New Wear OS has been planned to be developed by Google and Samsung together. Google’s Wear OS and Tizen-based Samsung’s smartwatch platform will fuse to create an optimized operating system for all Android smartwatches. Till now the operating system has been termed Wear OS, which may be changed later on. There will be a handful of new performance and feature-based improvements in the upcoming Wear OS. Let’s have a look-
Faster than Previous
Smartwatches need to be faster and responsive. Your smartwatch is your wingman. Google and Samsung focused on the performance of the upcoming Wear OS. They are advertising that there will be a 30 percent faster app opening with smoother UI and animations in the new OS compared to the current one.
Battery Life
Battery life plays a very important role in a smartwatch. Consider this way, your smartwatch will be communicating with your device to pull up preferred notifications all the time. On a small device, a long-lasting battery is a challenge to have. Samsung Smartwatches provide decent battery life. Therefore, Samsung will use their hardware experts to work on the project to ensure better battery life.
“Samsung implemented our best technology to provide optimized performances, and advanced sensor batching and low power display technology to ensure an efficient and long-lasting battery”
– Janghyun Yoon, Samsung
Galaxy Watch 4 to Avail New Wear OS
Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy Watch 4 will be powered by the new Wear OS. The company is willing to use this OS in their upcoming smartwatches with some native hardware integrations like rotating bezel for example. Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Active will be the initial devices to have upgraded Wear OS.
Improved Google Map Features
Recently it has been leaked that Google is working on their Maps to provide better support in smartwatches. There might be a new interface in the Maps app where you can navigate without keeping your smartphone with you. This leak suggests that cellular data integration and support for the new OS shortly.
Spotify and YouTube Music App
Currently, Samsung smartwatch owners can download songs to listen offline from Spotify. The feature will be included in the new Wear OS as well. Apple watches don’t come with this unique feature. However, Google confirmed that like Spotify, YouTube Music will be available on Wear OS with the availability of offline listening to songs.
Fitbit Activity Tracking Integration
Fitbit has some very useful health and fitness tracking features. Google will integrate some of the most popular features from Fitbit to Google’s new OS for smartwatches. In return, future Fitbit health and fitness trackers will be powered by the Wear OS and receive supports from Google.
Manufacturer’s Customization
Google Wear OS will not put a fence around for the manufacturers. Google doesn’t want to lose potential brands like Garmin, Fossil, Citizen, and so on to skip this operating system. Therefore, Google will allow manufacturers to make their own customized watch faces on top of the operating system. They can also include their signature features.
“All device makers will be able to add a customized user experience on top of the platform”
Easier and Faster App Development
The latest Android development styles with Jetpack and Kotlin will be used by the Wear OS. As a result, developers will not find it easy to develop Apps by adding Tiles, health features, watch faces, responsive pages, etc. There will be indicators to give feedback on what is running in the background.
New OS Update on Current Smartwatches
Google said they will be pushing updates after the launch of the new version of the new OS, but only some of the current smartwatches will be lucky to get that.
Samsung will not be updating their previous Galaxy Watch lineups. Samsung has promised three years of support for those watches counting from their launch dates. Therefore, Tizen OS will not die immediately after the release of Google’s new Wear OS.
Wrapping Up
That is all for Google Wear OS so far. It is expected that the OS will get the same popularity like Android OS has right now. Google is putting their best effort to make an all-in-one solution for smartwatches of all kinds to be compatible with Android and iOS. Samsung’s cooperation will lead Google to achieve the best OS ever developed for Smartwatches.
Comment below if you know something about the Wear OS that we have missed. Share your thoughts with us. Tell us what you like us to cover next. We will be happy to hear from our Friends!
– Xplnrs
