Google’s annual developer conference I/O 2019 is a couple of days away and the company has already started disclosing few details. Google has shared details about a new feature that will roll out “over next month” on Wear OS which Google calls as “Tiles”. Last year Google introduced a widget like function that previewed Google Fit on Wear OS similar to that of Tiles.
In the recent version of Wear OS, Google Fit was the only available Tile which opened with a single swipe. But with this new feature, you can swipe further to bring up more Tiles. This is really a smart update brought to Wear OS by Google which features four quadrants and six Tiles. Swiping up brings up your notifications, swiping down brings up settings, swiping right brings up the Google Assistant, and swiping left shows Tiles.
The Tiles are informative and each Tile comes with a piece of different information which helps the users to quickly access the information gathered on the watch. Each Tile has a pretty straightforward design with all the information on a full screen with actionable buttons to enter into apps whenever required. These Tiles can be customized by both Wear OS mobile app and directly on the watch. To customize it on the watch, just touch and hold a given Tile and then drag it to the left or right according to your preference.
The six newly introduced Tiles for the Wear OS include Goal, Next Event, Forecast, Heart rate, Headlines, and Timer. Goal assists to check progress towards your fitness or start working out to reach the goal. Next event helps you follow the upcoming calendar appointments by telling where you should be next. The forecast gives you an overview of how today’s hourly weather is going to be. Heart rate displays the beats per minute data of your heart. Headlines keep you updated giving the latest breaking news around the globe on the Tile.
As the usage of smart devices is increasing, people are more and more comfortable in using their smart devices for more than just calling and messaging. Although Google is planning to add more Tiles to this list but has not mentioned any specific date for the Tiles to roll out for watches. It just said that they will roll out over the next month with unstated features which may vary according to phone OS, watch or country.