Google announces Android Wear 2.0, including a legit keyboard and better complications

At its IO conference today, Google announced Android Wear 2.0, the biggest update to its wearables platform yet.

First up, any watchface will now be able to show information “from any app.” Basically, it’s Google’s take on the Apple Watch’s complications.

Google is also including two keyboards; you can use either handwriting or a full-fledged QWERTY keyboard. It also implements Smart Reply to provide contextual answers to messages without requiring you to type anything.

Finally, Google is untethering your watch from your phone with standalone apps. That means LTE-enabled watches will let you run apps without having your phone nearby – like the Samsung Gear S2 – and even regular smartwatches can connect to apps on their own if there’s a Wi-Fi connection nearby.