In preparation for the big Android Wear upgrade that’s on the way, Google’s Wear companion app has today been updated to take advantage of its new Wi-Fi syncing capabilities. The release also lets you manage multiple Wear watches on one phone.

Cloud sync is going to greatly improve your Android Wear experience, because it allows your watch to function almost independently of your smartphone. You are no longer confined to Bluetooth range when you want to get Wear notifications.

Once you’ve enabled cloud sync in the Wear companion app, your phone will continue to send notifications to your watch so long as it’s connected to a Wi-Fi network. That means that even if you leave your phone at home, you can still get notifications in the office.

Almost all Wear watches already have Wi-Fi built-in — Google just hasn’t taken advantage of it until now — but unfortunately, the original LG G Watch and the Asus ZenWatch are two that miss out.

As well as cloud sync, this Wear app update brings the ability to manage multiple smartwatches on one phone. So if you happen to have two, you no longer have to forget one to pair the other; you can stay connected with both simultaneously.

Personally, I’m not sure how useful this will be; I would much prefer the ability to connect my Moto 360 to multiple smartphones instead, given that I’m always switching between Android devices. But maybe that’ll come later.

If you haven’t already updated, you’ll find the latest Wear companion update in Google Play now via the link below.

• Google Play StoreAndroid Wear