Tech Desk
Jul 12, 2024
WearOS 5, the latest wearable software developed by Google, will no longer be compatible with old watch faces, the company announced on Wednesday.
Watch faces that will no longer pair with the new OS are those not developed using the Watch Face Format (WFF). Samsung’s latest and greatest, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra, are the first to support this firmware.
A Google representative shared details on the WearOS forum about watch faces compatible with the new update. Only faces that have met the company’s quality standards and performance reports will be accessible.
Users whose wearables run on WearOS 2 or later need not worry, as they’ll continue to have access to non-WFF watch faces as long as they don’t transfer their data to the new OS.
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In the event that such a transfer does occur, some faces may be lost due to being ‘incompatible’.
Google and Samsung developed WFF back in 2023. Its XML format lets developers design the appearance and behaviour of their templates.
Watch faces created using WFF require less maintenance and consume less battery. WFF also includes the watch face editor in Wear OS, enabling users to tweak watch faces to their preference.
The company expects all watch faces on the Google Play Store to be developed using WFF by early 2025. The recently launched Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra are the first watches to feature WearOS 5. Subsequently, the update may be introduced to other compatible smartwatches in the near future.
