PSA: Many Moto 360 owners now receiving Android Wear 1.3 update
The Moto 360 is perhaps one of the most — if not the most — popular Android Wear smartwatches, and now it appears that the device’s update to Android Wear 1.3 is now rolling out to the masses. The update was officially announced last week, and comes packed with new interactive watch face support, a new watch face called “Together,” and other great new features…
Motorola has officially mentioned the update on their support site:
We are rolling out a new Android Wear software update for Moto 360 by Motorola. With this update we have added support for new features and fixed some issues to improve your experience… This software update will be rolled out in phases to Moto 360 users over the next few days. When you receive the update, you will receive a notification on your watch.
According to the company, the update packs all of the features Google mentioned in its official blog post. You’ll get the aforementioned interactive watch face support, the Together watch face, Google Translate for Android Wear, a new Weather app, notification privacy improvements, and of course the usual bug fixes and improvements.
Here’s the full change log:
| Interactive Watch Faces | Interactive watch faces make it easier to stay connected. With just a tap on your watch face, you can change its design, reveal more information, or even launch a specific app.
You can download interactive watch faces from Play Store. To set up, touch and hold on the current watch face, then scroll left/right to select the one you just downloaded. You can also select it from the Android Wear phone app. |
| Together Watch Face | Two Android Wear users can stay close throughout the day by turning their entire watch face into a space for sharing. Once you’ve paired your watch face with a partner’s, you’ll be able to share things like photos and emojis, and more.
To set up, touch and hold on the current watch face, then scroll left/right to find the Together watch face. You can also select it from the Android Wear phone app. |
| Google Translate for Wear | Translate a conversation into any of the 44 available languages, then flip your wrist to show the translation to someone else. When they respond in their own language, flip your wrist back, and you’ll see in a translation of what they’ve just said.
The watch must be connected to a phone with internet access via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. |
| Weather Microapp | Shows current weather conditions and four-day forecast for your current location. To open the weather microapp, swipe left on the watch face, then scroll down and tap Weather. |
| Privacy improvement for notifications | Your notifications won’t show in full screen until the watch is oriented in a way that only you can see it. This feature prevents others from reading an incoming notification when your watch screen is pointed away from you. |
| Bug Fixes | A variety of system optimizations to improve performance and stability. |
Make sure that your watch has at least 80% battery, and also remember to keep your Android Wear companion app up to date for good measure. Motorola says the update is rolling out “over the next few days,” so be patient as it makes its way to your watch. Or just keep mashing the “System updates” button in Settings. It’s up to you.
On the off chance that you have a home-made cable for connecting your 360 to a PC, you can download the Android Wear 1.3 OTA now.