Josh Hendrickson
Google’s Wear OS platform is getting an update after a long drought. The smartwatch OS has gone without significant updates or new features for over a year. But that’s about to change; Google plans to update Wear OS to improve performance, simplify pairing, and add updates for weather and handwashing.
Wear OS hasn’t seen the adoption Google wanted. Unfortunately, Wear OS devices tend to be slow and finicky, and both the hardware and the OS is to blame. The good news is, Wear OS will see better processors soon. The better news is, Google says it will update Wear OS to perform better.
The company says the next Over The Air (OTA) update will simplify the pairing process, and make it faster to access info and apps. Between the updates and CPU improvements, users can expect a 20% speed improvement in startup time for apps.
But faster speed isn’t the only thing the OTA update will bring. Google is also revamping the weather experience. The new design lets you see weather info at a glance. You’ll get an hourly breakdown of the weather, important weather alerts, and more.
The latest update also includes a handwashing timer. Fighting the current global pandemic is a multi-stage process, and washing your hands for long enough is an important step. The new timer should be a little more accurate than singing Happy Birthday twice.
Source: Android Developers via Android Police
