You'd be forgiven for thinking of Wear OS as one of Google's forgotten children: The wearables platform isn't updated very often, and when it is, the changes tend to be minor.
But Google hasn't completely cast Wear OS aside. In a post on the Android Developers blog, the company outlined some of the changes that are coming this fall, and they're... well, better than what we're used to.
Google says apps will be easier to access and will start 20 percent more quickly. The company also says it'll improve the UI with more intuitive controls for managing various watch modes and workouts. Also, pairing with other devices will be simplified.
Google posted a photo of the upcoming weather experience on Wear OS to show off the new UI.
Besides these upgrades, Google is also bringing some new functionality to the table. The most important is LTE support — yes, it's not 5G, but it's better than nothing. The company also says it will "expand levels of performance with the new Qualcomm® Snapdragon Wear 4100 and 4100+ platforms," without offering any further details. Notably, the new Snapdragon chips should offer better battery life, which would be a much-needed improvement for Wear OS devices.
Google says it'll bring more improvements to the platform in 2021 but again, no details were offered.
Topics Google
