After neglecting it for too long, Google has finally redesigned Wear OS for the many smartwatches that run on its platform. With the Wear OS revamp, Google's director of product management for Wear OS, Dennis Troper, told us it focused on three major areas. The first is helping people stay connected to the information and people they care about with better quick and glance-able interactions. The second is giving people more proactive help with a personalized Google Assistant that better anticipates your needs throughout the day. And thirdly, helping people live healthier lives with Google Fit. SEE ALSO: Redesigned Google Fit makes daunting fitness goals more achievable "Our studies show that people interact with their watches in five seconds or less on average," says Troper. "So it's really important that when people are connected to the information that they care about that we offer this in a really accessible and glance-able way and when you need to interact with it, it's a very simple and actionable way. We've taken a close look at this and made important improvements." The new version of Wear OS will look as familiar as the old one. The watch face will still be the first thing users will see. However, swiping on it will do completely new things. Google Assistant working for you Swiping right brings up the Google Assistant. You still have the handy microphone button at the top, as well as the date and weather below it. Scroll up on the Google Assistant screen and you'll get more personalized information to help you go about your day. Because the Google Assistant has access to things like your location, calendar, and email, it can use that data to surface relevant suggestions at the right time. A smartwatch should be able to predict what you want to do instead of waiting for your to ask it something. Image: google For example, if it's going to rain later in the day, the Google Assistant might suggest you bring an umbrella before you leave the house. Or if you made a hotel reservation for an upcoming trip, the Assistant might show directions to get there. Have an Amazon package delivery coming soon? You probably want to see some tracking information. "We want to help people stay ahead of their day with timely and relevant information," says Troper. "We believe the Assistant can be a lot more useful throughout the day, not only waiting until you ask it a question, but also working on your behalf, giving you useful and personalized information throughout the day." Quickly see your Google Fit health tracking Swipe left from the watch face and you'll see stats from Google Fit. Image: raymond wong/mashable The other big change is Google Fit integration. Troper says their research told them most people use smartwatches to stay healthy. With this knowledge, they decided to make the Google Fit data more accessible. Swiping left from the watch face brings up the redesigned Google Fit. The widget updates in near real-time and shows rings for the two new fitness measurements (Move Minutes and Heart Points) that Google created in partnership with the American Heart Association and World Health Organization. For more detailed Google Fit data, you'll need to launch the app. Smarter notifications The more proactive Google Assistant and more accessible Google Fit are the two biggest updates in the new Wear OS, but there are a couple of smaller ones worth mentioning. Swiping down from the watch face still brings down the "Quick Shade" with toggles for various settings, but now there's a button for "Find my phone" (sends a beep tone to play on your phone so you can locate it) and Google Pay. Now you'll actually want to use Google Pay. Image: google Previously, if you wanted to use Google Pay on your smartwatch, you'd need to launch the app, which was a multi-tap process. Now, you can make a payment much quicker. It's not as quick as double-pressing the side button on the Apple Watch to fire up Apple Pay, but it's way faster than the old way. Google's also made notifications easier to manage at a glance. Swiping up from the watch face calls up your stream of notifications. Each notification is more compact so that you can see more on one screen. Tap on a notification and it'll expand, and where appropriate, there will be smart replies. Wear OS's product lead Stefan Frank told me these smart replies are based on your individual communication style and the Google Assistant will learn based on how you respond, using words that better fit you. Finally some smartwatch love "These improvements are designed at the core to make the information easily accessible so you can have those quick interactions that you're used to having with your watch and then get on with your life in the real world after those five seconds," says Troper. I haven't personally worn a Wear OS smartwatch with the new update so I can't say if they're a better experience on the daily. But everything Troper and his team showed me certainly makes sense. As someone who's worn and used many different kinds of smartwatches, all of the changes in the new Wear OS seem like a no-brainer. With the new Wear OS, smartwatches not called Apple Watch might be worth considering again. Now, we just need a compelling smartwatch to buy and wear. Hopefully, that rumored Pixel Watch from Google comes true later this year.<doc-sep>Today we’ve got lots of Wear OS news. Google announced a big redesign of the wearable OS, detailed which watches will get it, and three partners announced watches running it. 9to5Google Daily is available on Google Play, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players. https://9to5google.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/08/9to5google-daily-126.mp3 New episodes of 9to5Google Daily are recorded every weekday. Subscribe to our podcast in Google Play or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are delivered as soon as they’re available. Host: Links: Feedback? Drop us a line at gtips@9to5g.com. You can also rate us in Google Play, Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Pocket Casts to help more people discover the show! FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:<doc-sep>
After seemingly neglecting the platform for a while, Google today announced a big redesign for Wear OS that promises a wide variety of new features and improvements. Now, we’ve been able to confirm exactly which smartwatches will be getting the update… In case you missed it, Google has yet again redesigned Wear OS, and this time things are looking up in a lot of ways. This update focuses in primarily on making it easier to access the Assistant, fitness data, and your notifications. Assistant now includes proactive information, Google Fit is just a single swipe away from the watchface, and notifications now appear in a “stream” rather than showing individual cards. This redesign improves a lot of sore points Wear OS had, so for obvious reasons many users are excited to see this update roll out. Google didn’t initially provide any information on which watches would be getting the update, but we’ve since gotten the official word from big G. In short, pretty much every Wear OS device is getting updated with this redesign. Google confirmed to us that if a watch was updated to Android Wear 2.0, it will be getting this redesign. That means popular watches including the Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro, Ticwatch E/S, Fossil Q lineup, Huawei Watch/2, and many others will all be updated with this new software. Who won’t be included? Five smartwatches won’t be getting this update. This includes: LG G Watch Samsung Gear Live Moto 360 (2014) Sony Smartwatch 3 Asus ZenWatch (v1) Google says that this redesign will be rolling out to everyone “over the next month.” More on Wear OS: Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: