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Google announces a new version of Wear OS based on Android 11 with Snapdragon Wear 4100 support
Google has announced a new version of Wear OS, now based on Android 11, bringing along support for Snapdragon 4100 platform and more changes! Read on!
Wear OS by Google, or Android Wear as some of us still keep calling it despite the rebranding years ago, does not see as much attention in the daily news, but the wearable OS is still alive and kicking. New watches from Suunto, OPPO, and Xiaomi, as well as the launch of the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 SoC for wearables, have rekindled interest in Wear OS to a degree. Now, as part of its #11WeeksOfAndroid announcements, Google has announced a new version of Wear OS that is based on Android 11 and supports Snapdragon Wear 4100.
Xiaomi Mi Watch is unapologetically inspired by the Apple Watch, but costs only $185
Xiaomi's Mi Watch is the company's new Wear OS-powered smartwatch which runs a custom watch-specific version of MIUI and looks a lot like the Apple Watch.
Xiaomi has been well-known for its fitness products, especially the Mi Band lineup. In the past, Xiaomi has depended on another Chinese company Huami – the maker of Amazfit smartwatches – for these Mi Bands. Today, alongside the launch of the Mi CC9 Pro and the Mi TV 5 Series, Xiaomi announced its first true smartwatch called the Mi Watch, which comes with LTE connectivity and looks like an unapologetic copy of early generations of the Apple Watch from the front. It also comes with a custom UI called MIUI for Watch based on Google's Wear OS.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 Platform is here to bring better battery life to Wear OS smartwatches
The Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform has been announced. It's the latest chipset designed to bring better battery life to Wear OS smartwatches.
While much of our attention has been focused on the latest smartphone innovations, wearables have quietly been doing great. IDC projects the shipment of wearable devices to double by 2021, and by 2022, smartwatches are projected to account for 40% of all shipments of wearable devices. Much of the growth is thanks to the success of the Apple Watch brand even though the number of smartwatches running the Wear OS platform continues to grow. Wear OS smartwatches just don't offer the kind of battery life you'll get from smartwatches running Apple's watchOS or Samsung's Tizen OS, and that's because Wear OS smartwatches have mostly been using the old Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform. Today, the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform has been announced, and the many improvements in Qualcomm's latest wearable platform are poised to bring great battery life to upcoming Wear OS smartwatches.
Spotify Lite ported for use as standalone app on Wear OS
You can now finally use Spotify LIte on Wear OS devices without depending on your phone! XDA Recognized Developer ported an APK for Wear OS.
Spotify is undoubtedly one of the most popular music streaming services on any platform, including Android. They released their first earnings report just two months ago, where they stated that the service crossed 75 million paid users. Spotify's Wear OS application has been available for a while, but it has some limitations. Currently, it can only control what's playing on your phone. So, it's more of a remote than a standalone app. Sure, you can pause, skip, and play tracks, you can also adjust the volume, but everything happens on your phone, which must be connected to the wearable device via Bluetooth. You could just sideload an APK file of a regular Spotify app on your watch, but it's not designed for small wearable devices.
TicWatch Pro has a layered display and up to 30 days of battery life
Mobvoi just released their new smartwatch, the TicWatch Pro, which offers a layered display that can achieve up to 30 days of battery life.
Mobvoi is the ex-Googler founded company that makes accessories like speakers and watches. They got backed by Google in 2015 and they've had a good partnership through Wear OS (formerly Android Wear) and Google Assistant ever since. Their two previous smartwatches, the TicWatch S and TicWatch E, were praised by the community as both of them rocked a stylish design and an affordable price tag. Today, the company released yet another smartwatch, but it's no longer a mid-ranger.
Samsung Gear S4 may be called "Galaxy Watch" and run Wear OS
Twitter leaker Ice Universe is reporting that Samsung is coming back to Wear OS with a device called Samsung Galaxy Watch, which is the Gear S4.
