcher also makes it easier to control different outputs while listening to songs, so you can switch a song from your headphones to your phone, living room TV, or even a bedroom speaker.

All the features mentioned above are currently in beta, so they may differ slightly by the time they're available. Still, they look like great improvements for Google's Wear OS, and improve on not-so-good or unavailable features compared to Apple's watchOS 26.