Wear OS 6 Wants to Fix Everything You Hate About Smartwatches

Google has just officially announced Wear OS 6 at Google I/O today. This was briefly mentioned during The Android Show: I/O Edition last week, and now we have a bit more details, including a developer preview launching later today.

One of the bigger changes in this update is going to be Material 3 Expressive, which was also announced last week. This is a new design for Pixel that is aimed at making the design different, instead of the same across every device and app. It uses new visual and motion components and is built from the ground up for round displays, like the round display on Pixel Watch.

For developers, Google has added new Tile components, including a new 3-slot layout. There are also optimized components that are now adapted for larger screens and features like the Edge Hugging button. And Google has also added more fluid navigation with TransformingLazyColumn and ScrollIndicator.

Developers will also see a few library updates, including improvements to ProtoLayout, including enhanced visuals and better Kotlin support, as well as the availability of Credential Manager API on Wear OS.

We also finally have more customization for watch faces in Wear OS 6. Google is providing new options for customizing the appearance of your Watch Face, using version 4 of the Watch Face Format. This includes animation state transitions from ambient to interactive. There is also a new API for building watch face marketplaces.

Other changes that Google is highlighting includes richer color schemes, and the Dynamic color themeing is finally coming to Wear OS. Now, the colors of the UI can match your watch face, it also gets updated typography and shapes.

Google also had richer media controls for podcasts which now will get a fast-forward, rewind, playlist access and other controls.

Google is urging developers to start developing for Wear OS 6 now, and has released the first developer preview as well as an update to the emulator. So you can check out Wear OS 6 without having a Pixel Watch.

The company has not yet announced when Wear OS 6 will actually be available, but we expect it to launch later this year. With rollouts to partner smartwatches coming soon after.

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