Samsung gave what was then called Android Wear (now Wear OS) a shot back in 2014 with the Samsung Gear Live. Since then they have focused on their own Tizen OS for Gear smartwatches. Infamous Twitter leaker Ice Universe is now reporting that Samsung is coming back to Google's smartwatch OS with a device simply called the "Samsung Galaxy Watch."
Open-source WearOS alternative "AsteroidOS" now available for several smartwatches
AsteroidOS was first available on the LG G Watch, but version 1.0 of this release has it working on 6 total smartwatches with work being done on some others.
We've been covering the progress that has been made with AsteroidOS dating back to March of 2016 and continuing on to today's release of version 1.0. AsteroidOS is an open source alternative to Android Wear (now Wear OS) and has been developed by Florent Revest. It's based on a flavor of Linux for smartwatches and has slowly been adding support for additional devices since it was first announced. While it was first only available on the LG G Watch, version 1.0 of this release has it working on 6 total devices (below) with work being done on some others.
BLOCKS announces Project OpenWatch: an Android Oreo-based OS for smartwatches in collaboration with CarbonROM and LineageOS
BLOCKS, the folks behind the first modular smartwatch, have just announced an Android Oreo-based OS for smartwatches called Project OpenWatch. CarbonROM and LineageOS are joining the initiative.
Android Wear's market may not be where some people were hoping by now, but there are some who continue to stay dedicated to the platform. Smartwatch fans disappointed with Android Wear have looked to the Samsung Gear S series for an evolving ecosystem, but there will soon be another contender. BLOCKS, the folks behind the first modular smartwatch, have just announced an Android Oreo-based OS for smartwatches called Project OpenWatch.
[Updated List] Here is the List of Android Wear Smartwatches That Will Get Android Oreo
The Android Wear update based on Android Oreo is starting to roll out. Here's the list of devices which are confirmed to get it, and which ones may get it.
Android Wear, Google's Android-based smartwatch OS, is being updated to Android Oreo this week. Android 8.0 for Android Wear devices doesn't bring a huge amount of features, rather a few bug fixes and general performance improvements. It does still bring one or two other changes though, such as Touch Lock which will allow an owner of the device to lock the touchscreen, so submerged waterproof smartwatches won't suffer from random taps on the touchscreen.
How to Potentially Fix Lag Issues on Android Wear 2.0 Smartwatches
Here is a tutorial on how to potentially fix lag issues on any Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch. No extra apps, ADB, or root access is needed!
Many users, since upgrading to Android Wear 2.0, have reported severe slowdowns where the device lags heavily and appears to freeze up at times. Often, waking the screen of the device and attempting to slide a notification card up will crawl the watch into a slow, unusable mess for a brief period of time. Lots of menus lag, and doing nearly anything renders the device almost useless.
Facer Receives an Update to v4.0, Adds Watchmaker Series, HTML5 Widgets and More
Version 4.0 of Facer adds a lot of new features including HTML5 widgets, the Watchmaker Series for official watchmaker brands, and verified accounts.
Smartwatch sales may not be booming like they once were, but there is still a dedicated community behind them. Some smartwatch owners will just switch between the pre-installed watch faces, while others will look for unique ones created by the community. There are watch faces provided by 3rd-party developers in the Play Store, and then there's Facer. Facer has come a long way since its inception and the team behind it has just released a big update to version 4.0.
How to Sync Do Not Disturb Mode Between Android Wear and Your Phone
A tutorial on how to sync Do Not Disturb mode between your Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch and your Android smartphone using an app and an ADB command.
Android Wear 2.0 has been a much-awaited update, with watches such as the Moto 360 Sport only now getting it while the update came out in May for the Huawei Watch. With the Wear 2.0 update came many improvements, including the device now being able to install applications directly on your watch and a keyboard to reply to messages. One of the downsides of the update is that do not disturb mode no longer synchronizes between your smartwatch and your phone. In this tutorial, we'll show you how to sync do not disturb mode between your two devices. We gave a shout out to this application back in May, and today we'll show you how to set it up!
