Google is preparing to release a new feature for Wear OS that can limit apps and other notifications on a child’s smartwatch during “School Time.”
In a changelog for its May 2024 Play Services updates, Google says that Wear OS is adding support for “School Time,” a new feature that imposes limits on a child’s smartwatch that can be set up by the parents.
If you’re a parent, you’ll be able to set School Time to limit the apps your child can use and silence their device.
While we don’t know how this feature works – it’s not yet live and it might be a while before it is – it is likely designed to directly mirror “Schooltime” on the Apple Watch.
That feature allows parents to set recurring blocks of time each day where the Watch’s features are “limited” in an effort to allow the wearer to focus. It does so, as 9to5Mac details, by blocking apps and watch face complications, but still allows temporary access to things such as Activity Rings with a set number of “unlocks.”
This will likely be a useful feature on any device, but it comes following leaks last year of a kids smartwatch from Fitbit, as well as a recent FCC listing for a new Google smartwatch running Wear OS that doesn’t appear to be Pixel Watch 3.
Coincidence?
More on Wear OS:
- TicWatch Pro 5 ‘Enduro’ gets better band, sapphire glass, and still Wear OS 3 for $349
- Fossil’s Wear OS smartwatches are gone now
- Wear OS is growing quickly, will ship roughly half as many units as Apple Watch this year
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