Google designs its first app for Apple Watch

"Google News & Weather" is the Mountain View company's first app tuned specifically for the Apple Watch form factor.

A-customer-plays-with-a-new-Apple-Watch-in-an-Apple-store-in-Sydney-Photo-AFP

Google has entered the fray for providing apps for Apple Watch and recently launched an updated version of the iOS News & Weather app which is compatible with the smartwatch.

Google's first app for Apple Watch -- Google News & Weather -- which was previously available for smartphones, will now allow users to get a quick summary of news headlines from the Apple Watch screen, TechCrunch reported.

There have been no shortages of Apple Watch apps since the device was launched in April, but so far Google had stayed away. The app is very basic, though. You can swipe through headlines and images, but cannot read stories or summaries right from the app.

The app presents about a dozen headlines with an accompanying photo for each, organised around topics like sports and fashion.

However, users can't click through to read the entire or article or easily send the content to their phones. There's also no weather functionality as of yet.

Despite the barebones approach, the app is a signal that Google may eventually roll out some of its more robust apps on Apple's new device.

Google has its own smartwatch platform, Android Wear, that predates Apple Watch. But with the Apple Watch having sold more units on its first day than Android Wear watches sold in a year, according to one estimate, Google may be willing to go where the users are, even if it's not their own device.