Google Maps is now available for the Apple Watch. Should you get excited?

Google very quietly released an Apple Watch version of its Maps app, one that puts a streamlined, simplified version of its iOS counterpart on users' wrists. The update also means that those who rely on their Apple Watches to tell them where to go – or where they're going – are no longer forced to use Apple's own Maps app for directions.

The wrist-sized version of Google Maps is stripped down compared to the iPhone version – or even when compared to Apple Maps. There are no actual maps displayed on the watch face, only directional arrows and voice prompts that give turn-by-turn directions. According to TechCrunch, the app will also save frequent destinations like "Home" or "Work" so that it can quickly provide directions – driving, walking and public transit – to those locations when you launch the app on your phone.

The app is available as a free download and, so far, is only the second app that Google has designed for the Apple Watch. The first, Google News and Weather, was met with a universal "meh." MacWorld was just as harsh on the Maps app, sneering that they think "it’s obvious Google didn’t put a whole lot of work into its watch app." But it's something that the tech giants can build on – and probably will.