Best Android Wear Apps: 13 essential free downloads for your smartwatch

Best Android Wear Apps: 13 essential free downloads for your Android smartwatch

Whether you’re looking to get around, score a date, while away some time, or get stuff done, here are 14 Android Wear apps to help you make of the most of a new Android smartwatch.

There are still loads of great Android Wear apps to transform your smartwatch into something special. Trying to get fit, keep on top of your social media accounts, find food, or meet that special someone? There’s an Android Wear app that’ll give you the edge.

Put your smartphone back in your pocket and start brandishing your watch with pride. These are the best Android Wear apps you can download this year – enjoy!

Related: Best smartwatch

1. Citymapper

Citymapper is an app you need. Whether you’re walking through a new town or checking the status of your regular public transport at home, it will bring live information direct to your wrist.

Looking at real-time bus, train, tube, ferry and taxi data to make sure you’re being offered the best route, Citymapper also offers walk and cycle times, as well as Uber details to get you to your destination in the quickest time possible.

While bringing turn-by-turn navigations to your wrist is great, there is a downside, as Disruption alerts mean your wrist will never stop buzzing thanks to the joys of UK commuter trains.

Download Citymapper | Free

2. Star Wars

With stickers, soundboards and AR selfies, this app offers far more functionality on the phone than it does on your watch. Don’t let that put you off though; what it does bring to the display on your wrist is an array of Star Wars-themed watch faces and, c’mon, who’s not excited about that?

Whether you’re a wannabe Jedi, supporter of the Sith Lord or just love those quirky little droids, there’s a watch face to appease your Star Wars addicted ways.

Colour coded to the light side or dark side, the watch faces are backdropped by iconic Star Wars scenes, including the Death Star and the lovely Yavin 4 landscape.

Download Star Wars | Free

3. Tinder

It’s OK – it’s acceptable to admit you’re on Tinder now. Actually, it’s actively encouraged. With the taboo of online dating having been removed, why not wear your single-and-ready-to-mingle status with pride, quite literally.

Bringing a bit of spy-level stealth to your right-swipe delights, the Tinder Android Wear app lets you swipe through faces directly from your wrist.

Yes, if you’re doing it on the train or in the boardroom, you might come off a bit shallow and superficial, but for when you’re sat on the sofa at home, covered in biscuit crumbs wondering while you’re single and your phone’s just out of reach, it’s a date-seeking win.

Download Tinder | Free

4. Digital Galaxy

A game designed specifically for the watch, Digital Galaxy is an addictive static shooter that, like many mobile games, is equal parts entertaining and frustrating.

The target of the game is to shoot meteorite fire balls at orbiting planets and moons as they slide back and forth. If you get a direct hit, you move on to the next planet; miss and you’re back to the starting point.

Like Flappy Bird, it’s a game you’ll quickly invest hours in without ever getting your high score into double figures. Discreet enough to play wherever you are, though, it’s a game that will blow up boredom as well as planets.

Download Digital Galaxy | Free

5. Calculator

Not all apps are glamorous. You need some functional stuff in there as well to keep things running smoothly. That’s why you need a calculator on your wrist. OK, it’s not as cool as one of those old Casio watches, but it’s a whole heap quicker and easier to use.

Making splitting the bill in a restaurant or checking your supermarket spend before you get to the till a doddle, you can perform basic calculations on your wrist.

You’ll still need to break out your phone for full-on scientific equations, but this is the sort of app that’s going to come in useful far more regularly than you’d expect.

Download Calculator | Free

6. Polaris Office

Forget Microsoft Office and Google Docs; if you’re after a free suite of office service, Polaris is a great choice. Don’t worry though, we’re not going to suggest you start tapping out full text docs on your wrist – that would be daft. Instead, the Android Wear wins here are around presentations.

As well as being able to launch presentations from your wrist, your can use your watch’s touchscreen display to move forwards and backwards through slides and even bring the presentation to an end when you finally realise no-one is paying attention.

You’ll also get notifications when people share files or folders with you, but it’s the slideshow remote functionality that really has us won over here.

