Mobvoi, the team consisting of a few ex-Googlers we told you about some time ago, now has its Ticwatch 2 smartwatch available on Kickstarter. Mobvoi has decided to go with its own take on mobile OSes instead of going with wearables platform Android Wear -- which means that, as is normally the case, interested buyers wonder about initial app support out of the box. Thankfully, Mobvoi hasn't made us wait long, with the company posting a letter at Kickstarter this week to detail its support for third-party as well as Android and iOS apps. According to Mobvoi, here are the apps you can expect to have immediate support on the Ticwatch 2:
Current Status (work in progress):
Pre-installed apps (for both Android and iOS): Dialer, Calendar, Health (including heart rate, steps, etc.), Fitness, Weather, Calculator, Stopwatch, Timer, Recorder, Alarm, Music control, Find My Phone.
Voice Search (both Android and iOS): Uber, Yelp, POI, Joke, Weather, etc.
3rd Party Apps: 2046, Blue Carbon Analog Watch Face, Magic watch Face Ticker, Ustwo Watch Faces.
Android: Notification of SMS, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Gmail, etc. [Full Notification Display and Voice Reply]
For other Android apps, we invite all developers to join our developer community and bring more to the Ticwear ecosystem.
iOS: Notifications of SMS, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Gmail, etc. [Full Display]
As can be seen, the Ticwatch 2 will have support for Android, iOS, and third-party apps, though more Android apps will be added as time goes on. Mobvoi wants to support more Android apps, though, and this is acceptable. Android smartwatch users prefer having lots of apps, one of the reasons that makes Android Wear the preferred smartwatch platform at this point over even Samsung's Tizen OS.
As for the watch itself, the Mobvoi Ticwatch 2 is said to feature a 400 x 400 AMOLED display (the same kind as that found in the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic), a metal bezel, heart rate monitor, and in-built GPS. We told you just a few weeks ago that the Ticwatch 2 would cost "south of $200," and it will: the watch will cost $139 when it goes officially on sale. While Mobvoi doesn't have Android Wear support here and is "doing its own thing" so to speak, so is Samsung -- and Samsung's Gear S2 sales are outperforming those of the Apple Watch currently (and WatchOS has far more developer support than Samsung's Tizen OS).
Mobvoi is looking to have its Ticwatch 2 become a splash hit in the US, but regardless of whether or not the dream comes true, the company is to be respected for its great effort. Success doesn't come without sweat.
