Google follows Samsung by replacing Tiles with widgets on Wear OS smartwatches
One UI 8 Watch update introduced a major UI redesign for Wear OS-based Galaxy Watches. One of the biggest changes was a new way to create custom Tiles using multiple widgets. Google now appears to be adopting a similar approach by replacing Tiles, which originally served as a form of widgets on Wear OS devices, with standard widgets.
Google announced Wear OS 7 during its recent developer conference. Among the new features introduced in the update are Wear Widgets, which are designed to be more expressive while bringing improved visual consistency to Wear OS.
These widgets are available in two sizes, small (2×1) and large (2×2), similar to the widgets introduced in One UI Watch 8. Google describes them as âthe next step in the evolution of Tiles.â
This allows developers to create a single widget design that works across cars running Android Auto and Android Automotive, smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets. This approach should make widget development less time consuming and more consistent across devices.
Google says it will continue supporting Tiles for the time being. It is even introducing a feature called Dynamic Service Switching, which can automatically switch between different layouts of the same Tile depending on the situation. However, Google ultimately plans to transition fully to Wear Widgets in the future.
Since Samsung and Google have been co-developing Wear OS for the past few years, it is possible that both companies concluded that adopting a widget-focused experience across Wear OS devices would be the best path forward.
