Google is introducing a new version of its smartwatch operating system, Wear OS 5, into developer preview. This latest version, one of several announcements from the Google I/O 2024 developer conference, focuses on improved battery life and other performance improvements, such as more efficient training tracking. Developers also get updated tools for creating watch faces, as well as new versions of Wear OS tiles and Jetpack Compose for creating watch apps.
Battery life will be the main upgrade that consumers will appreciate, aided by improvements in how some of the software works. For example, with the training tracking updates, running a marathon uses 20% less power than the previous version, Wear OS 4, Google says.
The company also releases a developer guide to help them make more effective applications.
After last year’s release of Watch Faces as part of Wear OS 4, Google is updating the face designer that now powers 30% of watch faces on Google Play. To push more developers into the format, Google says it will now restrict certain data sources for complications built with AndroidX or the Wearable Support Library, and apply publishing restrictions to watch faces built with those libraries.
In addition, Jetpack Compose for Wear OS version 1.3 is released, with a focus on updates that help developers develop for various form factors, including Wear OS.
Meanwhile, version 1.4 of the Jetpack Tiles library, now in alpha, adds preview support for Android Studio to help developers create Wear OS tiles — the scannable screens that provide information or access actions for a WearOS app . Other improvements will help layout text and other data on tiles and help developers’ apps identify which of their tiles are being used.
Other updates include a new sensor panel for testing an app’s use of Google Health services and news Guidelines to create Wear OS apps responsive to different screen sizes.
Some of the new tools will be released Drop features Android Studio Koala (Canary).
