This document provides an overview of developing for Android Wear. It discusses using notifications as the primary way to extend functionality from handheld apps to wearables. Notifications can be customized with actions, voice input, and multiple pages of content. For more complex experiences, custom wearable apps can be built that run directly on the device. These apps have activity-based interfaces but require simpler designs optimized for small screens and brief interactions.

1. Developing for Android
Wear
Can Elmas

2. @can_elmas
Software Development Manager at Monitise MEA (formerly
Pozitron)
Backend and front-end roles in mobile projects since 2007
Currently leading Monitise MEA Android team

3. 2014 - 2015, exciting years for wearable tech
Android Wear, Apple Watch, Nike FuelBand, Pebble,
Jawbone, Fitbit and more
Over 720,000 Android Wear devices shipped in 2014
957,000 Apple Watches on the first day of pre-sales
More than 1 million Pebble sold since 2013
Big players; Motorola, LG, Samsung, Sony, Asus, Tag Heuer
1201 android-wear tagged questions on StackOverflow; 517
for apple-watch*
* data gathered on May the 9th
Numbers

4. The market is still young

6. What You Can Do
Get / Set reminders
Track fitness
Voice Search
Start navigation
See weather
Control remote media
Stay connected!

7. Call a car/taxi
Take a note
Set alarm
Set timer
Start stopwatch
Start/Stop a bike ride
Show heart rate
Show step count
Voice Commands

8. Voice Commands
Declare your own app-provided voice actions to start
activities
“OK Google, start Lovely App”
<activity
android:name=".MainActivity"
android:label="Lovely App" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>

9. ≠

10. Do not port a small version of your
handheld app

11. The Vision
Suggest Demand
Context Stream Cue Card

12. The Vision
Launched Automatically

13. The Vision
Glanceable

14. The Vision
Suggest and Demand

15. The Vision
Zero or low interaction

16. Design Principles
Do not stop user from cooking,
eating, walking, running
Design for big gestures
Think about stream cards first i.e.
notifications-instead-of-apps model
Do one thing, really fast

17. Google Play Services

18. No Play Store

22. Contextual
Notifications
Custom App
Developing for Android Wear

23. Notifications

24. Notifications
No additional effort required

25. Notifications
No additional effort required
however..

26. Extending Notifications with Wearable Functionality
For a better user experience
Wearable Only Actions
Voice Capabilities
Extra Pages

27. Android 4.3 (API Level 18) or higher
Android v4 support library (or v13, which includes v4)
400x400 for non-scrolling and 640x400 for parallax
scrolling background images in res/drawable-nodpi
Other non-bitmap resources in res/drawable-hdpi
import android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat;
import android.support.v4.app.NotificationManagerCompat;
import android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat.WearableExtender;

28. Notifications
final int notificationId = 1;
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Hello Wearable!")
.setContentText("Sample text");
NotificationManagerCompat.from(context).notify(notificationId, builder.build());

29. Notifications
final int notificationId = 1;
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Hello Wearable!")
.setContentText("Sample text");
NotificationManagerCompat.from(context).notify(notificationId, builder.build());

30. Notifications
final int notificationId = 1;
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Hello Wearable!")
.setContentText("Sample text");
NotificationManagerCompat.from(context).notify(notificationId, builder.build());

31. Notifications
final int notificationId = 1;
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Hello Wearable!")
.setContentText("Sample text");
NotificationManagerCompat.from(context).notify(notificationId, builder.build());

32. final int notificationId = 1;
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Hello Wearable!")
.setContentText("Sample text")
.setContentIntent(browserPendingIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.ic_notif_large
));
NotificationManagerCompat.from(context).notify(notificationId, builder.build());
Notifications

33. final int notificationId = 1;
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Hello Wearable!")
.setContentText("Sample text")
.setContentIntent(browserPendingIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.ic_notif_large
));
NotificationManagerCompat.from(context).notify(notificationId, builder.build());
Notifications

34. Extending Notifications : Actions
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("HoverBoard is on sale!")
.setContentText("Check it out!")
.setContentIntent(itemDetailsIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_hoverboard2
));
// Handheld only actions
builder.addAction(R.drawable.ic_add_to_cart, "Add to Cart", addToCartIntent(context));
// Wearable-only actions
final NotificationCompat.WearableExtender wearableExtender = new
NotificationCompat.WearableExtender();
wearableExtender.addAction(
new NotificationCompat.Action(
R.drawable.ic_navigation,
"Start Navigation",
navigationIntent(context))
);
builder.extend(wearableExtender);

35. Extending Notifications : Actions
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("HoverBoard is on sale!")
.setContentText("Check it out!")
.setContentIntent(itemDetailsIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_hoverboard2
));
// Handheld only actions
builder.addAction(R.drawable.ic_add_to_cart, "Add to Cart", addToCartIntent(context));
// Wearable-only actions
final NotificationCompat.WearableExtender wearableExtender = new
NotificationCompat.WearableExtender();
wearableExtender.addAction(
new NotificationCompat.Action(
R.drawable.ic_navigation,
"Start Navigation",
navigationIntent(context))
);
builder.extend(wearableExtender);

