Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
With theGoogle I / O 2024opening keynote having come and gone yesterday , showcasing Google ’s various AI initiatives withGemini AIand more , news about the Wear OS took second fiddle — until now . After revealing that Wear OS grow its drug user base by 40 % in 2023 , Google has just announced Wear OS 5 , along with a slew of new watch case updates and health - tracking features .
Here ’s what ’s unexampled .
Wear OS 5
wear down OS 5 is gestate to make it by and by this year , but theDeveloper Previewhas already yield us a good idea of what to expect . One of the big focus is enhanced battery life , which has long been a complaint of smartwatch users . Google suppose performance has improved , with improved exercising - tracking efficiency . run a marathon on Wear OS 5 should take in up to 20 % less power than fall apart atomic number 8 4 .
Google is also encouraging developer to release more power - efficient apps on Wear OS , with a newfangled guide on how to conserve top executive and battery . It ’s rarefied that you have a Wear type O ticker that can last more than a full day of use of goods and services , so it ’s good to see Google take that issue seriously .
Wear OS watch face updates
The newWatch Face Formatwas first introduced on Wear OS 4 , removing the want for viable code when create a watch side . This is more geared for developer , but check brass following the new Watch Face Format should require less upkeep and few update than those build up with the Jetpack Watch Face libraries . According to Google , 30 % of the watch faces on the Google Play Store already utilize the format , and Google now has the next interpretation of Watch Face Format quick for Wear OS 5 .
Among the feature you get in the Watch Face Format are tone , Complications , and Weather . With flavor , developer now have preset shape for the watch face , allow developers and users configure attractive combinations of sentinel face . complication have also been append , allowing developer to show progress toward goal and weighted element . At a glimpse , weather data is also at last available on Watch Format , allowing substance abuser to see weather information for the next hr , day , and beyond .
As part of its strategy to advance developers to chuck the JetPack libraries , Google is impose restrictions on Complications for watch face using the onetime genus Apis . There are also Google Play publishing limitations to raw watch faces built with the Android X and Wearable Support Library . Clearly , the intention is to sunset the one-time library sooner or later and labor everyone to Watch Face Format .
Android Health features
Android Health is also getting some new features , though most are geared toward developers . For example , the Google Fit app is becoming part of Android Health , andHealth Connectis becoming the new urge solution for storing and sharing fittingness data on Android telephone set .
On the consumer end , have on OS 5 introduces sustenance for newfangled datum types for lead . This includes advanced running prosody , including flat coat contact time , stride duration , vertical cycle , and perpendicular proportion . There ’s also supporting for debounced goals , think of you could get instantaneous metrics for things like pith rate , length , and f number . This is intended for users who desire to maintain a sure range during use , like persist or row .
