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Smartwatch: The first apps for Samsung Gear

Softonic Editorial Team

Softonic Editorial Team

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Samsung recently introduced the Samsung Galaxy Gear, one of the first smartwatches to hit the market. The smart watch supplements the Samsung Galaxy smartphone and can manage functions like the music player and calling. It’s not just a remote control though; the watch will also have its own app eco-system.

At a press conference held at the IFA exhibition in Berlin, Samsung announced that there are more than 70 apps being offered for the Samsung Galaxy Gear to coordinate with the market launch. However, the Korean corporation named only a few. We did some research and selected some of the most important apps that will feature on the smartwatch. Check them out below.

Smartwatch: The first apps for Samsung Gear

Sport and Fitness

Sport und Fitness Apps

Source: Runtastic Infographic

In the era of Quantified Self, fitness apps may not be out of place in a smart watch. The Quantified Self Movement aims to promote measuring and recording various types of personal data, such as amount of sleep, sleep intensity, pulse, movement and nutrition, hopefully improving users’ health in the process.


Learn more on the subject of Quantified Self and the associated risks here


In fact, three big vendors have optimized their apps for the Samsung smartwatch: MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper and Runtastic Pro.

Phigolf, a navigation app for golfers, is also available for the smartwatch.

Productivity

A watch that’s an extension of a smartphone is also meant to provide day-to-day support. At the top of the list is an app called S Voice, which was developed by Samsung. S Voice provides the same functions as Apple’s Siri or Google’s Google Now: Voice function for smartphones. The app reacts to voice commands and writes notes, creates calendar appointments or helps you navigate somewhere. Samsung has a summary of its functions on its website.

Other third-party apps for productivity include the popular note-taking service Evernote, as well as Pocket, a service that stores web pages so that you can read them later at your leisure.

The automation apps Atooma and Tripit Travel Organizer are also already available. With Atooma, you can create tasks that are automatically carried out by your smartphone.

Productivity apps that come with the smart watch are the calendar, the clock, the music manager and a phone function.

Social networks

Source: Path

Social networks and communication services are a necessity on any digital device. In addition to a display that shows you messages that have been received on the Galaxy smartphone, some social networks have already announced their own apps. These include Banjo, Glympse, Life 360, Path and Pinterest.

In terms of communication services, Kakao Talk, Line and Snapchat plan to have native Samsung Galaxy Gear apps. Market leader WhatsApp has yet to comment on whether or not it will have an app for the smartwatch.

News, information and more

Source: New York Times Header

As well as the New York Times, the financial services company Bloomberg has already announced an app for the Samsung Galaxy Gear. Online auction house eBay will also have an app ready for the Samsung smartwatch at launch.

Another interesting app is Vivino, which uses the smart watch’s built-in camera to its advantage: Vivino can identify over a million wines from only a photo, delivering information about the wine directly to your wrist in the supermarket.

Games

Source: AngryBirds.com

The only game confirmed for Samsung Galaxy Gear so far is Angry Birds. That makes it the ninth platform after iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian, Windows, Mac, Facebook and your Browser that the popular birds vs. pigs adventure will conquer.

Availability and compatibility

Apps for the Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch can be installed via the Gear Manager on a compatible Samsung Galaxy smartphone. You can find a separate app store that shows all the optimized apps in Gear Manager.

The Galaxy Gear is compatible with Samsung smartphones starting from Android 4.3. So far, the smartwatch can only be used with the Galaxy Note 4 and the Galaxy Note 10.1. In October, updates for the Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note II will follow. Samsung hasn’t commented on any other devices yet.

Original article published on Softonic DE.

Softonic Editorial Team

Softonic Editorial Team

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