It is a rare occasion where two of my passions intersect but when it does, I absolutely geek out. In the mix of the mountain of news and updates from Google I/O, one such intersection popped up briefly in the “New in Health on Android” talk. There was a lot to digest and some very interesting updates that will arrive with Wear OS 4. If you’d like to watch the entire talk, you can do so here. For now, we’re talking about one feature in particular and that feature is golf shot tracking.
Yes, golf. In case we hadn’t mentioned it, we’re a bit obsessive about the game of golf. We have a relatively impressive simulator setup here at the office and we enjoy hitting the golf course whenever we can find the time. When our two favorite things, golf and tech merge, it is a beautiful thing. We love using golf-related apps on our phones when we’re on the course and we are constantly looking for ways to implement ChromeOS into our simulator setup.
Whether it’s club tech, electronics or even analog game improvement, we are all about golf tech. So much so that we’ve even devoted a new site to exploring the journey of our screen golf evolution and on course play as we try and test golf tech and methodology new and old. If you’re interested in the game like we are, I’d like to officially invite you to join us over at Proof Golf as we embark on that journey. Anyway, shameless plug over. Let’s get back to Wear OS 4 and its golf-related update.
Google and Samsung have teamed up to give eligible devices and apps to detect the type of shot you’re taking. This will allow developers to create more powerful apps to track your progress on the course. The update will be capable of differentiating between putts, chips and full swings. I don’t expect this to bring a lot to the party out of the gate but future development could lead to Wear OS devices that could give golfers estimated distances while keeping track of the number and types of shots taken.
This is but one of the many updates coming with Wear OS 4 later this year but it’s one that I am particularly stoked about. The fact that Google and Samsung are putting early focus on this means that users and/or developers are interested in making golf tracking a mainstay on Wear OS and that’s awesome. Check back as we bring you more news from the upcoming Wear OS 4 update and a lot more from Google I/O 2023. As for me, it’s time to hit some golf balls. See ya.