36. Extending Notifications : Actions
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("HoverBoard is on sale!")
.setContentText("Check it out!")
.setContentIntent(itemDetailsIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_hoverboard2
));
// Handheld only actions
builder.addAction(R.drawable.ic_add_to_cart, "Add to Cart", addToCartIntent(context));
// Wearable-only actions
final NotificationCompat.WearableExtender wearableExtender = new
NotificationCompat.WearableExtender();
wearableExtender.addAction(
new NotificationCompat.Action(
R.drawable.ic_navigation,
“Nearest Shop",
navigationIntent(context))
);
builder.extend(wearableExtender);

37. Extending Notifications : Actions
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("HoverBoard is on sale!")
.setContentText("Check it out!")
.setContentIntent(itemDetailsIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_hoverboard2
));
// Handheld only actions
builder.addAction(R.drawable.ic_add_to_cart, "Add to Cart", addToCartIntent(context));
// Wearable-only actions
final NotificationCompat.WearableExtender wearableExtender = new
NotificationCompat.WearableExtender();
wearableExtender.addAction(
new NotificationCompat.Action(
R.drawable.ic_navigation,
"Start Navigation",
navigationIntent(context))
);
builder.extend(wearableExtender);

38. Extending Notifications : Voice Capabilities
public static final String EXTRA_VOICE_REPLY = "extra_voice_reply";
final RemoteInput remoteInput = new RemoteInput.Builder(EXTRA_VOICE_REPLY)
.setLabel("Rate the session")
.build();

39. public static final String EXTRA_VOICE_REPLY = "extra_voice_reply";
final RemoteInput remoteInput = new RemoteInput.Builder(EXTRA_VOICE_REPLY)
.setLabel("Rate the session")
.setChoices(context.getResources().getStringArray(R.array.reply_choices))
.build();
<string-array name="reply_choices">
<item>It was alright</item>
<item>Not so useful</item>
</string-array>
Extending Notifications : Voice Capabilities

40. ...
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Was the session helpful?")
.setContentIntent(openSessionDetailsIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_gdg
));
builder.extend(
new NotificationCompat.WearableExtender()
.addAction(
new NotificationCompat.Action.Builder(
R.drawable.abc_ic_voice_search_api_mtrl_alpha,
"Reply",
openSessionDetailsIntent(context)
).addRemoteInput(remoteInput).build()
)
);
...
Extending Notifications : Voice Capabilities

41. ...
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Was the session helpful?")
.setContentIntent(openSessionDetailsIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_gdg
));
builder.extend(
new NotificationCompat.WearableExtender()
.addAction(
new NotificationCompat.Action.Builder(
R.drawable.abc_ic_voice_search_api_mtrl_alpha,
"Reply",
openSessionDetailsIntent(context)
).addRemoteInput(remoteInput).build()
)
);
...
Extending Notifications : Voice Capabilities

42. ...
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Was the session helpful?")
.setContentIntent(openSessionDetailsIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_gdg
));
builder.extend(
new NotificationCompat.WearableExtender()
.addAction(
new NotificationCompat.Action.Builder(
R.drawable.abc_ic_voice_search_api_mtrl_alpha,
"Reply",
openSessionDetailsIntent(context)
).addRemoteInput(remoteInput).build()
)
);
...
Extending Notifications : Voice Capabilities

43. …
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("Was the session helpful?")
.setContentIntent(openSessionDetailsIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_gdg
));
builder.extend(
new NotificationCompat.WearableExtender()
.addAction(
new NotificationCompat.Action.Builder(
R.drawable.abc_ic_voice_search_api_mtrl_alpha,
"Reply",
openSessionDetailsIntent(context)
).addRemoteInput(remoteInput).build()
)
);
….
Extending Notifications : Voice Capabilities

44. Extending Notifications : Pages
More information without requiring user to open the
app on the handheld
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("New Pancake Recipe!")
.setContentText("Start making now!")
.setContentIntent(openRecipeIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_pancakes1
));

45. Extending Notifications : Pages
final Notification secondPage = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setContentTitle("Step 1")
.setContentText(RECIPE_STEP_1)
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_pancakes2
)).build();
final Notification thirdPage = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setContentTitle("Step 2")
.setContentText(RECIPE_STEP_2)
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_pancakes3
)).build();
builder.extend(
new NotificationCompat.WearableExtender()
.addPage(secondPage)
.addPage(thirdPage)
).build();

46. Extending Notifications : Pages
final Notification secondPage = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setContentTitle("Step 1")
.setContentText(RECIPE_STEP_1)
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_pancakes2
)).build();
final Notification thirdPage = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setContentTitle("Step 2")
.setContentText(RECIPE_STEP_2)
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_pancakes3
)).build();
builder.extend(
new NotificationCompat.WearableExtender()
.addPage(secondPage)
.addPage(thirdPage)
).build();

47. Extending Notifications : Pages
builder.extend(
new NotificationCompat.WearableExtender()
.addPage(secondPage)
.addPage(thirdPage)
).build();
final NotificationCompat.Builder builder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(context)
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notif)
.setContentTitle("New Pancake Recipe!")
.setContentText("Start making now!")
.setContentIntent(openRecipeIntent(context))
.setLargeIcon(BitmapFactory.decodeResource(
context.getResources(),
R.drawable.bg_pancakes1
));
. // second page
...
...
. // third page
...

