Tech

Google previews Wear OS 4 and hands it over to developers

Google has shown a preview of Wear OS 4, the new version of the operating system for wearables which will be released in a stable version at the end of the year and which promises improvements in battery life; more accessibility features; better synchronization with the mobile phone and restoration in the case of a change of clock; new tools to create watch faces and new supported apps such as WhatsApp.

The Google I/O keynote has gone a long way and in addition to the announcement of its own hardware with the presentation of the Pixel Fold foldable, the Pixel 7a mid-range smartphone and the Pixel tablet, there has been software, a lot of software, with everything that comes of Artificial Intelligence technologies applied to Google services and applications as the big star of what was seen at the conference.

Wear OS 4 announcement is important to Google. For many years, its partners have used alternative systems (mainly Samsung with Tizen) and have cleared the way for Apple, which sweeps the segment as it happens in tablets and -in our opinion- for the same reason. Unity is strength and just like Android on smartphones, Google has to convince its partners that Wear OS is the best platform they can use on wearables.

Wear OS 4: WhatsApp and more

The popular instant messaging application, WhatsApp, will be available on WearOS next summer. This means that it can be used directly from a wearable, with key capabilities such as starting new conversations, receiving calls or sending voice messages. There’s no doubt that this is a welcome feature, available for older versions of WearOS as well, but serving as a promotion for the release of the new version.

Google shows Wear OS 4 in preview

Among the novelties of the version, the new Watch Face Formata declarative XML format that will allow developers to create new watch faces on Wear OS and publish them on Google Play. With this new design language, developers will be able to more easily create digital or analog designs and customizable elements for them.

Owners of watches with a Google system will also find it easier to trade it in for a new one, with a new system of backup and restore support to safely transfer data and settings from an old watch to a new one. Or, if they’re setting up a watch from mobile, any permissions on the phone will be transferred to the watch.

The new operating system promises battery life improvements, a key aspect in wearables. Also new and improved accessibility features, like a new “faster and more reliable” text-to-speech engine, Google says.

The preview is only the beginning and the Internet giant promises to announce more news in the coming months. At the moment the preview and the emulator are available for developers to start preparing for the release of this Wear OS 4 in late 2023.

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