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Latest Android Studio Canary offers Android Wear developers a digital crown emulator

Android Studio, a Google-built tool for developers to use when making Android applications, is focused on making it easy for developers to quickly visualize their apps in action. To further improve the Android Wear developer experience, Google is introducing a new tool that emulates the rotating digital crown found on some smartwatches…

Although digital crown functionality is supported by Android Wear out of the box, third-party applications already on the Play Store have to be updated to benefit from the new hardware. This new emulator helps them do just that.

The latest Canary build of Android Studio is the first to include the new Android Wear emulator. After updating, developers can implement the code required for digital crown support and test that it works properly without needing to first transfer the application to physical hardware.

Currently, there are only two smartwatches on the market that actually have a digital crown, the LG Watch Sport and Watch Style. Google obviously sees the benefit of having a rotating button to help users navigate through Android Wear, so hopefully, we will see more devices in the future feature this new hardware functionality.

If you’re a developer or if you would just like to know more about the new emulator, you can head on over to the Android Studio support page for more details. Check out the video below to see how the emulator works.

 

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Avatar for Justin Duino Justin Duino

I’m a writer for 9to5Google with a background in IT and Android development. Follow me on Twitter to read my ramblings about tech and email me at justin@jaduino.com. Tips are always welcome.


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