On the input side of things, the biggest news is the expansion of gesture controls beyond the basic wrist flick.
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Android Wear, Google’s operating system that powers some of the most popular smartwatch options on the market, is finally getting the highly anticipated update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Both the Huawei Watch and ASUS ZenWatch 2 (49mm) have included dormant speakers for instance, and with the update these should wake up and function.
Overall, none of these new features are massive updates, but especially the new voice commands should make using the platform easier – the wrist gestures, I’m not that sure about yet, but that probably depends on personal preference.
Again, the update should hit all Android Wear devices within the next few weeks.
Google didn’t state which smartwatches would receive Android Wear version 6.0 Marshmallow first, but we have a few ideas. The complete rollout should end in the next couple of weeks, so wait patiently for the update to arrive on your watch. According to Google’s support documents, once an action has been taken, such as entering an app, the only way to return to the watch face is to use the third gesture, “shake”, which is self-explanatory. Running late for lunch?
Send more messages with just your voice. You will be able to say, “OK Google, Send a WhatsApp message to Charlene: The Panthers will win the Stanley Cup”. If you have a watch with a speaker, you can listen to audio messages and make calls directly from the watch. Indeed, on-watch phone calls and speaker support was first rumoured in May 2015.
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Well, Google realizes that and on Thursday introduced an update to Android Wear’s hands-free options, now enabling users to navigate their watches with gestures, send messages by voice and make and take calls and listen to messages with speaker support.
