{"id":81596,"date":"2015-05-15T21:36:10","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T19:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/?p=81596"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:11:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:11:17","slug":"my-almost-year-with-android-wear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/my-almost-year-with-android-wear\/","title":{"rendered":"My (almost) year with Android Wear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google unveiled Android Wear at Google I\/O 2014<\/a> and released the LG G Watch<\/a> and Samsung Gear Live. Moto 360 released later that summer and was the first round Android Wear smartwatch.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been almost a year<\/strong> since Android Wear\u2019s release and Google has updated the operating system to optimize battery life, fix bugs, and add more functions. The Android Wear 5.1 update will bring Wi-Fi connectivity, custom emoji, and gesture controls to all Android Wear devices, if the feature is supported.<\/p>\n

I used Android Wear daily<\/strong> since Google I\/O 2014. I\u2019ve taken it on trips to Barcelona, Seoul, Austin, and Toronto. I lived through inconsistent battery life, gotten close to bricking ZenWatch after an Android Wear app update, and forgot that I\u2019m even wearing it.<\/p>\n

After almost a year with the Android Wear, is it worth it?<\/p>\n

Generation 1 to 1.5<\/h3>\n

\"asusI used LG\u2019s G Watch before upgrading to the Asus ZenWatch. There are small differences between the two but the biggest difference is that the ZenWatch is more responsive. This could be because of G Watch\u2019s age and Asus optimized ZenWatch for a smoother experience. The ZenWatch is the perfect upgrade from G Watch if you like a square display.<\/p>\n

When I first got Android Wear, I would use the \u201calways on\u201d screen<\/strong> option. This impacted the battery life on both G Watch and ZenWatch and I would be in the low 40% in the evening. After turning always-on off, I end the day averaging around 60%. But everyone will have a different experience. If you\u2019re constantly using Android Wear or like to customize watch faces, you\u2019ll see it drain faster.<\/p>\n

Android Wear smartwatches are getting better with each new device. Combined with Google\u2019s Android Wear operating system updates, the platform is more stable, but you may want to wait for a true second generation watch.<\/p>\n

Daily use<\/h3>\n

Android Wear\u2019s core function is push notifications, regardless of what manufacturers advertise.<\/p>\n

I use my watch to manage seven email<\/a> accounts, two Twitter<\/a> accounts, and read Facebook<\/a> notifications on my personal profile and Facebook Pages Manager<\/a>. I also use it to read my Hangouts<\/a>, SMS<\/a>, and KakaoTalk<\/a> messages<\/a>. You can\u2019t act on many notifications, but reading previews lets me dismiss about 80% of the notifications.<\/p>\n

Android Wear is great at at receiving vibrating alerts when notifications arrive. At the same time, I have Pushbullet<\/a> set up to send me notifications for my emails, @mentions on Twitter, Facebook messages, and SMS on my computer. So if I\u2019m at my computer, I\u2019ll get a similar notification to one I get on Android Wear. You could use PushBullet instead of Android Wear if you wanted.<\/p>\n

\"gmail<\/p>\n

I also own a Nexus 7 and Nexus 9 tablet<\/a>. Both are media devices for YouTube, Netflix, reading, or playing games<\/a>. One feature that Android Wear should have is the ability to assign notifications to a specific device since I don\u2019t need notifications on my tablets.<\/p>\n

Some apps I use have Android Wear compatibility like MailChimp<\/a>, which shows a small preview of my recent campaign. It\u2019s a persistent card until I dismiss it. Other apps can also show cards. Amazon<\/a> delivery notifications display on Android Wear, but they\u2019re not always useful because the notification can arrive hours after the actual delivery.<\/p>\n

\"amazon<\/p>\n

So for my daily use, it\u2019s a nice way to preview notifications<\/strong> from different apps. It saves a few seconds here and there.<\/p>\n

Extended use<\/h3>\n

\"androidAndroid Wear also offers other actions. Google Keep<\/a> can take voice notes, use Google Search to search the internet with your voice, and set reminders.<\/p>\n

Uber<\/a> will notify me when a car is arriving. It\u2019s kind of useful, but I\u2019m usually holding my phone and watching the map to see the car\u2019s location. I tried calling a Lyft<\/a> in Austin during SXSW 2015 directly through ZenWatch, but it failed to find me a car. I don\u2019t consider that the fault of the app, but Austin\u2019s overloaded network.<\/p>\n

I use voice replies to texts when I\u2019m driving and it always works well. I also use voice to play music<\/strong> when I\u2019m driving. I only use Google Play Music<\/a> so I don\u2019t know how well it works with another app like Spotify<\/a>. Voice commands like \u201cPlay Alkaline Trio\u201d or \u201cPlay Yellow Monsters\u201d work no problem, but it doesn\u2019t recognize every artist.<\/p>\n

When I get phone calls, Android Wear notifies me. My phone is always on vibrate so when I walk, I miss phone calls a lot which is solved with the device. My watch will display the contact and gives options to swipe to answer or reject the call. It\u2019s great to casually glance at your wrist and ignore a call.<\/p>\n

One of Android Wear\u2019s options is to mute the phone<\/a> when the watch is connected. This mutes sound and vibration for notifications on your phone. Turn it on, it\u2019s wonderful.<\/p>\n

I love Google Maps on Android Wear<\/h3>\n

Google Maps<\/a>\u2019 integration with Android Wear is my favorite feature and the one I use the least. There is one weird quirk though. When I\u2019m driving and use Maps for navigation I still get directions on my ZenWatch. Android Wear should recognize that I\u2019m driving<\/strong> and not display directions on the smartwatch.<\/p>\n

But when I\u2019m using navigation for walking directions, Maps on Android Wear vibrates when you get close to a turn. I still look at the watch to know what direction to turn, but it gives me a sense of security that I\u2019m walking the right way.<\/p>\n

Maps was really helpful in Barcelona (thanks to pickpockets) when I was walking to the Metro and didn\u2019t have to pull out my phone after midnight. It was even more helpful in Seoul, to find clubs that were down alleys and in the basement of buildings, though Google Maps isn\u2019t as fleshed out as other apps like Naver Maps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maps support is one of the best integrations between the phone and smartwatch and I love it when I use it.<\/p>\n

Convenient, but you still don\u2019t need one<\/h3>\n

For all the things I love about Android Wear, it\u2019s not a necessary accessory<\/strong>. It does make things a lot more convenient, but doesn\u2019t drastically change how you interact with apps or your phone. Android Wear creates shortcuts to actions that you normally perform on your phone. While a lot of apps have Android Wear functions, most display information from the phone app.<\/p>\n

A lot of people ask what I think of Android Wear when they see me wearing it and my response is: it\u2019s convenient, but you don\u2019t need it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Related Articles<\/h3>\n

What are Connected Cars?<\/a><\/p>\n

Best Android Wear watch faces<\/a><\/p>\n

Which Windows 10 version should I get?<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow me on Twitter: @chrislikesrobot<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Google unveiled Android Wear at Google I\/O 2014 and released the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live. Moto 360 released later that summer and was the first round Android Wear smartwatch. It\u2019s been almost a year since Android Wear\u2019s release and Google has updated the operating system to optimize battery life, fix bugs, and … Continue reading “My (almost) year with Android Wear”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2030,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-81596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":329568,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81596\/revisions\/329568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81596"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=81596"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=81596"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=81596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}