Wear OS (the new rebranding for Android Wear) has just received its first developer preview image. This preview updates the platform to Android P and with that brings some important, new features.
This first Wear OS preview only brings with it five new features, one only able to be noticed by developers. Also, the preview can only be installed on the Huawei Watch 2 and Huawei Watch 2 Classic. If you’re ready to install the Android P image, you can look forward to these new features.
There’s a new default Dark UI system theme, which Google hopes improves glanceability for Wear apps. This theme should change all those white and light backgrounds to either a dark grey or black color. Google also has limited background activity so that apps will no longer run unless the watch is on a charger. Limiting activity should improve performance with the general usability of your watch.
These last two features should enhance battery life for your watch. First, when off your body, radios will be turned off including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi , and cellular. Also, when Bluetooth is disconnected, Wi-Fi will no longer automatically connect. The only exception to this feature is if an app is requesting high bandwidth.
Google does state in the developer notes that this initial preview is not intended for daily use, so be wary. They also provide instruction on how to properly flash the preview on your watch using a command prompt.
Hopefully, we see more Android P preview images for all of the platforms we have available. Are you planning on flashing this preview on your device?
