Wear OS watch.. Together with Samsung, Google unveiled Wear OS 3 in May 2021 in an effort to revitalize the platform. The decision was successful in saving Google’s wristwatch from oblivion and near death. The two businesses once again collaborated to present the Watch Face Format, a new declarative XML format that simplifies the creation of Wear OS watch faces, at I/O 2023, two years later. Until now, watch faces for Android smartwatches could be created by developers using the outdated Jetpack or Wearable Support libraries instead of using the new Watch Face Format. However, this could soon alter in the future.
Wear OS watch
Mishaal Rahman on behalf of Google sent an email to developers telling them to utilize the Watch Face Format in order to “preserve the appearance of watch face complications on upcoming releases of Wear OS.” Watch faces that use the Wearable Support library or the older Jetpack Watch Face library will soon only be able to display minimal information in complications, such as the battery level, the number of unread notifications, the date, the time, the global clock, and an app shortcut. Though they still use the outdated standard, watch faces from device manufacturers sometimes may display extra complications.
In comparison to the previous formats, the new Watch Face Format has several restrictions even though it is more user-friendly, performs better, and uses less battery life. The new watch face style does not permit intricate animations or in-app purchases, as several developers on Reddit have pointed out.
Okay. Given that the Watch Face Format has less features than the Jetpack or Wearable libraries, why is Google requiring developers to use it? The new hybrid Wear OS interface that Google announced at MWC 2024 may hold the key to the solution. It seems that an extremely low-power co-processor microcontroller (MCU) can render watch faces created using the Watch Face Format. In comparison to the Snapdragon or Exynos AP used in the majority of Wear OS watches, the latter consumes very little power, saving a substantial amount of battery life without sacrificing functionality.
Google could guarantee that hybrid Wear OS wearables like the OnePlus Watch 2 offer exceptional battery life regardless of the watch face you select by requiring WFF in future Wear OS updates. Hopefully, the firm will enhance the format to accommodate more intricate animations and other data sources.
