This week has been a busy week for Samsung already, and with the Galaxy S5, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and of course the Gear Fit heading to shelves a little later this year, Samsung have a lot more devices in their portfolio. As with any mobile device, there’s only so much that the parent company can do for it, after that it’s up to third-party developers to make the most out of the hardware and deliver fresh and intriguing experiences. Without third-party developers, Android wouldn’t be what it is today, and the same trend applies to wearabales. The Pebble – or any other smartwatch for that matter – wouldn’t be half as functional if it weren’t for third-party apps. A great example of this is the Remote Widget app for the SmartWatch 2.
Samsung is taking the same approach with their new wearables and today, during their Developers Day conference in Barcelona, the Korean giant announced a trio of new SDKs that will empower third-parties to develop great apps for the devices. There are SDKs available for the Gear 2, the Gear Fit and S Health as well. The Gear SDK allows people to create apps for the new Tizen-based Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. There’s presumably going to be a fair learning curve for those that developed for the Gear as that was Android based, but Tizen isn’t as different under-the-hood as we might think, so there shouldn’t be too much of a curve there. The Gear Fit is a different beast altogether and isn’t running Tizen, and is rather running something more lightweight altogether. Developing for the Gear Fit shouldn’t be too difficult, and Samsung have all the tools ready for you. The S Health SDK is perhaps the most intriguing here, as it finally brings S Health into the mainstream, developers will be able to get data collected from the app out and use it for their own purposes. Presumably, this will enable developers to make apps for the Gear line that integrate with S Health.
It’s also nice to see first-party OEMs like Samsung release SDKs like these, after all that’s what we really want. Besides, wearables still have a long way to go to prove their worth in the mobile arena, more apps and services will help instill a confidence in them, that’s for sure.