Google has revealed that it will allow third-party developers to create custom Tiles for its Wear OS. The company made this announcement in a blogpost. Tiles were first launched in 2019 and are widgets that come with shortcuts to apps like Calendar, Weather, etc.
So far, only tiles that were created and designed by Google were showcased on smartwatches that ran on Wear OS. Following Google’s announcement, developers have been given the power to make custom tiles that can be used on devices that run on Wear OS. According to Google, these custom tiles will be accessible by users after a new update of Wear OS has been put out by the company.
‘Tiles can be designed for many use cases, like tracking the user’s daily activity progress, quick-starting a workout, starting a new recently played song, or sending a message to a favourite contact. While apps can be immersive, tiles are fast-loading and focus on the user’s immediate needs. If the user would like more information, tiles can be tapped to open a related app on the watch or phone for a deeper experience’, giant tech company; Google said.
Recently, Google promised to fix a glitch in Wear OS. Users complained that since November 2020, saying ‘Hey Google’ to activate the Google Assistant has not been working. The company made it known that it is aware of the problem and is working earnestly to ensure that is fixed. The company promised users that apart from expecting the problem with activating Google Assistant to be fixed soon, that they should expect an improvement in overall experience. Talking about an improvement in overall experience, Google allowing third-party developers to create tiles might just be one of them.
The Wear OS is a very good operating system for smartwatches and has a lot of room for instance. For instance, when compared to the innovative updates that its counterpart Watch OS that powers Apple’s smartwatches have seen, there is still a lot that Google has to do to make Wear OS better. For instance, Apple watches can be used to unlock the iPhone. Although, Android has a lot of unlock option, it is still one of those features that users would love to see on Wear OS.
