Google has commenced the testing of Wear OS 5.1, its upcoming working system (OS) for Android-based wearables resembling smartwatches, in response to a report. Test builds of the OS are stated to have been noticed for the Pixel Watch 2 which means that it could be based mostly on a unique model of Android. Google first introduced its Wear OS 5 platform at I/O 2024 in May, highlighting a number of of its options resembling enhancements to the Watch Face Format and grid-based app launcher.
Google’s Wear OS 5.1 Test Builds
According to a report by Android Authority, Wear OS 5.1 could also be based mostly on Android 15 – the upcoming OS for Android gadgets. This is claimed to interrupt the pattern of earlier years the place Wear OS has been based mostly on the Android model from a yr prior. For occasion, Wear OS 3, which was launched final yr, was based mostly on 2022’s Android 13.
The same sample was noticed with the Android 14-based Wear OS 5 that debuted with the Galaxy Watch 7 in July within the type of One UI 6 Watch. If this purported OS certainly launches, it can mark the primary time in two years that Google introduces an interim level replace, with the final related replace being Wear OS 3.5 which got here out in October 2022. However, the report provides that the moniker is just not official and the tech big could select to vary it previous to its launch.
Wear OS 5.1’s take a look at builds are reported to have identifiers beginning with “AP4A”. However, there isn’t any details about any of its options or the discharge timeline.
New Watch Face Format
With Wear OS 5, Google confirmed that watch faces developed for smartwatches with out utilizing the Watch Face Format (WFF) will now not be supported on the Google Play Store. While smartwatches operating Wear OS 2 or later will nonetheless have entry to the prevailing non-WFF watch faces, knowledge will not be carried over if the person decides to modify to a Wear OS 5-powered smartwatch. Furthermore, choose watch faces might not be obtainable for obtain both.
This change arrived after the introduction of WFF by Google in 2023, in partnership with Samsung.
