Google’s Wear OS Gets Battery Life Improvements
- Mehedi Hassan
- Nov 15, 2018
-
9
Not too long ago, Google announced a major design update for its smartwatch platform: Wear OS. The company is now releasing what seems to be the first ever major update since the significant redesign introduced back in August.
The update, which is simply called the “H Update”, introduces a number of power-related improvements, as first reported by Droid Life. Smartwatches tend to have really bad battery life, and Google is tweaking Wear OS to give you as much battery life as possible.
Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
The battery saver mode on Wear OS, for example, will now switch to a time-only mode where the watch only displays the time when your battery falls below 10%. And after 30 minutes of inactivity, Wear OS will automatically put your watch into a deep sleep mode that should help your watch last longer.
Along with the above battery-focused features, Google is introducing a new feature called Smart App Resume. Although it’s unclear exactly how this feature works, Google says you can now easily switch between all your apps and continue where you left off. The updated system also introduces a two-step power off feature that lets you turn off your watch simply by holding the power button until you see the power off and restart options.
Interestingly enough, the update isn’t going to be available for all Wear OS devices instantly, and Google suggests the rollout could take the “next few months.”