Google Play requiring watch apps to be up thus far for put on OS three

to reinforce the expertise of using a put on OS three machine, Google is introducing pretty simply a few watch app extreme quality requirements which will come into impression this August.

beforehand, there have been solely eight watch app/face requirements. Google Play will quickly be including 31 extra. Google desires to make sure that apps observe “important design and interplay patterns to create a fixed, intuitive and pleasing consumer expertise on put on OS.”

On the Navigation entrance, this consists of permitting “prospects to swipe to close from almost all screens,” although health actions and maps are exempted. All scrolling content material should assist the rotating crown, whereas a scroll bar should be proven. Ongoing actions should current an indicator on the underside of the watch face, inside the app launcher chip/card, and in Tiles:

Google Play requiring watch apps to be updated for Wear OS 3 by August

Google additionally wants builders to protect app state:

protect consumer or app-state when leaving the foreground and cease unintended knowledge loss as a outcome of of again-navigation and utterly different state adjustments.
When your app is resumed from the launcher or latest app switcher inside minutes of final use, then restore the app state as shut as potential to its earlier state.

by approach of seen extreme quality, builders should “current the time of day clearly on the very greater of the app house display and any ongoing exercise screens,” whereas all apps and Tiles should use a black background. purposes should additionally sport splash screens.

There’s now a “minimal font measurement of 12sp for important textual content material and 10sp for non-important textual content material,” whereas apps “should conform to the font measurement set by the consumer in System Settings” to reinforce Accessibility.

under efficiency and performance, apps should goal Android eleven (API diploma 30), which put on OS three is predicated on. There are additionally requirements associated to app stability and Play retailer listings.

These new requirements, collectively with concentrating on Android eleven, will come into impression from August 31, 2023.

Apps that focus on decrease ranges will cease being discoverable to all Google Play prospects whose devices run Android OS variations newer than the app’s goal API diploma from August 31, 2023.