Put on OS 5 – the newest working system developed by Google for smartwatches – will not assist older watch faces on the Play Retailer, the corporate introduced on Wednesday. The incompatible watch faces embody these not developed utilizing WFF (Watch Face Format). Notably, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Extremely, launched on the Galaxy Unpacked occasion, have turn out to be the primary smartwatches to get the Put on OS 5 firmware and assist this new commonplace.
Put on OS 5 Watch Faces
In a submit on the Put on OS neighborhood discussion board, a Google consultant shared particulars concerning the adjustments coming with Put on OS 5. As per the corporate, solely watch faces which meet Google’s high quality requirements and efficiency might be accessible on smartwatches operating the brand new firmware.
Google says customers with smartwatches operating Put on OS 2 or later will nonetheless have entry to the prevailing non-WFF watch faces on the Google Play Retailer. Nonetheless, in the event that they switch their information to a brand new Put on OS 5 smartwatch, a number of the watch faces will not be carried over. Moreover, choose watch faces will not be out there for obtain both.
This variation is in lieu of the WFF which Google launched in 2023 in partnership with Samsung. It’s a declarative XML format that can be utilized by builders to design the looks of watch faces and set their behaviour. Watch faces developed utilizing WFF are claimed to require much less upkeep and fewer updates. Moreover, they’re additionally claimed to have a constructive impact on battery life. WFF additionally bundles the watch face editor in Put on OS, enabling customers to tweak watch faces as per their desire.
The corporate expects all watch faces on the Google Play Retailer to be developed utilizing WFF “in early 2025”. Nonetheless, the lately launched Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Extremely are the primary watches to come back with Put on OS 5. Subsequently, the replace could also be launched to different suitable smartwatches sooner or later.
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