Google Introduces Wear OS Version “H” With Battery Improvements

Google quietly announced a new version of Wear OS this morning called the “H update.” The update will rollout as a system update to Wear OS watches and includes mostly battery efficiency tweaks, but will also make jumping between apps work better.

The big change appears to be a new battery saver mode that lets you switch your watch over to a time-only experience once your watch drops below 10%. That’s basically the same battery saver mode that’s been on Snapdragon 3100 watches since they launched. Google is also improving off-body efficiency, which means they’ll put your watch to “deep” sleep if they don’t detect activity for 30 minutes.

For other changes, Wear OS will have a “smart app resume” that lets you “easily pick up where you left off across all apps on your watch.” And finally, powering off your watch will no longer be a chore and instead drop down to a 2-step process.

Here is the H update changelog:

Battery Saver Mode Updates:
This update extends your battery life even further by turning on Battery Saver to only display the time once your battery falls below 10%.

Improved Off Body Efficiency:
After 30 minutes of inactivity your watch will go into deep sleep mode to conserve battery.

Smart App Resume for all Apps:
You can now easily pick up where you left off across all apps on your watch.

Two Step Power Off:
You can now turn off your watch in two easy steps. To turn off your watch, simply hold the power button until you see the power off screen and then select ‘power off’ or ‘restart’

Google says that it could take the “next few months” before people see this update on their Wear OS watches.

// Google Support