Android Wear smartwatches welcome Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates

October was abuzz with hot news about Android 6.0 Marshmallow’s availability for smartphones, and now the OS is making its way to Android Wear wearables. Google recently announced roll outs of API 23 SDK Android Marshmallow that’s expected to catapult wearable sales.

The first watch to receive the new OS will be LG Watch Urbane 2nd edition. This watch will be the first smartwatch to feature cellular connectivity. Other Android smartwatches based on API 22 will be updated to OTA API 23 in the coming months.

Excitement is building over the new LG smartwatches with their innovative features being used for the first time, reports First Post. Watch Urbane will have an in-built speaker allowing users to play audio files with Media Player, AudioTrack and ExpoPlaye, which have similar API’s on all Android smartphones. Therefore, your smartwatch experience listening to music and watching movies will be almost similar to your experience using a smartphone.

A new runtime permission model in API 23 gives uers leeway when selecting preferred permissions while opening apps. A revamped setting allows users to turn the app permission On or Off anytime they want, reports Gadgets NDTV.

Other features in the wearable include new emulators, an Intel x86 chip, ‘round and ‘not around’ resource qualifiers that let developers upload accommodating images and layouts for their gear.

The special thing about API 23 is that it helps build apps that fit perfectly in all round and square shaped Android watches. Android Wear developers, however, should ensure the apps are adaptable to both API 23 and API 22 watches.

The recently launched Tag Heuer Connected smartwatch supports Intel x86 processors and it’s expected that many upcoming Android Wear watches will have Intel x86 processors inside them.

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