Google teamed up with Samsung to announce Wear OS 3 in May 2021 to help revive the platform. The move worked, bringing Google’s smartwatch back from near death and irrelevance. Two years later, at I/O 2023, the two companies again partnered tointroduce the Watch Face Format, a new declarative XML format that makes designing Wear OS watch faces easier. So far, developers could use the older Jetpack or Wearable Support library to design watch faces for Android smartwatches and not take advantage of the new Watch Face Format. But this could soon change in the future.
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Google emailed developers (viaMishaal Rahman) to inform them that they should use the Watch Face Format to “preserve the appearance of watch face complications on upcoming releases of Wear OS.” Watch faces using the legacy Jetpack Watch Face library or the Wearable Support library will soon be limited to showing basic data in complications, like the battery percentage, unread notification count, date, time, world clock, and an app shortcut. In some cases though, watch faces from device makers might show more complications despite using the older format.
you’re able to also find the announcement from Google on theAndroid developer’s page for wearables.
While the new Watch Face Format is simpler, performs better, and is more battery efficient, it has certain limitations compared to the older formats. Many developers onRedditpoint out the new watch face format does not support complex animations or in-app purchases.
So. why is Google forcing developers to use the Watch Face Format when it is not as feature-rich as the Jetpack or Wearable library? The answer could be thenew hybrid Wear OS interfaceGoogle unveiled at MWC 2024. Apparently, watch faces made using the Watch Face Format can be rendered using an ultra low-power co-processor microcontroller (MCU). The latter barely sips power compared to the Snapdragon or Exynos AP used by most Wear OS watches, resulting in significant battery savings without compromising on user experience.
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By making WFF mandatory in future Wear OS releases, Google could ensure hybrid Wear OS wearables like theOnePlus Watch 2deliver excellent battery life irrespective of the watch face you use. Here’s hoping the company improves the format to support new data sources and complex animations.
