Based on materials from theverge.com
Android Wear has received a new and also the biggest update. Google has added a number of new features that change how the watch is used, from Wi-Fi support to hand-drawn gestures and emoji. Each of them is small in itself, but all together promises that even a device a year ago will seem new. They also assure that, purely in terms of functions Android Wear does not lag behind, and in some ways even surpasses Apple Watch. This could be important when talking about Google's plans to release Android Wear for iPhone.
By far the most fun feature of the update is the support for hand-drawn emoji. Instead of the usual answer or strange attempts to 'talk to the clock', you can draw a picture, and the system will make every effort to recognize it and find the appropriate smile. In fact, it is cool in both cases – and when the 'task' is done correctly, and when a complete failure comes out.
The idea was born during the company's hackathon and is included in the company's recently announced app. Team Android turned the one-time token into a full-fledged feature, but they needed to make it potentially work for millions of people. It all ended up with other Googlers in the role of test subjects, who helped get an idea of some kind of arithmetic mean for handwriting – all those thumbs up, hamburgers, and, of course, even poop.
“Volunteer Googlers had to submit hundreds of sample designs,” says Jeff Chang, lead product manager for Wear. – We tell them: 'Hey, draw a dog, draw on the screen!'. They do it over and over again, and as a result, we get a convenient way to quietly reply to a message in a situation when you cannot speak or when emoji better than words convey your idea. And it's anyway faster than the emoji choices that Apple are offered on their watch. What's more, there is a simple menu of recent emojis and 25 of the most popular, so you don't have to draw anything at all. '
While emojis are used to reply to messages, you need to be on your phone to receive messages. Something Google is changing here too. Android Wear now supports Wi-Fi. This means that you can go beyond the reach of the device by Bluetooth and still receive calls, messages, search for something on the net as if the phone were in your pocket. Wi-Fi was already built into a number of devices, but the trump card still had to be pulled out of the sleeve.
You can move around the house as you like, if this house is large enough, and stay in touch with a phone forgotten somewhere. But the most interesting thing is that it doesn't matter which Wi-Fi network your phone is connected to, you will connect to it using Google cloud services. Also, Google automatically recognizes open networks, and your watch will connect to them.
Chang says: 'Even with this newfound freedom, devices on Android Wear are not meant to stand on their own. The 'brain' is the telephone. Wi-Fi support is more so that the phone continues to serve you even apart from you. ' It's the same with buying a new watch that has already received an update: it will still need to be connected to Android – a smartphone.
Two more changes in the update have to do with what you see on the screen and how you interact with it. The first is a low power mode when you are not looking at the screen. This allows you to display only a few information, usually in black and white, without the need to turn on the screen with a gesture. Google has already done this for watches, but now they are opening this feature for applications. It is especially useful for shopping lists, fitness apps, and music management, Chang says. Developers can now see how often the information you see is refreshed in low power mode, but most importantly, there will be less fuss.
The second change concerns the interaction with the screen. The update adds a new gesture system that allows you to control them without touching the screen. You can move to the next card by turning your hand outward. The same, but inside returns the previous card. Sure, this will make it more enjoyable to use a watch with a bezel like LG G Watch R or future Urbane, but what about working with notifications on a packed bus or subway car? Chang says that the team took care of this and accidentally doing something with the watch is difficult. And if this still happens often, you can simply disable the option.
“Of course, we have done a lot to reduce the number of false positives. The good news is that you won't do anything terrible, it's just a way of flipping back and forth. ' In other words, turning your wrist won't accidentally call your boss. At least not in this version.
The first watch to receive an update out of the box is the LG Urbane. Other Android Wear devices will receive it as part of an update that kicks off in May, although Chang emphasizes that the choice will be up to manufacturers to add Wi-Fi to future devices or update old ones.
Now that Apple Watch has appeared, the topic of comparing watches on different platforms is more relevant than ever. And a lot of people are looking at what Google can answer in areas where they didn't feel confident. And new features such as the ability to keep your own applications running all the time, use emoji in a very simple and easy way and not feel constant dependence on a smartphone, may allow Android Wear to win or at least establish parity in functions. Only Google has to prove that it can quickly roll out the update to existing watches and further confirm that Wi-Fi connectivity will marginally damage battery life. Well, if there is support for Android Wear for iPhone, watch wars can become almost fiercer than smartphones.