Google is shutting down its answer to the Apple Watch's Digital Touch

Google has revealed that it will be shutting down the Together watch face feature in Android Wear on September 30th. As first reported by Android Police, the latest version of the Android Wear app informs users of the coming shutdown when they attempt to configure Together. Google says that "many of the best features of Together will be integrated directly into" the forthcoming Android Wear 2.0 update, due to arrive sometime this fall.

Together was launched just about a year ago and is best described as Google's answer to the Apple Watch's Digital Touch feature, and let two Android Wear users link their devices and keep in contact with each other directly from a special watchface. It let the two users share emoji, location, photos, and doodles with each other without having to dive into an app. Google notes that in addition to emoji, Android Wear 2.0 will let users communicate via Smart Reply, a keyboard, or handwriting in a number of messaging services.

Android Wear 2.0 isn't expected to arrive until this fall, and it's not clear if it will come before Together shuts down on September 30th. As Android Police notes, first-generation Android Wear watches are not likely to get the update to Wear 2.0, which means they'll lose the Together feature without gaining any of the platform integrations coming with the update.