Wear OS, which grew out of Android Wear, at all stages of its development left me with the impression of some kind of decorative product. Despite the fact that in fact this platform is in the top of the most popular operating systems in the world, the thought never left me that this popularity is inharmonious, but rather tortured. Apparently, Google itself realized this at some point, and decided to rename Android Wear to Wear OS in order to minimize associations with Android. But this somehow slowed down the development of the platform. At least until now.
Wear OS will receive a massive update this fall
Google today announced a major update to Wear OS. Most likely, it will be released in tandem with Android 11, because the company has scheduled its release this fall, specifying only the season and refusing to name even the month, let alone the exact date. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the work on adapting the update has not yet been completed, and Google does not want to give any promises ahead of time, so that later everything will not be replayed and not to disappoint users by postponing the release dates as in the case of the beta Android 11, which has been postponed three times.
What's new in Wear OS
Wear OS update is focused on improving watch performance
Despite what Google has described as a massive update to Wear OS, it's almost devoid of new features. One gets the impression that Google did not know at all that innovations were an integral part of major updates. However, it makes no sense to argue with the scale of the update either, because the company's developers literally shoveled the entire operating system and overclocked it and the devices it provides in the most radical way. However, there will still be something new.
In the next update, coming in the fall, we will improve performance by making it faster for users to access their data and reducing the launch time of installed applications. Moreover, we simplify the process of pairing to smartphones so that you spend less time pairing your devices. You will see dramatic improvements in the user interface that will provide more intuitive control of the different watch modes, explained in Google.
Wear OS update
The update will receive most modern smartwatches, but its actual release will depend on manufacturers
The promised performance boost will be especially noticeable on weak smartwatches, which have 1 GB of RAM or less. Despite the fact that by modern standards this is quite small, the vast majority of such watches on the market. Therefore, we can count on the fact that almost all models that are already in the hands of users will receive a healthy increase in performance. At the end of the day, reducing the time it takes to process commands, launch apps, and define workout types doesn't hurt anyone. It is another matter whether all manufacturers will agree to adapt a fresh update for watches that no longer bring them money.
In addition to the Wear OS system update, which will be released in the fall, Google plans to follow it with at least two more significant updates. The first will focus on transforming the Weather application, which the developers say will change beyond recognition. And the second – even bigger than the first – consists of updating the Wear OS kernel. After all, the current OS build is based on Android 9, and the upcoming update will transfer it to Android 11. This will provide deeper integration with compatible smartphones and fix a large number of shortcomings. A more detailed list of upcoming changes will be posted at a later date.