In 2017, Android Wear 2.0 introduced the standalone app model and an on-watch Play Store. The Wear OS applications that no longer appear in the Play Store’s “Apps on your phone” section are technically old for still using the “ legacy embedded app model.” As we’ve previously explained: What has changed with Wear OS app installs? In the Google Play Store accessible on your wrist, the “Apps on your phone” section - underneath the green search button - no longer shows all those applications. New Wear OS users, which includes those buying a new watch or resetting their old wearable or phone, might not have access to all the apps they’ve been using for years. Developers would ideally update and modernize applications to fix this, but end users can still easily install and sideload those Wear OS apps. This means that buyers of new wearables or those that need to reset their devices might not see all the same apps as before. In recent weeks, Google deprecated the legacy Wear OS app install method for new phone-watch pairings.