Wear OS is getting a visual change of sorts as Google begins transitioning (renaming) from full-screen tiles to new ‘Wear Widgets’. These widgets come in two sizes: 2×2 large size and 2×1 small size. They look very similar to widgets on Android devices, and that’s by design. Google says that some third-party apps already support Wear OS widgets, benefiting both Pixel and Galaxy Watch.
Google confirms the first set of apps to support new Wear OS widgets
The company confirmed some of its early access partners that will bring Wear Widgets to Wear OS. The names include WhatsApp, Spotify, Peloton, and Todoist. The new Wear Widgets offer glanceable content and look similar to Android widgets. With this shared design system across Android and Wear OS, they help minimize watch developer efforts and make it easier to bring widgets to the Pixel wearables.
The company also notes that the new Wear Widgets are powered by Remote Compose, which is a new Android remote UI framework that’s “designed for out-of-app experiences” like widgets. The new system will apparently deliver richer animations, smoother interactions, and better adaptability across form factors (including phones and cars).
Wear Widgets are backward compatible with Wear OS 4 and above
Remote Compose can handle interactions and animations in Wear OS without waking up apps in the background. This will, in turn, also save battery life. Interestingly, the Wear Widgets APIs are also backward compatible with Wear OS 4 and above. On smartwatches that support horizontal widget carousels, like the Pixel Watch, large widgets can still appear like full-screen tiles.
Google also says that the Wear Widgets can now populate the Galaxy Watch Multi-Info tiles, which were previously only composed of Samsung’s own widgets. The Galaxy Watch 8 series introduced a new tile design in its Wear OS 6-based One UI Watch 8. This system allows multiple info and tool cards to stack in pages next to the main watch face. This move will make development easier. We’ll have to wait for Wear OS 7 to arrive to see what Wear Widgets bring to the table.
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