Your watch battery will last longer than ever with these new features

It’s the second day of Google I/O, and if the first day was dedicated exclusively to Gemini functions, it is now the turn of the company’s operating systems. We have already seen the new features that Android 15 will bring, but its “little brother” will not be left out.

We are of course talking about Wear OS 5, the new version of the operating system for wearables, and more particularly for smart watches. This is a highly anticipated update, because since the launch of Wear OS 3, the platform has improved a lot and more and more manufacturers are betting on it.

And it doesn’t look like Wear OS 5 is going to disappoint, because Google has set itself a goal solving one of the big failures of smart watches

: battery. In Wear OS, this has always been a big problem, and it’s a rare device that can last a full day of use without having to recharge.

With We ar OS 5, based on Android 14, Google promises that our watch will consume up to 20% less battery

than with Wear OS 4; Concretely, the comparison presents the scenario of a marathon, during which the updated watch will consume 20% less battery.

Everything therefore indicates that the improvements are focused on the record health and exercise data, in addition to GPS, but this is not the only battery-related news. Google also released a new guide for app developers to help them save power and battery; Therefore, Wear OS apps should now be more efficient. Speaking of developers, the fact that it is based on Android 14 brings improvements and changes related to this system.

Watches with Wear OS 5 will be able to record new data related to running exercises, such as ground contact time, stride length, vertical oscillation and vertical ratio. The integrated exercises will also allow us to maintain a margin in the objectives that we have set for ourselves; for example, if we need to stay within a heart rate range or if we need to follow a rhythm. In Wear OS 4 the watch warns us every time we do not meet these conditions, but Wear OS 5 will leave some margin to prevent this from being a constant annoyance.

Concerning health, Health Connect, the new platform which replaces Google Fit, brings a significant improvement which allows Apps share your entire exercise history while they are in the background; In Wear OS 4 there is a one month limit and only if the app is open.

Wear OS 5 also brings improvements in thewatch faces. Remember that one of the great novelties of Wear OS 4 was the new sphere format, which does not require programming knowledge and allows the distribution of spheres directly in the Play Store. In Wear OS 5, the format has been enhanced with “Flavors”, font styles and widgets that one can choose when creating the face. Widgets have also been added like the progress we have made towards the goal and a percentage circle which can show how our exercise has been divided, for example.

Wear OS 5 will probably be released with the new Galaxy Watch 7 and Pixel Watch 3 expected in the second half of the year, and will then be available to the rest of the manufacturers.