If you commute in Metro Manila, you know the drill: You book a bike, stand on a crowded curb, and obsessively check your phone every few seconds to see if your rider is actually moving or just spinning in circles on the map. It’s stressful.

HUAWEI Philippines’ latest update fixes this specific pain point. As of this week, the company has officially rolled out Angkas support for its wearable lineup, meaning you can now track your ride status directly from your wrist.

This isn’t just a basic notification mirror, either. The integration is a proper companion app that pulls real-time data from the Angkas platform. Once you’ve booked a ride on your smartphone, your watch takes over the monitoring duties. You can see if the driver is still searching, assigned, or on the way. It displays the Angkas driver’s name, the plate number, fare details, and the estimated time of arrival for both pickup and drop-off.

For anyone who often rides on the back seat of a motorcycle, this is a huge comfort upgrade. It allows you to keep your phone safely zipped in your bag while you navigate terminal crowds or wait in the rain, only glancing at your wrist to see when your rider arrives.

The best part about this rollout is that it isn’t limited to the absolute newest, most expensive hardware. HUAWEI has pushed the update to a wide range of devices, including the budget-friendly HUAWEI Watch Fit SE and the HUAWEI Watch Fit 3 and Watch 4 lineups.

Of course, the heavy hitters are covered, too. If you’re rocking a HUAWEI Watch GT 4, Watch GT 5, or Watch GT 6 Series, you’re good to go. It’s also live on the Watch D2 and the Watch Ultimate, with support landing soon for the Watch Ultimate 2 and the numbered Watch 4 and 5 models.

It’s a smart play by HUAWEI. Wearables are often marketed on fitness metrics, but for the average Filipino user, “Can it help me survive my commute?” may also be a relevant question.

Payments and typhoon alerts

While the Angkas integration is the headline, the update includes two other features that arguably add just as much daily utility.

First, GCash Watch Pay already plays nice with iOS. Previously, cross-platform limitations often made payment features tricky if you paired a HUAWEI smartwatch with an Apple iPhone. Now, iPhone users can bind their accounts via the HUAWEI Health app and use the QR code on their watch to pay for coffee, groceries, or even that Angkas ride. It’s a seamless loop: Book on the phone, track on the watch, pay with the watch.

SEE ALSO: HUAWEI, GCash bring Watch Pay to iOS users. Here’s how to set it up

Second, and perhaps more critical given our weather patterns, is the PH Weather and Earthquakes app, which is powered by local data from Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) and Phivolcs (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology).

This means you’re getting localized alerts for typhoons, volcanic activity, and tsunamis straight to the wrist, alongside global earthquake data from the USGS (United States Geological Survey). In a country where the weather can turn from “sunny” to “stranded” in 30 minutes, having meaningful, government-backed data on your wrist is a legitimate safety feature. This feature, now available on the mobile app, will soon be introduced to the HUAWEI Watch 5 and the HUAWEI Watch Ultimate 2.

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