Google was also present at MWC 2024, showcasing some of the latest innovations to the Android operating system, including more features for mobile phones, for Android Auto and for smartwatches. In this last section, one of the most interesting improvements is not a function, but rather a renewed notification systemwhich is now available on the new OnePlus Watch 2.
The company is changing the way notifications work on smartwatches equipped with the Wear OS operating system, with the intention that they consume fewer resources and, therefore, does not significantly affect the autonomy of the device
Notifications that consume much less resources and energy
Wear OS watches have an application processor (called AP) and another low-power processor, a microcontroller unit (called MCU). This dual architecture allows the operating system to use one or the other processor for different processes, and thus do not consume more resources than strictly necessary in certain tasks.
In other words, the AP takes care of more demanding tasks, like using applications, while the MCU takes care of tasks that normally run in the background and consume less resources, like step counting. Google’s idea is that notifications are processed in the MCU
By moving notification management to the low-power processing unit, this by default avoids constant use of the AP, which remains at restresulting in less unnecessary power consumption and, therefore, greater battery life for smartwatches that implement this change, which can be done on Wear OS watches via an update.
However, it is the manufacturers who will have to implement it in their devices. The first smartwatch to have this low-power notification system is the OnePlus Watch 2, also announced at MWC 2024, and which offers up to 100 hours of battery life, according to the manufacturer.
Finally, Google also announced that the Maps application for Wear OS now allows access to the public transport routes (bus, metro or train) directly from the clock, which was not possible before, because it only showed walking or car routes. This feature is starting to be available in Google Maps on smartwatches with Wear OS version 3 or higher. The update will gradually reach all territories.
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