Download Polaris Office | Free

7. Water Drink Reminder

We’re forever being told to drink gallons of water a day. It’s good for your skin, they say. It’ll flush out your system, they tell us. You’ll need to pee every 15 minutes… is the thing they forget to mention.

Remembering to drink this much water can be tricky, especially if you’re busy, but that’s where this Android Wear app comes in.

Letting you track your water-guzzling drinking habits, you can schedule reminders to appear on your watch, with your high-tech wrist wear giving you a little nudge when it’s time to rehydrate.

Smart and healthy, it’s way handier than the Apple Watch telling you to breathe lots – like you could forget to do that.

Download Water Drink Reminder | Free

8. FotMob Football Scores

Sometimes it’s best to just not check your phone. No matter how badly you want to see the football scores, pulling your phone out in the middle of a dinner date, or while sat in a work meeting, is a dangerous move. Casually glancing at your watch, however, is loads more discreet.

FotMob’s Football Scores relays real-time scores and goal alerts direct to your wrist. As well as seeing scores with cool, stylised match graphics, you can use your watch to keep tabs on all the game’s key moments.

No substitute, score or booking will go down without your watch telling you about it in a matter of seconds. Just be subtle, yeah?

Download FotMob | Free

9. Muzei

Every smartwatch needs some cool watch faces, and that’s what Muzei brings. Forget the traditional chronographs or digital displays that are already installed on your watch – this app transforms iconic artworks into eye-catching watch faces.

Acting as a stunning backdrop for a simple digital clock, Muzei introduces a new famous artwork every day, keeping your watch looking fresh and giving you your own personal tour of some of the most outstanding pieces of art in history.

Able to sync the live backgrounds across your watch and phone, if you’re tiring of art you can trade it out in favour of your own gallery of photos.

Download Muzei | Free

10. Cookbook Recipes

Gadgets in the kitchen are both a joy and a nightmare. Although they save you having dozens of weighty cookbooks clogging up your kitchen, they quickly transform your tech from glittering to greasy, thanks to your mucky mitts.

Putting your recipes on your watch solves both problems. Instead of regularly unlocking your phone or tablet with grubby paws, simply lift your wrist to see the next step in the recipe.

This particular app lets you search through thousands of free recipes, covering everything from chocolate cakes to creamy curries, making it a good all-rounder.

Download Cookbook Recipes | Free

11. Track My Golf Swing Analyzer

While there are plenty of dedicated golf wearables out there, like the Zepp Golf 2, why all the fuss when an app and your existing smartwatch are all it takes to get some more insight into your game?

That’s exactly what Track My Golf Swing Analyzer does, utilising your watch’s integrated accelerometer and sensors to capture all your swing data and instantly relay it to your watch.

As well as your swing speed and tempo of your swing, the app can look at how much you twist whilst striking the ball, showing off swing plane and impact angle.

All of which should help you work out your kinks, improve your swing and ultimately bring your handicap down.

Download Track My Golf Swing Analyzer | Free

12. Wear Audio Recorder

Your Android Wear smartwatch has an inbuilt mic, but we all know – or at least hope – that you’re too embarrassed to walk down the street talking in to your wrist to make a call. That doesn’t mean this mic is useless though, oh no.

Instead, you can use it to record your surroundings with the Wear Audio Recorder app. It’s perfect for important meetings or interviews you want to keep a record of. Just tap the large red start/stop record button on the screen and you’re away.

Just let people know you’re recording them, yeah – this isn’t the News of the World.

Download Wear Audio Recorder | Free

13. Solitaire Wear

Solitaire’s a classic and whether you’re playing it on your PC, smartphone or even smartwatch, it an addictive joy. You watch is your new casual gaming platform, and if you’re going to be stuck on a train or waiting for an appointment, this can help the time roll by.

Sticking to the classic Solitaire rules, there’s no gimmicks or unnecessary quirks, just pure entertainment, even on such a compact display.

You just tap on cards to move them to new positions or drag them across the screen, and you can even pause games to finish off later.

Download Solitaire Wear | Free

Have you got any recommendations for this list? Tweet your favourites to us @TrustedReviews.