Google has joined the scores of iOS app developers and brands who among them have more than 3,500 apps available for the Apple Watch. The search giant has updated its “Google News & Weather” app for iOS, first launched on iOS last fall, with Apple Watch support. It joins other news and weather apps already available for Apple Watch, including The NY Times, CNN, WSJ, The Weather Channel, Dark Sky, Weather Underground, and many more.

Although late to the party – and with a mediocre offer – Google’s move to release support for Apple Watch for one of its apps shows that, regardless of competition between its own Android Wear smartwatch operating system and Apple’s smartwatch, Google is not ignoring Apple Watch, notes TechCrunch. It may even lead to Google rolling out Apple Watch versions of more useful apps, such as Google Maps, speculates the publication.

What does the Google News & Weather app deliver?

The Google News & Weather app delivers news headlines and summaries from 65,000 online publications in a similar format to Google News on the web. News items are organized into categories, such as Top Stories, Technology, Sports & Weather and more for easy browsing. Users can personalize the app by selecting from 60 country-specific editions and adding personalized news sections. Like the web version, the app also serves up local news and weather based on the user’s location.

Google News & Weather for Apple Watch lets users swipe horizontally through top news headlines on the watch screen or scroll down to view an accompanying photo for each news item.

Limitations to the app

TechCrunch notes several limitations to the app in comparison with other news and weather apps for Apple Watch. For instance, the app only shows a headline with no summary or full version available on the Apple Watch. It also does not support Handoff, meaning you cannot continue reading a story on your iPhone.

One positive, notes TechCrunch, is the ability to save a news article that has caught your attention to Safari’s Reading List via a long press and hold gesture powered by Force Touch.

The updated Google News & Weather app is also somewhat limited as a weather app in that it does not provide weather alerts.

Google already offers Google Maps on the iPhone and iPad, and with this move it may roll out support for Apple Watch to compete with Apple Maps in the near future.

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