Android Lollipop Update For Android Wear Features Designer Watch Faces, Enhanced Apps

By Thomas Halleck@tommylikeyt.halleck@ibtimes.com on December 10 2014 10:28 PM

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Google is updating Android Wear over the next week to Lollipop (Android 5.0), and making it easier for developers to create new watch faces. Google included several new watch faces from designers like Rebecca Minkoff alongside the Android L update.

Google also announced that it has added a new section to its Play Store exclusively for Android Wear apps and watch faces alongside the Lollipop update, which it said will be sent to the Moto 360, LG G Watch (and G Watch R), Asus Zenwatch, Sony Smartwatch 3 and Samsung Gear Live over the next few days.

Google’s watch face software development kit (SDK) will allow designers and developers to sell custom looks, or offer them for free. It gave early access to designers like Minkoff and developers like EA Games, which now sells a “Plants vs. Zombies” face for $0.99.

Android Wear is getting an update to Lollipop, along with
dozens of new watch faces and a dedicated smartphone app. Designers and developers can also more easily develop custom faces using the official watch face API.  Google Inc.

A new official Android Wear app is also available in the Play Store, which Google said will make it easier to switch between watch faces. It also includes a new battery saver mode that turns off a watch’s face to save power when battery is low and lets users view how much battery Wear apps are using, as well as a Theater mode that turns off screen and vibrations and a Sunlight mode that temporarily increases brightness.

Lollipop on Android Wear has a new feature that will make it easier to block unnecessary or annoying notifications from specific apps, and brings recently used actions to the top of the list when users tap on the watch face.