Android Wear engineering director David Singleton said Android Wear's latest update will also support always-on apps as well.
"Got your hands full? You no longer need them to check your news and notifications. Instead you can just flick your wrist to scroll through the stream.
Your apps and contacts are now just a tap away from the watch face. Just touch the screen, and you’ll be able to start apps and send messages immediately," Singleton said in a blog post.
He also said the always-on apps will stay visible as long as a user will need them, instead of disappearing when a user drops his or her arm.
Still, Singleton said the screen will only be full color when a user is actively looking at it, "so you get the info you need, and you save on battery life."
The Android Wear upgrade will also have support for Wi-Fi, along with support for GPS and offline music.
"As long as your watch is connected to a Wi-Fi network, and your phone has a data connection (wherever it is), you’ll be able to get notifications, send messages, and use all your favorite apps. And if you really do forget your phone, you can always ask your watch where it is," Singleton said.
Meanwhile, Singleton said the Android Wear update now has support for "hundreds of different emojis, directly on the watch screen."
"We’ll recognize your work (no art degree required) and send it via message or text," he said.
Singleton said the updates are coming to all seven Android Wear watches in the next few weeks, starting with the new LG Watch Urbane.
A separate report on 9to5google.com said Google has redesigned the menu screen so contacts and apps are available in the forefront of the user interface.
"You can scroll between the apps screen, contacts, and then lastly the old-style quick-action Google Now screen," it said. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
