Digital wallets are the way to go. Tapping to pay with your phone or smartwatch is much easier than pulling out your wallet, finding the right credit card and tapping it on the card reader. But it looks like Wear OS, which powers smartwatches including the Pixel Watch 2, is introducing a change that some are calling disruptive.
Google Pixel Watch 2.
According to Abner Li at 9to5Google, some Wear OS users must enter a PIN before paying with Google Wallet. Previously they had the same experience as always with the Apple Watch: just open the wallet and tap.
In Apple’s case, the passcode is only required when you put the watch on your wrist (and even then, you can save a few taps by unlocking your iPhone, which unlocks the watch automatically). With Apple, all you need to do is press the side button twice and there are security features built into that button.
With Google’s Wear OS devices, until now, no PIN was required if the watch was on your wrist. But something different seems to be happening now. It is not yet clear if this is a bug, a change or a rolling test.
So why should it be a change? Well, Google just updated the authentication processes for Google Wallet on the phone.
As the company pointed out on April 17, “Contactless payments from Google Wallet just got safer. Before making a payment, you’ll now be asked to confirm your identity – either with a PIN, pattern, fingerprint or Category 3 biometric unlock – with the option to turn off verification for transit fares.”
Note that there’s no mention of which device it’s referring to, so it could be both watches and phones.
It’s not the end of the world to press a pin, but it’s really less convenient than sticking your watch in the card reader and looking smug when the person behind the counter says, “I’ve seen it on a phone but not on a watch’ or just feeling full of myself?
