INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Google's Wear OS is the new name for Android Wear, so if you were expecting to see Android Wear 3.0, please reset your smartwatch software
expectations.Google's official reasoning for the name change is to prepare for the diverse future of smartwatches
There are more than 40 Wear OS watches today that launched with Android Wear software, but many have already been given the new name and
logo in a software update. That has been an easy change for Google to make
New features, however, are the bigger story, and we fully expect whatever Google had planned for Android Wear 3.0 is in fact coming in a
Wear OS update later in 2018.Our first glimpse may be at Google IO 2018 today
We're sifting through Wear OS rumors and providing you with details of what we hope Google has planned for the future of its wrist-worn
wearable software.Cut to the chaseWhat is it Google's new name for it's smartwatch operating systemWhen is it out Rolling out to newer
watches nowHow much will it cost It'll be free of chargeWear OS name changeWhy the new name Google's official announcement on March 15, 2018
pointed to the fact that one in three Wear OS users owns an iPhone
Android Wear as a name is rather limiting."We’re now Wear OS by Google, a wearables operating system for everyone," said Google in an
official statement."We’re announcing a new name that better reflects our technology, vision, and most important of all—the people who
wear our watches."Simply put, even if you own an iPhone X, you shouldn't be turned off from buying into the Wear OS ecosystem and sent into
the arms (wrists) of the Apple Watch 3.Wear OS release dateWear OS smartwatches are due for an update, way more than Google changing the
That's really not all we wanted from Android Wear 3.0."You’ll begin to see the new name on your watch and phone app over the next few
weeks," said Google in March and that has been the case for most modern Android Wear watches
We're thinking that's just the start though.Well, it's been "a few weeks." It's time, right Google will likely save the true, feature-driven
Wear OS details for Google IO 2018 today, May 8.A significant Wear OS update is overdue
Android Wear launched in June 2014 after being announced in May of that year
It did see a sizable Android Wear 1.1 update roughly a year later in March 2015, but then Google stuck to minor tweaks between then and the
jump to Android Wear 2.0 in February 2017.What watches are getting Wear OSGoogle has provided a list of devices that are currently being
updated with the new Wear OS branding.Whether all of the watches below will get the new features when the next update comes around remains
to be seen, but we have high hopes for most on this list considering each is getting the Wear OS branding.Wear OS update news and
rumorsThere’s nothing official to report yet on Wear OS features that we anticipate seeing at Google IO, but as soon as we hear anything
we’ll update this article.Usually we've heard a bit more about a new software update by now, so Google is clearing doing a good job at
keeping the details under wraps
Hopefully that means there are some big new features the company doesn't want us to hear about yet.What we want to seeWe might not know
anything about Wear OS yet, but we know what we hope Google is working on
The following seven things top our list.1
More appsAndroid Wear didn't have the kind of app problem that plagued Windows Phone, but it could definitely use a wider selection in the
It's trailing the kind of developer support we see from Apple's watchOS, which will see a watchOS 5 update at WWDC 2018.That’s surprising
All of the Wear OS smartwatch combined aren't as popular as the Apple Watch series, but it’s a vicious circle – without the apps these
smartwatch are never likely to reach Apple Watch-level popularity
So we’d like to see a wider selection with the Android Wear 3.0 release
We don’t know how Google will manage this, but we have faith.2
Better efficiencyTwo problems that plague many Android Wear devices are weak battery life and middling performance
Faster chipsets and bigger batteries (if manufacturers can find a way to squeeze them in) are the most obvious solutions to that, but Google
could probably help at a software level.If it can make Wear OS more lightweight and efficient than previous versions then we might be able
to get noticeable speed and life boosts on existing hardware.3
Greater support for iOSAndroid Wear and the forthcoming Wear OS update now work reasonably well with iOS, but the experience is still more
limited than if you have an Android phone, as, for example, notifications can’t be interacted with in as many ways, leaving you unable to
respond to WhatsApp messages and the like.There’s also no iMessage support, and while we can’t see that changing, as it would presumably
require additional cooperation from Apple, we’d like to see Google work to get the core experience up to the same standards when paired
with iOS as it is with Android.4
A smoother roll outOne of the downsides of Android on phones is that new versions of the operating system often take a long time to arrive
on handsets, if they arrive at all
That’s partially down to the heavy skins manufacturers put on their devices, meaning they have to work a lot harder to get the update
functional.This should be less of an issue on Wear OS, since while manufacturers offer some light customization it’s broadly the same
across devices, yet Android Wear 2.0 still took a long time to arrive on some watches and many older ones didn’t get it at all.For Wear
OS, we want every watch that currently has Android Wear 2.0 to get the update (unless there’s a hardware reason it can’t) and for all of
them to get it in a timely fashion.5
Let you use your watch as your passwordIf you’ve got an Wear OS device, you can have your Android phone or Chromebook automatically unlock
when connected to it, but the same skill can’t be extended to a Windows or Mac computer.Since we’d wager most people have one of them
this is a big omission, albeit an understandable one, since they’re not running a Google operating system
If at all possible though we’d like Android Wear 3.0 to let your watch unlock non-Google devices.6
Cast contentGoogle Cast is a great way to get media from your phone to your TV or stereo, but the same feature doesn’t exist on Android
Wear.Arguably it would be less useful on a watch, but there are certainly times when it would be handy to be able to cast music from our
wearables to a Chromecast Audio.7
Interface tweaksWith version 2.0 Google polished Android Wear’s interface, but there’s still work to be done to make interacting with
these tiny screens easier.We want Wear OS to further polish and refine the interface, but in terms of specific improvements we’d love to
see an easy way to get back to a workout or call screen from the home screen.On our phones there’s a green bar at the top for calls and
the recent apps menu for everything else and neither is more than a tap or swipe away, but on Wear OS navigation doesn’t feel quite so
simple, and a single tap – whether accidental or intentional – can leave you far from where you were before.g2Zuouv2JXv3dqLDZhYH5G.jpg#
