{"id":228172,"date":"2024-06-04T19:12:36","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T19:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/04\/android-developers-blog-whats-new-in-wear-os\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:17:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:17:53","slug":"android-developers-blog-whats-new-in-wear-os","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/04\/android-developers-blog-whats-new-in-wear-os\/","title":{"rendered":"Android Developers Blog: What\u2019s new in Wear OS"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/p>\n

Kseniia Shumelchyk<\/a>, Android Developer Relations Engineer, and Garan Jenkin<\/a>, Android Developer Relations Engineer<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Wear OS has seen incredible growth and advancements over the past year. With watch launches from Pixel, Samsung and more, Wear OS grew its user base by 40% in 2023 and has users in over 160 countries and regions. And Wear OS has expanded to more brands including OnePlus, OPPO and Xiaomi. This growth has been accompanied by heavy investments in performance and power optimization.<\/p>\n

In this blog post, we\u2019ll be highlighting some of the key updates we announced at Google I\/O this year, so let\u2019s dive in and explore the latest advancements in Wear OS and how you can make the most of the platform.<\/p>\n

Wear OS 5 Developer Preview<\/h3>\n

We\u2019re excited to be releasing the Developer Preview of Wear OS 5<\/a>, the next version of Google\u2019s smartwatch platform arriving later this year, based on Android 14. Central to our release of Wear OS 5 is continuing to enhance battery life.<\/p>\n

Wear OS 5 brings performance improvements over Wear OS 4. Tracking your workout is now more efficient; for example, running a marathon consumes up to 20% less power on Wear OS 5 than on Wear OS 4.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Wear<\/div>\n

Wear OS 5 brings battery improvements over Wear OS 4 for longer work out tracking<\/em><\/center><\/imgcaption><\/image><\/p>\n

To help you develop power-efficient apps on Wear OS, we\u2019ve released a new guide to conserve power and battery<\/a>. Be sure to take a look!<\/p>\n

Wear OS 5 is based on Android 14, which brings with it a number of developer-facing changes. Check out what\u2019s changed<\/a> and try the new Wear OS 5 emulator<\/a> to test your app for compatibility with the new platform version.<\/p>\n

Changes in Watch Faces development<\/h3>\n

Last year we introduced the Watch Face Format<\/a> as part of Wear OS 4, and we\u2019ve had a fantastic response, with 30% of watch faces in Google Play already using the format. It\u2019s been great to see what you\u2019ve all been able to create so far using the Watch Face Format!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Sample<\/div>\n

Sample Watch faces created with Watch Face Format<\/em><\/center><\/imgcaption><\/image><\/p>\n

We\u2019re excited to bring you the next iteration of the Watch Face Format with Wear OS 5.<\/p>\n

Additionally, we\u2019re announcing some changes to existing watch face development using Jetpack Watch Face APIs. Starting from Wear OS 5, we are introducing restrictions to complications for watch faces built with AndroidX<\/a> or the Wearable Support Library<\/a> that will apply to some data sources, as well as Google Play publishing limitations to new watch faces built with these libraries.<\/p>\n

Check out the Watch Faces blog post<\/a> for full details on the new features in Watch Face Format and changes to watch faces development options.<\/p>\n

Tooling and library updates<\/h3>\n

Jetpack Compose for Wear OS<\/span><\/h4>\n

Adoption of Compose on Wear OS has grown 200% in the past year, highlighting the ease with which Compose allows developers to build for the watch form factor. Recently we\u2019ve seen top apps such as WhatsApp, Gmail and Google Calendar built entirely using Compose for Wear OS, and it\u2019s the recommended way for building user interfaces for Wear OS apps.<\/p>\n

With the 1.3 release<\/a> of Jetpack Compose for Wear OS, we\u2019ve graduated a number of visual improvements and fixes from beta to stable.<\/p>\n

In the past year, we\u2019ve added features such as SwipeToReveal<\/a><\/span>, to give users additional means for completing actions, an expandable item<\/a>, to enhance the use of the smaller screen and show additional information where needed, and a range of WearPreview<\/a><\/span> supporting annotations, for ensuring your app works optimally across the range of device sizes and font scales.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Compose<\/div>\n

Compose for Wear OS previews usage in Android Studio<\/em><\/center><\/imgcaption><\/image><\/p>\n

And at Google I\/O 2024, we announced a lot of new updates with Jetpack Compose that help you build across form factors, including Wear OS, read more in this blog<\/a> and check out how SoundCloud supported more screens using 45% less code<\/a> with Jetpack Compose.<\/p>\n

Tiles and ProtoLayout<\/span><\/h4>\n

Wear OS tiles<\/a> give users fast, predictable access to the information and actions they rely on most. Version 1.4<\/a> of the Jetpack Tiles library, currently in alpha, introduces preview support <\/a>for Android Studio to help you quickly iterate on your Tile development while also helping you create optimal-looking tiles on a range of display sizes.<\/p>\n

\nPreviews can be seen starting in Android Studio Koala Feature Drop (Canary)<\/a>, with the following dependencies:\n<\/p>\n