iPhone owners have been able to rely on the Apple Watch as a competent wrist-worn extension of their digital lives for a long time. Those with Android have struggled, however, withWear OSin its latent years thanks mostly to unfocused and uninspired software. Its current era is starting to make up for that, though: with somehelp from Samsung, Google has been able to inject some new excitement into the platform, especially by launching thePixel Watch. But besides the base operating system, it’ll takeapp makersto keep this place alive and flourishing. Thus, Google is making an important change that may open up the path to more apps coming out and more updates to the ones already out there.
Anyone publishing apps to the Play Store interacts with a program called the Play Console. This month, the console is opening up release tracks dedicated just to Wear OS — this will allow Wear OS apps to undergo user-based testing and enter into public rollout all on their own. Previously, Wear OS app updates had to share a release track with the core Android app.
In aPlay Console Help pageabout the change, Google says this will allow app developers to publish Wear OS releases independent of other form factor releases and make it easier to track and manage the testing of Wear OS releases.
If a particularly large app developer is maintaining multiple form factor releases (Auto, TV, etc.), they might be able to let their Wear OS team update more often with this new track. For smaller developers who are just into Wear OS, this more than likely does away with some of the obligatory Android work. Less work could mean more updates. It’s a win-win.
Wear OS has come a long way from its Android Wear days, but it also has always been about the apps. Having developers join up (or evencome backafter many years) for the cause is important. This change should help.
