Google has announced a number of updates to Android Wear, giving developers the option to create interactive watch faces.
Until now, developers were able to display information on watch faces, but they weren't able to make them interactive. What this means is that users will be able to launch apps and pull information straight from the watch face.
Watch faces can now also have several screens of data, allowing users to essentially have access to multiple "faces," which could come in handy in different situations. This also lessens the need for users to exit their watch face to enter an app, which could end up saving battery juice. To accommodate the new features, Google has set up a new section in Google Play specifically for interactive watch faces.
An example of a new interactive watch face is from Bits, which essentially shows a series of small circles, each one displaying different information. One of them shows the number of unread emails in the user's inbox, another shows the temperature, another how many steps the user has taken and so on. Tapping on one of the circles will bring its information to the center of the screen and expand it, both in terms of size and in terms of the information it displays.
Google itself has also released a new interactive watch face. The face is called Together, and it seems to be Google's answer to the Apple Watch's Digital Touch. Users can link with a contact and then send things like emoji and photos. It is quite limited in that both users have to be using the Together watch face and users can only share with one person at a time, but it's still an interesting idea, even if the idea really came from Apple.
A second major update to Android Wear is the fact that Google Translate for Android Wear now supports a huge 44 languages and can work with the built-in microphone on the watch. Users simply have to speak into the watch, flip their wrist and then they will be shown the translation. Users will not need to tell the device which languages are being used, as it will automatically detect them. Google will likely add more languages as time goes on.
Via: TechCrunch
