With major performance improvements and features, Samsung released the One UI Watch 5 Beta for the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 Series. These features include a new watch face, new health tracking features, better battery life, personalized heart rate zones, customization, and more. These are the first smartwatches to receive an update to Android 13, and the update is based on Wear OS powered by Android 13. Previous versions of One UI Watch were based on Wear OS 3.x powered by Android 11, an older operating system version.
While it sucks to pull the rug under from app and platform developers who may have already been preparing for Android TV 13 (eg. LineageOS already ships several Android 13-based builds for TV devices), I'm glad that they're skipping a release.
It never made sense for TV to do…— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) June 7, 2023
Android 12-based Wear OS is the latest Android operating system for smartwatches. It is still one version behind phones, tablets, and TVs. However, Wear OS 14 will skip Android 12. It’s too early to say why Google skipped Android 12 for OS 4, but it is expected to bring major improvements and features.
One UI Watch 5 is based on Android 13’s Wear OS 4.
Google debuted Wear OS with Android 8.0, Wear OS 2.2, based on Android 9, and Wear OS 3, co-developed with Samsung to unify its Tizen-based smartwatch platform with Wear OS. With Wear OS 4, Google can independently add the latest features to Wear OS, such as the new visual design inspired by Android 12 and Fitbit exercise tracking.
⌚️ One UI 5 Watch Beta for Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 5 is now open for registration. Slots are limited, so sign up now to try out the latest features and improvements! 👀https://t.co/Q1SIx3NjmK#OneUI5 #GalaxyWatch #Beta https://t.co/OJWqol8a40
— AndroidGreek (@AndroidGreek) June 9, 2023
Wear OS 4 has useful innovations, utilizing the Material You style with colorful and customizable options. Few new features are debuted, as it uses the same base as the previous version available with an update. The One UI Watch 5 beta is available in Korea and the US, offering new faces, tiles, Bud’s controller, quick access to the timer, setting albums, staying as your watch face, and more.
One UI Watch 5 is powered by Android 13, hinting that Wear OS 4 is also powered by Android 13
by u/hatethatmalware in Android
The underlying codebase of Wear OS 3.0 was upgraded to Android 11, and users can expect a new version of Wear OS every year, just like Android’s mobile OS. It is expected to be rolled out to other Wear OS smartwatches. Wear OS has improved since Samsung switched from Tizen to Wear OS in partnership with Google.
Material for smartwatches, like the Google Pixel
Launching this fall, Material You is a Google design principle that allows users to customize their mobile experience with a preferred color palette, making it easier to see across apps and widgets regarding smartwatches. Material You for smartwatches means users can change colors to match the watch face’s hue and represents a visual layout in Google’s design for consistency.
The dynamic theming will also apply Android’s Material You color scheme across the Wear OS UI, enabling icons in settings and other elements in the UI to be accented in the color of the watch face. Wear OS 4 will also make it easier to customize the watch according to the user’s preferences and improve battery performance and text-to-speech improvements. Recently, Google standardized the watch face format. Material You was first added with Android 12, released in 2021, and is now expanding to Wear OS-based One UI 5.
One UI Watch 5 is powered by Android 13
by u/hatethatmalware in GalaxyWatch
Google keeps getting WearOS tiles.
As previously announced, Google has updated its note-taking app for Wear OS smartwatches. The company has made the app compatible with the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 Series. The update can be found in the Google Play Store on the Wear OS Watch, and the tile can be added to the watch face, allowing users to quickly access their notes. Choosing the Note option shows the pinned note first, followed by four lines of text per note or list, which is limited in terms of background colors.
Users can also add images to notes, which are easier to access by swiping left or right on the watch face. Multiple tiles can also be added to a single note for quick access. However, the company did not add an AOD mode to it. A similar single-note widget has also been added, showing that Google is improving WearOS. Users can open the entire note with a single tap and add a reminder, pin, or archive, which does not allow them to access the main feed.
Google began rolling out the update earlier this week, and the tile includes two buttons for creating a new note or a list. There is also a browser button for syncing, and the Google Keep logo is at the top of the page. This shows Google’s commitment to modernizing the old app, presumably ahead of the Pixel Watch this fall, utilizing Tile’s Material Library.
