Yesterday , Google announced it would rename its four - year - quondam smartwatch operating system fromAndroid wearing to jade OS.Ostensibly , the function of this rebranding is to prevent scaring off iPhone owners from purchasing smartwatches running Android Wear , which for a long time has supported partner off with both Android and iOS devices . As Google arrange it , Wear OS is “ a wearables operating organisation for everyone . ”
It ’s a ostensibly minor modification , and it might even helpFossil , Movado , andLuis Vuittonsell a few more radiocarpal joint bangles to style - conscious shoppers who do n’t have it off the dispute between an OS and an ostrich . But mess about behind all of this are much enceinte problems that Google needs to address that if it wants Android Wear or Wear OS or whatever ’s its cry to succeed .
For Google , the job is two - fold . The first issue is that Google has yet to decide what it mean a smart watch should be . When Android Wear debut in 2014 ( a class before Apple Watch was even a thing ) , it seemed like the natural forward motion of mobile computing as people transition from laptop to smartphones to even minuscule twist .
However , in reality , Android Wear was a mess . Its UI was clunky , there was very small app or developer reinforcement , and trying to ascertain anything took forever because you were constantly swiping from one midget card to the next . Even the first smartwatch with a rotund screen , the stylishOG Moto 360 , could n’t keep open Google ’s first effort at a smartwatch OS .
Then , for the next three years , Android Wear ache until version 2.o came out in 2017 . melioration included an updated UI , reenforcement for standalone apps ( as opposed to fellow traveller apps instal on your phone ) , better watch face , cellular connectivity , and integration of the Google Assistant .
But still , the apps were n’t there . This think of Android Wear machine were largely relegated to tick off notice , counting step , and maybe measuring your heart rate from time to metre . But here ’s the thing , you do n’t ask a fancy smartwatch operating system to do that , just get a cheap fittingness band instead .
Then there ’s Android Wear ’s 2nd big issue : a deficiency of a right smartwatch chip power everything . For the Apple Watch , Tim Cook and co. design its own line of custom smartwatch processors . Over in Tizen land , Samsung use its own Exynos chips to power its range ofGear watchesandwearables . Pretty much every other company trust on Qualcomm to provide good silicon for their smartwatches . Unfortunately , that did n’t happen , and asRon Amadeo over at Ars Technicahas succinctly put it , Qualcomm almost single - handedly “ killed the Android smartwatch with a combination of monopoly mightiness and apathy . ”
Without a decent chip inside , Wear O devices will carry on to lag behind . If you care about wellness and fitness monitoring , a skillful processor would make it easier to analyze data point from sensors tracking your heart pace , SpO2 ( the amount of O in your blood ) , saltiness levels , nap traffic pattern or a number of other important wellness metric . And on the other terminal , a good chip would also amend battery lifetime , which even the latestSeries 3 Apple Watchstill contend with . After all , what good is a fitness tracker that you need to take off every nighttime to reload ? Smartwatches should be aim for a calendar week or more of uninterrupted usance .
So because of these two obstacles , almost all of the big Android Wear equipment manufacturing business such as Motorola , LG , and Asus have commit up on the political platform , leaving Android Wear in the hand of fashion stigma that neither have the vision nor the technical know - how to advance smartwatch technical school .
Compare this to the Apple Watch , which on top of being a muscular standalone gimmick , is emerging as apotent tool for monitor your health , and has onmultipleoccasionshelped detect or prevent heart attack . And while Samsung ’s smartwatches may not delight the same riches of apps as the Apple Watch , a more integrated provision chain and an even respectable UI give Samsung ’s machine a much clearer path to succeeding mundanity .
And now we ’ve circled back around Android Wear , I mean Wear OS , which seems content to be an overblown peter for add together neat watch look to equipment that are more jewellery than tech , and go over texts . And until Google figures out how to make smartwatches running Wear OS more useful , along with finding a decent processor to power it , no amount of name changing or rebranding is going to aid .
Android WearApple WatchConsumer TechGoogleSmartwatchesTizen
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