My review of the Sony SmartWatch 3 just went live this morning, with a contributor's rating of 9 out of 10. With the new Android Wear update it looks like I could bump that rating up to 9.5.
There will be updates for your Android smartphone and Android Wear device, including:
- A new section of the Google Play Store: This new section contains downloadable watch faces. Like I mentioned in my SmartWatch 3 review, the ones preloaded on the device are a bit generic so watch face options are needed for an improved Android Wear experience. There will be a significant number of new watch faces available when the update hits.
- New watch face API for developers: We can expect even more third party watch faces in the near future. Given that developers already have created many watch faces to work through Facer I imagine they will get them into the Play Store soon.
- New Android Wear companion app: Motorola has the Connect app that lets you customize watch faces and it looks like this new companion app will work similar to that.
- Easier navigation: You can finally bring back a card if you accidentally dismiss it. Recently used actions are also more easily accessible. Tapping and swiping to get to Start... and then apps has been very inefficient.
- New modes: You will be able to find easier access to settings, switch to theater mode to keep your screen dark, and switch to sunlight mode for max brightness.
- Application improvements: Notifications can be blocked directly from your watch and you will soon be able to view a specific apps battery usage and storage.
All of these are welcome additions to Android Wear and specifically address the primary pain points I have with the platform. My Sony SmartWatch 3 has just gotten even better and when we see further support for stand-alone GPS, NFC, and WiFi it will be nearly perfect for me.
With this updates, I would also have no hesitation in buying Android Wear devices as holiday gifts for your favorite Android smartphone fan.
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