Google has announced the upcoming arrival of Wear OS 5.1, the next major update to its system for connected watches.
While the deployment of Wear OS 5 has just begun on Google and Samsung watches, Google is already moving up a gear. The publisher of the Wear OS system for connected watches announced this Monday the arrival of Wear OS 5.1.
Despite its numbering which seems to make it a minor evolution, the new version should indeed offer a major change, since it is based on Android 15. For comparison, Wear OS 5 was based on Android version 14 while Wear OS 4 was based on Android 13.
In addition to this change in Android version on which Wear OS 5.1 is based, the new version of the system for connected watches also benefits from some new features, as reported by the site 9to5Google.
Music playback and easy identification
The first of these concerns the possibility of directly playing media files from the speaker of connected watches. Thus, it will no longer be necessary to use headphones or earphones connected to the watch to listen to podcasts or music, but we will be able to read them directly on the watch. A function that could appeal to cyclists who will be able to listen to music while they travel. The function here seems largely inspired by what Apple now offers on its latest Apple Watch Series 10.
The other new feature concerns support for the Identifier Manager API on Wear OS. This tool will allow developers to simplify user connection to their Wear OS applications using an identification manager. This API also supports access keys for simplified login.
A version currently intended for developers
Currently, Wear OS 5.1 is only available to developers in Android Studio in emulation form. The opportunity for them to take control and update their applications for future deployment on Google, Samsung, OnePlus, Ticwatch or Xiaomi watches.
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