Android Wear 2.0 is the latest version of Android Wear and is a version which was introduced back at Google’s I/O event in May of this year. While it was introduced and did subsequently become available, like Android 7.0 Nougat (back when it was simply known as ‘Android N’), Android Wear 2.0 was only made available in a developer preview form. One that has since seen follow-on developer preview versions coming through. In spite of no firm dates provided by Google on the eventual rolling out of the final and consumer-ready version of Android Wear 2.0, it was highly expected that the final version would be made available sometime in the fall and at the very latest, before the year was out. However, that now seems to not be the case.
Google has today announced that the Android Wear 2.0 developer preview program will be extended and will now continue into 2017. The announcement does not provide any firm specifics on when it will begin to head out devices beyond the vague “early 2017” suggestion. Likewise, the Android Wear team has also not provided any specific on why they are extending the preview other than stating that they have received “tons of great feedback from the developer community about Android Wear 2.0” and have “decided to continue” the program until early next year.
For those who are waiting for the final release of Android Wear 2.0 to become available, the good news is that today the Android Wear team have also decided to release the next developer preview which will give those interested an early sneak peek at what else is planned with version 2.0. In total, this is the third developer preview for Android Wear 2.0 and one which brings with it a number of improvements and new features. The most interesting of which is certainly the adding of direct Google Play support on Android Wear devices, where users can directly install apps from the Google Play Store on their smartwatch, from their smartwatch. If you are interested in giving the latest developer preview of Android Wear 2.0 a try, you can find out more about what is on offer and how to get in on the action by heading through the link below.
Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview