what you need to know
- Google is actively encouraging watch face developers to adopt the watch face format, as failure to do so may limit the basic functionality of their watch faces.
- The new format allows Wear OS to handle it, allowing developers to focus on aesthetics without the need for extensive code optimization.
- Google’s push for WFF is closely tied to the hybrid Wear OS interface launched at MWC 2024.
Google wants developers to use the new watch face format (WFF) to create watch faces on Wear OS to make the most of battery life.
Back at I/O 2023, Google and Samsung teamed up to create WFF for Wear OS 4. Not only is this new format easier to handle, but it also has power-saving tricks to give your smartwatch longer battery life.
Currently, developers are still stuck with the old Jetpack or wearables support libraries, even though they miss out on the full potential of the new format.
But Google now encourages watch face developers to adopt WFF. Otherwise, their watch faces will only handle basic information like battery, app shortcuts, unread notification count, date, time and date, day of the week, day and date, and world clock (via 9to5Google ).
The new format is declarative XML, which basically means there is no logic or executable code. Wear OS does the heavy lifting, giving developers the freedom to create watch faces without having to get bogged down in code optimization. According to Google, the new format is low-maintenance and requires fewer updates.
However, WFF is not without limitations. Many people on Reddit complained that it didn’t handle complex features or animations well. Google seems to be pushing everyone towards simpler designs with this.
Although Watch Face Format doesn’t have as many features as Jetpack or the Wearable library, Google’s push is closely related to the new hybrid Wear OS interface announced at MWC 2024. In Wear OS 4, watch faces can run smoothly on the lower power consumption of the joint operating system. processor without drawing power from the dual-chip smartwatch’s main processor.
Making WFF a must-have feature in upcoming Wear OS releases is a strategic move to ensure hybrid Wear OS watches like the OnePlus Watch 2 have best-in-class battery life, no matter which watch face you choose.