Announced at I/O 2024, Google will release the first preview of Wear OS 5 to developers. As for the changes in this build, both are housed underneath the hood and on the surface which developers can test, where one of the most impactful upgrades for users is better battery life.

Improved battery life

Google mentioned Wear OS 5 will offer longer battery life particularly when it is tracking workouts. For instance, it notes that tracking a marathon will conserve 20 percent of the watch’s battery life in Wear OS 5 compared to Wear OS 4.

Google also added that battery enhancement can also be applied with other workouts, suggesting the performance optimization happens on both software and hardware levels.

More adaptive and insightful watch faces

Wear OS 5 continues to build on the Watch Face Format as well, which was introduced with Wear OS 4. Such watchfaces are becoming more intuitive and adaptive in the latest Wear OS version. At the same time, Google will add more dynamic and playful watch faces aptly known as “flavors” and new complications dubbed as “goal progress” and “weighted elements.”

Google's Wear OS 5 Developer Preview
Wear OS 5 Developer Preview adds more adaptive watch faces and complications. / © Google Image source: Google

In addition, developers will now show an extensive view of weather-based watch faces. Wear OS 5 will be able to present hourly forecasts, UV index, and temperature on top of current conditions.

There is also added support for even larger screen smartwatches in Wear OS 5 (that’s because future smartwatches are supposed to evolve in this direction), enabling UI elements to fully utilize the number of available pixels.

New grid view in the app launcher

Another piece of information that was discovered but not mentioned in the release is a new app grid layout. This was discovered by developer Mishaal Rahman (via Android Authority) and can be activated from the settings. The same feature was first available to developers in Wear OS 4. However, it seems the new build will provide access to regular users.

There’s no official launch date of the final Wear OS 5 build yet or which smartwatches will run on the new platform, although the rumored Google Pixel Watch 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 are the most likely candidates.

Do you think Wear OS 5 is shaping up one of the more exciting smartwatch OS updates in years? Let us know in the comments.

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