Google has just made Wear OS 6 official at its I/O conference today. This comes with the previously unveiled Material 3 Expressive design, which will also be incorporated into Android 16, due to be released next month. The first Developer Preview of Wear OS 6 is now available – for developers only, as the name implies.
Wear OS 6 brings a 10% improvement in battery life compared to Wear OS 5, Google boasts, and it’s all thanks to “Wear OS platform optimizations”. That’s great news if it pans out.
Material 3 Expressive is “fully optimized for the round display”, and brings dynamic color theming (that’s been available in Android for a while now). Tiles are promised to be “more consistent and glanceable”, and Google is introducing a 3-slot tile layout to improve visual consistency in the Tiles carousel. This comes with a title slot, a main content slot, and a bottom slot.
Material 3 Expressive adapts to larger screen sizes, and has “an iconic design” that maximizes the space within the circular form factor. Navigation through lists is more fluid, and there’s a new visual and motion design making it easier for you to visualize your progress through a list. Media controls are enhanced too. Watch faces will be able to contain photos you select.
Wear OS 6 will be available “later this year”, Google isn’t saying anything less vague than that right now.