Google is Adding Tiles to Wear OS

BY Evan Selleck

Published 1 May 2019

Ever since Google revamped Android Wear into Wear OS, the company has been working on improving its smartwatch operating system. And now the company has another update on the way, this time with widgets.

Google officially announced on Wednesday that it is adding what it calls “Tiles” for Wear OS. These are a series of widgets that are accessible by swiping left on the smartwatch’s display. Right now, swiping left opens up Google Fit, and that will technically still be the case. However, now there will be additional options to sift through, including news headlines, an upcoming calendar appointment, the weather, and more options.

Here’s how that looks in action:

“Meet all of the Tiles: Goals, Next event, Forecast (weather), Heart rate, Headlines and Timer. With a swipe left, you’ll be greeted by these Tiles and can check your progress towards your fitness goals or start a workout, know where you need to be next, plan ahead with the latest forecast, check your heart rate, follow the latest breaking headlines and set a timer.”

Some features in Tiles won’t be available for all smartwatches, though, even after the update goes live. If your smartwatch of choice does not have a heart rate sensor, for example, you won’t be able to check your heart rate with a Tile.

Google says the update with Tiles will roll out over the next month.

[via Google]