Galaxy Watch 8 receives significant upgrade, welcoming Facer back as prominent feature
Google's I/O event in May announced a significant update for Wear OS users: the introduction of third-party watch face apps in Wear OS 6. This development has opened up new possibilities for customising smartwatches, and several popular apps have already adapted to this change.
One such app is Facer, which has announced its compatibility with the new Wear OS 6 platform, including the upcoming Pixel Watch 4. Facer has also brought back custom watch face options for new Galaxy Watches, following the launch of the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic running Wear OS 6.
In addition to Facer, two other notable third-party watch face apps - Pujie and WatchMaker - are now compatible with Wear OS 6. Pujie offers a dedicated app for watches using the Watch Face Format (WFF), separating it from the older version that supports legacy watch faces on Wear OS 4 and below. WatchMaker, on the other hand, supports Wear OS 6 with fixes for transferring watch faces using the WFF format, and offers over 100,000 watch faces across a wide range of smartwatches running Wear OS 6.
The update to Wear OS 6 also brings improvements in battery efficiency and ambient AOD modes for watch faces created in the WFF format.
Facer, in particular, is introducing a new feature called "Looks," a social area within the app where users can post photos of their watches with their favourite faces and customizations. The app is also offering a promo for the Wear OS 6 update, allowing new Premium members to pay $14.99 for their first year or $2.99/month.
However, it's worth noting that the selection of Facer's compatible WFF faces is currently limited compared to the hundreds of thousands of faces available for older Wear OS watches. Most of Facer's current compatible watch faces are paid or premium, although a few free options are available.
Other watch face apps, such as WatchMaker, TIMEFLIK, Pujie, and Recreative, are also expected to become compatible with Wear OS 6 in the near future.
Facer's "Rosetta Stone" dev tool allows creators to make a single watch face compatible with WFF and Apple Watches, simplifying the process of creating cross-platform watch faces.
Moreover, Facer watch faces now come with a "Power Impact" rating in the description, predicting the battery life impact. Ratings range from Minimal, Low, Medium, to High.
With these updates, users can look forward to a more diverse and customisable smartwatch experience on Wear OS 6 devices.
Technology has advanced with the update of Wear OS 6, enabling third-party watch face apps like Facer, Pujie, and WatchMaker to enhance users' smartwatch customization options. These apps have unique features such as Facer's social "Looks" area, watch face compatibility across various platforms using Facer's "Rosetta Stone" dev tool, and Power Impact ratings for predicting battery life impact.