How to Pair Android Wear Watches to New Phones without Factory Resetting
A tutorial on how to pair Android Wear smartwatches to a new phone without factory resetting. Also useful if you flash a custom ROM and don't want to reset!
Android Wear as a smartwatch operating system is not without its faults, but sadly while the more tech enthusiastic are likely to use it, the same people are also likely to install custom ROMs on their phones. This in most cases means having to wipe your smartwatch every time you switch to another flavor of Android on your device. There is, however, a simple way to bypass setting up your smartwatch from scratch when you buy a new smartphone or flash a new custom ROM on your device. This method does not require root on either the phone or watch, but it does require a few Android Debugging Bridge (ADB) commands. This has been tested on the Huawei Watch on Android Wear 1.5 and Android Wear 2.0, however it should also work to pair Android Wear watches with any new smartphone. If for some reason your watch is already rooted, you can ignore this tutorial and simply use the Reset Wear Client to pair Android Wear without factory resetting directly from your smartwatch.
Android Wear 2.0 on the Huawei Watch
Check out the latest Android Wear 2.0 running on the Huawei Watch.
In this new video from XDA TV, Eric takes a look at the Android Wear 2.0 update on his Huawei Watch. Android Wear 2.0 brought a lot of significant updates to smartwatches. With the update now being available on the Huawei Watch, this device might find its way back on to your wrist.
If you're a proud owner of the original Huawei Watch, then we have some good news for you: the Android Wear 2.0 update is now finally rolling out for your device. Android Wear 2.0 is a big step forward for the Wear platform as it brings in many much-needed improvements as well many new exciting features. Wear 2.0 was available for the Huawei Watch in the form of a Developer Preview for a while now, but it's only now that the device is getting the official stable update.
Minimal & Elegant Watch Face with Tasker integration [Giveaway]
Minimal & Elegant watch face can display Tasker's variable. It's a powerful watch face engine with plenty of options to customize your watch face.
If you are a Tasker fan and own a smart watch, you are probably aware of AutoWear.
Casio's WSD-F20 Rugged Smartwatch will be the First Android Wear 2.0 Smartwatch
Casio has released the WSD-F20 rugged smartwatch, the first Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch. Read on to know what's new in this watch!
Android Wear did not have an exciting 2016 due to diminished consumer interest leading to major companies holding off on major smartwatch releases. All of that hopefully changes this year with the launch of Android Wear 2.0. While Motorola will not be releasing a new smartwatch based on Android Wear 2.0, Casio remains committed to the Android smartwatch and will be releasing a new rugged smartwatch known as the WSD-F20.
Mobvoi's Journey from China to a Global Ticwatch 2
Mobvoi has been on quite the journey to success in China. Now that they are going global, what does this mean for the Ticwear 2?
Article Updated: 7/14 11:30am CT
Android Wear 5.1.1 OTA Downloads
The Android Wear 5.1.1 OTA update is rolling out now, but here are the direct download links to help you skip the queue (installation guide included).
The much anticipated Wear update that brings wrist flick gestures, a new launcher, and wifi support is now rolling out to wearables far and wide, though staggered releases never come fast enough. Luckily, we have you covered with a series of direct download links for immediate consumption! The zip files for each model are still making their way to Google servers as we speak, so let the following guide serve as your always-up-to-date resource for cutting the update queue and being the first to flash the Wear 5.1.1 OTA!
When Google announced Android Wear early last year, the starter devices from LG and Motorola showed off exquisite watchfaces in their promotional content, creating as much hype for watchfaces as there was for apps of the new form factor. Come Google I/O when the first devices were made available to the public, developers and users everywhere were disappointed by the lack of an official watchface API. While some chose to make use of unofficial methods, others waited patiently and were rewarded when Google announced that the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for Android Wear would bring an official API with it. In the time since then, we've seen watchfaces of every shape and style, from regular analog and digital faces to information-driven and luxury ones. Despite the large selection being beneficial in most ways, the variety sometimes makes for a hard pick, and today we simplify that choice by looking into some of the best watchfaces available on Google Play