Seven Ways to Do More With Your Google Wear OS Smartwatch
Because Google Wear OS is designed to work on small screens like the one on your smartwatch, it should work quickly and intuitively, but that doesn’t mean the software doesn’t have some cool and clever tricks if you dig a little deeper. in settings and menus.
As with Android phones, different Wear OS watches have interfaces and menus that differ from device to device. My tips for using the operating system to get the most out of your smartwatch are based on the capabilities of the Pixel Watch 2, but they should apply to other Wear OS watches, even if their screens look a little different.
Pin your favorite apps
You don’t have a lot of real estate to work with on your Watch screen, so you need to make sure you’re using it as efficiently as possible, including creating shortcuts for your most frequently used apps. Unfortunately, while app pinning used to be a built-in feature of Wear OS, that’s no longer the case.
Sign in to the Tile app launcher. It’s an easy-to-use free tool that creates a new tile with shortcuts for the apps you choose. This means you can swipe left or right on the watch face to get to the apps you want faster, without opening the app drawer at all.
2. Reduce screen timeout delay.
There are several ways to extend the time between charges of your Wear OS smartwatch. One of them is to dim the screen faster when you’re not using the watch. To do this, open Settings from the main app list, select Display, and then Screen Timeout.
The recommended default delay is 15 seconds, but you can reduce it to 10 seconds to save some battery power, or increase it to 30 seconds if you find that the display always turns off before you have a chance to receive a message. take a good look at what’s on the screen.
3. Connect several wireless headphones.
If you want to go for a morning run with just your smartwatch, you can connect a pair of wireless headphones to your wearable device. In the Settings app, tap Connection, then Bluetooth, and then Connect a new device. Select Bluetooth headphones from the list of nearby items.
If you then sync some songs, podcasts, or audiobooks to your watch, you can listen to them on the go through your smartwatch without relying on your phone. You’ll find quite a few Wear OS media player apps that can do this, including Spotify, YouTube Music, and Pocket Casts.
4. Take a photo from your watch
Your Wear OS can serve as a useful remote control for your phone’s camera if it’s connected via Bluetooth—no more using the timer function and hoping everyone is positioned correctly in the frame for group shots.
All you have to do is select Camera from the app list to see what your phone’s camera sees, right on your wrist. Tap the three lines at the top to switch between photo modes and your phone’s front and rear cameras, then tap the shutter button to take a photo.
5. Sync notifications
Life is already distracting enough, so you probably don’t want the same notifications popping up on both your watch and your phone—or maybe you do, for some reason. Either way, Wear OS gives you the choice through the Watch app on your phone.
Open Notifications from the app’s home page and you can turn on both “Mute” watch notifications (your watch won’t ping while you’re actively on a call) or “Mute” (your phone won’t ping while you’re on the phone). wear a smart watch).
6. Set your watch to vibrate.
Your smartwatch likely uses vibration to let you know when notifications arrive, and Wear OS lets you customize how it works. You can make them more (or less) discreet and maybe save some battery life by toning them down a bit.
In the Settings menu, select Vibrate from the list of applications. From here, you can change the vibration strength for alarms, calls, and notifications, or turn vibration off completely. There’s also a toggle switch to turn off vibration when you’re not actually wearing the watch.
7. Find your smartphone
As long as your watch is strapped to your wrist, you can use it to locate an errant Android smartphone strapped to it. For this to work, your phone must be turned on, connected to the wearable via Bluetooth, and within Bluetooth range (30 feet or so).
Swipe down on the main watch face, then tap the Find My Phone icon—it looks like a cell phone with audio coming from it. Your phone will beep even if it is turned off. To turn off the alert, tap X on your watch or unlock your phone once you find it.