A “Brand New Wear” OS Version is Coming!

We are basically 10 minutes removed from me telling you how excited I am for Google I/O tomorrow and a discovery on the I/O site just kicked that excitement up another notch. You know how we have our fingers crossed for big Wear OS news for the first time in years? Google might have confirmed just that.

On the “Program” page of the Google I/O site, Google has listed out some sort of I/O adventure for virtual attendees to embark on that involves both Android and Google Play. In the description for that adventure, Google states that you can “Come explore the latest beta for Android 12, Jetpack Compose updates, a brand new Wear version, and so much more!”

A. BRAND. NEW. WEAR. VERSION.

What on Earth does that mean? Maybe it’s the spring platform update we are already expecting that brings 3rd party Tiles support. Maybe it’s more. My guess is that it’s much more than just Tiles. Google is referring to it more as “Wear” instead of “Wear OS” as if a re-brand is coming, there is a dedicated session to what’s new, and the Wear OS Twitter account has been quite active in the past week or so with hints about I/O.

I’m trying not to over-hype. I’m failing at that.

You can checkout the I/O adventure at this link here. (h/t 9to5Google)