Be Google’s OS, as Android Wear, as some of us still call 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, such as the launch of the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 SoC for wearables, have rekindled interest in Wear OS. 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.
Wear OS based on Android 11
Google did not explicitly announce “Wear OS on Android 11” on its blog post, but did mention that several Android 11 features will be coming to Wear OS. We asked Google for a confirmation here, and a Google spokesperson informed us that the new Wear OS version is based on Android 11. For reference, the current version of the wearable OS by Google is still based on Android 9 Pie, so this jump was necessary.
The new Wear OS OTA update that will arrive in the fall adds a few tweaks, which are summarized below:
- Faster access to info
- Simple coupling process to make onboarding easier
- Improvements to the SysUI for more intuitive controls for managing various watch modes and workouts
- CPU Core enhancements that improve up to 20% speed in startup times for apps
- Improved support for LTE
- Support for Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 and 4100+ platforms
In addition to these changes, there are a few more changes that we have previewed in the past. For example, Google has built a handwashing timer in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which encourages users to practice good hygiene.
The new update will also come along with the new Weather Tile design that was unveiled earlier this month. This new design makes it easier to read information while on the go, and still maintains access to an hourly weather forecast to help users plan ahead and provide information about key alerts in the area.
Furthermore, Google also promises to make it easier for developers to build wearable apps. You can expect to see wearable-oriented enhancements and changes on Android Studio, Kotlin and Jetpack libraries. Androidx.wear 1.1.0 Release Candidate Building has also been released, making it easier to build and test buildable apps.
What are your thoughts on Wear OS based on Android 11? Let us know in the comments below!
