Wear OS smartwatches are now sending reminders to wash your hands

Wear OS, Google’s operating system for smartwatches and wearables, now sends periodic reminders to wash your hands, one of the best ways to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

First spotted by Android Police, this new feature appears to be part of the v5.4.0 update for the Google Clock app. The new feature is added into the Clock application and will send alerts every three hours to head to a sink and scrub your hands; once you are ready, you can start a 40-second countdown. Though, if this alert is intrusive to you, Android Police notes that you can disable the feature.

The novel coronavirus has been wreaking havoc for several months now across the globe. One of the most effective ways to protect yourself against the infectious disease is to wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, or as long as it takes for you to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. Several web-based applications have been developed by users, including one that will tell you which two celebrities you should sing “Happy Birthday” to while you clean your palms.