Google I/O 2015 has come and gone, and while there wasn’t a big launch of a new version of the Android Wear OS, there was plenty of news. Android Wear has come a long, long way in just about a year of being on shelves and while that fruit company still makes a lot of noise, we all know which platform is the most flexible. Speaking of flexibility, each month we like to bring you a mix of the best fresh and new watch faces and apps for Android Wear watches. Some of them are apps that extend existing apps on your phone, some are standalone apps, and some are just cool watch face designs. Either way there should be something for everyone in this list.
Adventure Digital Watch Face
Adventure Digital is a watch face designed for those looking to express the digital nature of these tiny little computers, and it has a nice dot-matrix appeal to it. With a good deal of information on one display as well, there’s a lot to like about this particular face, especially the subtle battery meters for both your phone as well as your watch.
Roku Remote Wear
If you’ve ever controlled Netflix using the notification controls on Android Wear, then you’ll appreciate this little gem. It’s a little rough around the edges, but it’s a simple little app that works to control your Roku box when connected to the same WiFi network. From someone that lost their Roku remote a long, long time ago I can tell you this sort of thing can be very handy indeed.
Ampere
Ampere is an app for the battery obsessive, want to make sure that charger is really doing its job? Worried about that new fancy app draining your battery in the background? Ampere will give you all the information you need, and the Pro version was recently updated with Android Wear support, making this a one stop shop for all of your battery needs. As silly as it sounds, having notifications like these on your wrist will make troubleshooting chargers and charging time much easier, as you can leave your phone be and wait for the notification.
tiny doctors
Like your Doctor Who? Enjoy fun watch faces? Then you’re in luck with tiny doctors, each hour is displayed by the particular doctor, and then the minutes are taken care of by the TARDIS. There are 12 Doctors now, which means this is strictly a 12-hour affair, but the War Doctor hasn’t been forgotten and appears as a second eighth Doctor! A fun little watch face, this is a great one for fans of the long-running series.
Apollo Wear Inspector
Yes, yes I know. We’ve seen these types of apps before, the type that displays which apps you have installed, and which app has access to what, but this has more Material Design! To be fair, Apollo Wear Inspector is an app that display information nice and neatly, and it can be a real eye-opener as to the size of these “tiny” apps and what they have access to.
Under Armour Record
Under Armour Record is the sportswear’s answer to the likes of Runtastic and Google Fit, and while it’s been around for some time now it recently got updated to take advantage of Android Wear. You can now start and stop a workout from your Watch and generally do more without getting your phone out. Plus, there’s a custom watch face here as well, so if you bought a smartwatch like the Sony SmartWatch 3 to get access to all those fitness features, Under Armour Record can help you get serious.
NOW – Watch Face
Yet another excellent watch face from THA PHLASH, the NOW face is all about well, now. It’s a futuristic style face that will suit those salivating for more Fallout 4 news (much like myself) and it looks great no matte what watch face you have on your wrist.
KOKO for Android Wear
KOKO serves a crazily simple purpose; it keeps your watch awake for longer. That’s basically it in a nutshell, and you can keep the display going from anywhere from 5 seconds to 5 minutes. Why is this helpful? Well, let’s say you have a specialized watch face for bike riding, running or whatever else, you can keep that watch face alive for a lot longer when you press that button or tap the display.
Wear VibroTime
Wear VibroTime is a bit of a strange app, it uses the vibration motor in your device to keep in time with your walking cadence, your heartbeat or you can configure things to exactly how you like them. A nicety here is that the app is native and doesn’t need to be connected to your phone at all, really. Worth taking a look at, but perhaps a little complicated for some.
How Long Till
How Long Till is a simple app that basically puts important dates in the future on your wrist. It works pretty well, is fairly simple to set up, and puts the info right on your wrist. Just don’t go telling your significant other that you’ve got such a wondrous tool, otherwise they’ll be no excuse for forgetting an anniversary or birthday, not that there is in the first place, obviously.