Smartwatches as a whole are in something of an awkward phase, but that's even more true for Android Wear. As such, the fact that the platform's vice president of engineering is jumping ship doesn't bode all that well for its immediate future.
Per 9to5Google, Stripe's CEO Patrick Collision made an announcement on Twitter that David Singleton was leaving Google in order to join the online payment company as its new lead of engineering.
Singleton first joined Google in 2006, and in addition to Android Wear, he also helped lead the development of Google Fit. For what it's worth, Singleton was present at Google I/O 2017 in June to talk with attending developers about the future of Android Wear.
Android Wear still receives software updates here and there, and while we certainly don't expect Google to completely abandon it because of Singleton's absence, this isn't a reassuring development either. Android Wear 2.0 launched this past February with what looked like a bright future, but lackluster hardware and developer support has turned it into something of a dumpster-fire at the moment.
