Apple is set to adopt a more Google Wear OS 3-like experience with its upcoming release of WatchOS 10. This is quite a change from Apple’s previous focus on apps with notifications and fitness features. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the tenth iteration of the WatchOS platform will have notable changes, with widgets taking the spotlight over apps. Users will be able to scroll through a series of widgets for tracking activity, weather, stock tickers, calendar appointments, and more.
This new functionality will work with any watch face and will be accessed by replacing the “click” of the Digital Crown on the side of the device. Gurman illustrated the new feature on Twitter, and it seems that it will work much like the current interface of Google Wear OS 3. In the Wear OS, widgets called “Tiles” are available with a swipe in either direction. The main difference in Apple Watch widgets is that they are buried beneath a button click, unlike Wear OS. Apple’s implementation may increase the use of third-party support.
While Wear OS widgets support third-party apps, it’s not widely used. Apple’s new emphasis on widgets could be good for Google’s platform in the long run. Overall, it’s quite a change for Apple, given that they had this feature first back in 2014 with “Glances.” Apple dropped “Glances” in watchOS 3, two years before Google introduced Tiles to older Wear OS versions.
