Wear OS

There’s an increasing trend of using Android Wear as the OS for specialty fitness wearables. At CES, Casio announced a rugged sensor-packed Wear device that also has a monochrome watch mode. Polar is continuing in that line with an Android Wear watch that doubles as an exercise wearable with an optical heart rate sensor, GPS, and activity tracking.

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From 9to5Toys.com:

Smartwatches and fitness trackers have enjoyed quite a bit of popularity over the last 18 months as manufacturers like Apple, Motorola, Huawei and others vie for the prime wrist real estate. By and large, you need to get into the $200+ category to really cash in on a full featured smartphone accessory. A new product called the Ticwatch 2 from Mobvoi hit Kickstarter today with a $99 price tag and big dreams. Its clean design is attractive, and with GPS plus heart rate monitoring built-in, it also checks all the boxes…

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Samsung’s Gear S2 may not be an Android Wear watch, but it’s definitely one of the most popular smartwatches available for your Android phone outside of that platform. According to a report out of SamMobile today, a forthcoming update coming to the Gear S2 is bringing a lot of new features — namely, the ability to install suggested apps directly from the watch, set your own photos as a watchface background, and more…

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Android Wear 2.0 has been updated to beta today with the release of its second Developer Preview. The update packs new functionality and bug fixes, the most notable of the bunch being that third-party developers will now have the ability to add wrist gestures to apps. The Android Platform is also now at API 24 to match Nougat as of this release, but unfortunately the Preview is still only available for two watches…

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Following reports that Google is building its own Android Wear devices, new renders show off the possible look of the two watches. One looks very much like an LG Urbane, while the other is quite sleek, elegant, and compact. The image also shows off an extremely customizable default watchface that might be a part of Android Wear 2.0.

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According to a report this afternoon out of Android Police, Google is in the process of developing two new Android Wear devices with the company’s recently-announced “assistant” built in. The site’s “multiple sources” say that the watches will be launching sometime later this year (“after the new Nexus phones”), with one being more fully featured and physically larger than the other, more modest offering…

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Slack is quickly taking over messaging for businesses around the world, but its Android application isn’t exactly amazing, especially when it comes to feature support. Thankfully in its latest update, Slack has not only fixed a few outstanding issues, but also added full support for Android Wear.

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Android Wear 2.0 went official following Google I/O and as we learn everything it’s capable of, we’re also finding out who will and will not get it. Just like with previous updates, just about everyone will be getting it, but this time around Google is dropping two models, the original LG G Watch and the 1st generation Moto 360.

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Update 6/8: More watches are now receiving Android Wear 1.5, including the second generation Moto 360 and Moto 360 Sport. Release notes on Motorola’s website point to security and stability improvements, as well as enhancements for Moto Body.

Android Wear 2.0 will introduce a bevy of new features for users and developers when it is released in Q4 of 2016. Before that major update, however, it appears that a more incremental version of Wear is rolling out. Several Samsung Gear Live users have already received Android Wear 1.5 and are only seeing minor changes.

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Back at Google I/O 2016, Google took the wraps off of Android Wear 2.0. The Mountain View company has added a lot of new features in this version, but one thing we’ve noticed is that — despite many hands-on articles and videos floating around — most publications haven’t really shown everything that Android Wear 2.0 really has to offer.

Let’s fix that. Follow along with us as we dive into everything you already know and everything you might not already know about Android Wear 2.0…

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As part of an update to the Outlook application for Android, Microsoft has announced today the addition of a new Android Wear watch face. This new watch face brings email on your wrist to a whole new level; rather than simply giving you notifications and simple actions from Android Wear’s notification feed, everything can be seen and accessed from the watch face itself. Let’s take a quick look…

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Rumors of an HTC-made Android Wear watch have been tossed around for more than a year now. Before Mobile World Congress last year, many thought that the company would finally launch its offering as it was rumored that the company had a wearable planned to be shown off. In reality, the company launched a fitness wearable made in partnership with Under Armour. That device never even hit the market.

Recently, well-respected leakster Evan Blass suggested that the long-awaited Android Wear offering from the company would finally launch the week of June 6th. Now, the same guy is pulling that claim, suggesting that HTC has delayed its wearable once again — to the fall…
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Google announced Android Wear 2.0 at I/O 2016, featuring more customizable watch faces, the ability to go without your phone when you are running or want to track a hike, AI-powered Smart Reply, a handwriting recognition mode, and more. But the question remains: which devices are going to get the update? Read on for a complete list of devices we know are getting 2.0…

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Update: Samsung has refuted the Fast Company article in a statement: “We disagree with Fast Company’s interpretation. Samsung has not made any announcement concerning Android Wear and we have not changed our commitment to any of our platforms.” In terms of commitment, Samsung has shown little towards Android Wear in the past two years. However, the company likely wants to keep the possibility of making future Wear devices open.

Despite being one of the launch partners for Android Wear in 2014, Samsung will no longer make Android Wear devices. Talking to Fast Company, Samsung says no devices are in the works or being planned. The company will instead focus on using Tizen OS for wearables.

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Google has announced a new version of Android Wear at I/O this morning. In the biggest update to Android Wear so far, version 2.0 has been redesigned with a focus on more customisable watch faces, fitness and messaging.

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