Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Wearables
  3. News

Fourth developer preview of Android Wear 2.0 has arrived — here’s what’s new

China gets its own developer preview for Android Wear 2.0

By

Android Wear 2
Malarie Gokey/Digital Trends
The fourth Android Wear 2.0 developer preview is finally here, and it brings a number of very welcome updates to the upcoming operating system. In fact, according to a blog post from Google, there are a number of major changes to the operating system in developer preview 4, as well as a number of minor tweaks.

Android Wear has had a bit of a rough go of it in the past few months. Android Wear-based watches have really stopped being released, and Google pushed the launch of Android Wear 2.0 by a few months — it was originally set to be released before the end of the year, but now won’t be available until early 2017.

Recommended Videos

Perhaps the biggest change to Android Wear 2.0 is that apps, which can run natively on Android Wear without a companion app, can now offer in-app billing. These purchases can be authorized by users with a simple four-digit PIN number. Google has also introduced an API that will allow developers to cross-promote their phone and watch apps by sending users to the Google Play Store on a phone from a watch app.

Google has also reintroduced the swipe-to-dismiss gesture. For those who haven’t yet tested out Android Wear 2.0, it might come as a surprise to hear that early versions of the new OS didn’t allow users to swipe away notifications. Thankfully, that feature has now returned. Last but not least is the fact that hardware buttons on the watch are now mapped to “power” and not to “back.”

Related

The search giant has also released a developer preview of Android Wear 2.0 specifically for China. It looks like the preview will only be available for testing on the Huawei Watch.

“With Android Wear 2.0, apps can access the internet directly on Android Wear devices,” according to the Android Developers blog. “As a result, for the majority of apps, having a companion phone application is no longer necessary.”

Android Wear 2.0 is set to release in a few months, and will hopefully reinvigorate interest in the operating system. Google is obviously hoping that both developers and manufacturers will want to take advantage of the new changes.

Article originally published in December. Updated on 12-14-2016 by Julian Chokkattu: Added in news of Android Wear 2.0 for China.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper
Contributor
Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…
You can download Android 13’s first Developer Preview now
Android 13 concept.

Google today announced Android 13, the next major update to its Android operating system. While the company hasn't shared a lot of what is coming down the pipeline for consumers, it did hint that it would be focusing on a private operating system as it tries to win over converts from Apple's famously private iOS.

"People want an OS and apps that they can trust with their most personal and sensitive information. Privacy is core to Android’s product principles, and Android 13 focuses on building a responsible and high-quality platform for all by providing a safer environment on the device and more controls to the user," Google's Dave Burke, vice president of engineering said in a blog post.

Read more
Disappointingly, Wear OS 3 won’t be saving Android smartwatches for a while yet
Galaxy Watch 4 Classic on the wrist.

It all started out so well. Google working with Samsung and Fitbit on an updated version of Wear OS that would be faster, provide longer battery life, and enable more apps was exactly what we wanted -- an injection of effort, investment, and excitement into a piece of software that had stagnated for too long.

“It’s not just for Google and Samsung,” said Google’s Sameer Samat about Wear OS 3 at Google I/O 2021, putting our minds at rest, “it’ll continue to be available for all.” Excellent news, but what he actually should have said is, "available for all, eventually," because the software we hoped would be the Android smartwatch’s savior in 2021, won’t really be doing much saving for a while yet.
What’s the problem?
Wear OS 3 is available on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, and that’s the way it looks set to stay until the second half of next year. There’s an argument to be made that it’s right for Samsung to benefit from the software platform it co-developed first, but that’s not the impression Google gave, and not really the idea behind any of Google’s software generally. Android has always been for everyone, while Wear OS 3 isn’t just yet.

Read more
Android 11 update: Here’s when your phone is getting new software
Google Pixel 4a Front

Android 11 is here. The new mobile operating system isn't necessarily as groundbreaking as some previous updates, but it still brings several new privacy features, as well as some visual changes that should make accessing things like smart home devices a whole lot easier.

Of course, you might be wondering exactly when your phone is getting Android 11. The good news is that Android 11 is coming to more devices week by week. The bad news is that even months after it debuted, some phones still haven't received the update or only have early betas available. Still, some big names have rolled out the update to popular models — hopefully including the one in your hand.

Read more