Wear OS is revamping notifications to improve battery life
Google’s new hybrid notification interface was added specifically for the OnePlus Watch 2. | Image: OnePlus
Google just announced a handful of new Wear OS updates at Mobile World Congress 2024. At the heart of it is a way of handling notifications that will purportedly improve performance and battery life. Wear OS watches are also getting public transit directions in Google Maps as well as Google Wallet passes.
Since 2018, Wear OS watches generally have had an application processor (AP) to handle power-intensive tasks and an ultra-low-power co-processor microcontroller unit (MCU) for always-on tasks like step counting and heart rate. The update will let wearable makers offload notification processing to the MCU. That includes the ability to read and dismiss notifications as well as send quick replies.
This capability was added specifically…