48. Sometimes notifications are not
enough

49. not possible with notifications

50. Custom Wearable Apps
Run directly on the device
Fundamentally same as apps built for handheld but
differ greatly in design and usability
Basically activities with custom layouts
Access to sensors and GPU
Small in size and functionality

51. Custom Wearable Apps
Different code base, no shared resources, different
applications
Custom notifications issued on the wearable are not synced
with handheld
When the device goes to sleep, activity gets destroyed
No back or home button to exit the app
Swiping from the left edge or Long press on the app

52. Custom Wearable Apps : Unsupported APIs
android.webkit
android.print
android.app.backup
android.appwidget
android.hardware.usb

53.
dependencies {
...
compile 'com.google.android.support:wearable:1.1.0'
compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-wearable:7.3.0'
}
SDK tools 23.0.0 or higher
API 20 or higher
Enable Debug over Bluetooth on both Wearable and
Handheld (Android Wear companion app)
adb forward tcp:4444 localabstract:/adb-hub
adb connect localhost:4444

54. Custom Wearable Apps : Wearable UI Library
BoxInsetLayout
CardFragment
CircledImageView
CrossFadeDrawable
DelayedConfirmationView
DismissOverlayView
DotsPageIndicator
GridViewPager
GridPagerAdapter
FragmentGridPagerAdapter
WatchViewStub
WearableListView

55. Custom Wearable Apps : Wearable UI Library
CardFragment
BoxInsetLayout

56. Custom Wearable Apps : Wearable UI Library
GridViewPager
WearableListView

57. Sending and Syncing Data
Message API Data API Node API
to sync data
across all Wear devices
great for one way
communication
“fire&forget”
to learn about local
or connected
Nodes

58. Sending and Syncing Data
Channel API
send large data or
stream data
between two or
more devices

59. Sending and Syncing Data
Channel API
send large data or
stream data
between two or
more devices

60. Sending and Syncing Data
Capability API
to learn about
capabilities provided
by nodes on the
Wear network

61. Sending and Syncing Data : Handheld
googleApiClient = new GoogleApiClient.Builder(this)
.addConnectionCallbacks(this)
.addOnConnectionFailedListener(this)
.addApi(Wearable.API)
.build();

62. @Override
public void onConnected(Bundle bundle) {
sendFlightInfo();
}
@Override
public void onConnectionSuspended(int cause) {
...
}
@Override
public void onConnectionFailed(ConnectionResult connectionResult) {
...
}
@Override
protected void onStart() {
super.onStart();
googleApiClient.connect();
}
@Override
protected void onStop() {
googleApiClient.disconnect();
super.onStop();
}
Sending and Syncing Data : Handheld

63. @Override
public void onConnected(Bundle bundle) {
sendFlightInfo();
}
@Override
public void onConnectionSuspended(int cause) {
...
}
@Override
public void onConnectionFailed(ConnectionResult connectionResult) {
...
}
@Override
protected void onStart() {
super.onStart();
googleApiClient.connect();
}
@Override
protected void onStop() {
googleApiClient.disconnect();
super.onStop();
}
Sending and Syncing Data : Handheld

64. private void sendFlightInfo() {
final PutDataMapRequest request = PutDataMapRequest.create("/add-airlines/flight");
request.getDataMap().putString("from", "SAW");
request.getDataMap().putString("to", "ESB");
request.getDataMap().putString("gate", "G22");
request.getDataMap().putString("barcode", barcodeData);
Wearable.DataApi.putDataItem(googleApiClient, request.asPutDataRequest())
.setResultCallback(new ResultCallback<DataApi.DataItemResult>() {
@Override
public void onResult(DataApi.DataItemResult dataItemResult) {
if (!dataItemResult.getStatus().isSuccess()) {
// handle error
}
}
});
}
Sending and Syncing Data : Handheld

65. private void sendFlightInfo() {
final PutDataMapRequest request = PutDataMapRequest.create("/add-airlines/flight");
request.getDataMap().putString("from", "SAW");
request.getDataMap().putString("to", "ESB");
request.getDataMap().putString("gate", "G22");
request.getDataMap().putString("barcode", barcodeData);
Wearable.DataApi.putDataItem(googleApiClient, request.asPutDataRequest())
.setResultCallback(new ResultCallback<DataApi.DataItemResult>() {
@Override
public void onResult(DataApi.DataItemResult dataItemResult) {
if (!dataItemResult.getStatus().isSuccess()) {
// handle error
}
}
});
}
Sending and Syncing Data : Handheld

66. private void sendFlightInfo() {
final PutDataMapRequest request = PutDataMapRequest.create("/add-airlines/flight");
request.getDataMap().putString("from", "SAW");
request.getDataMap().putString("to", "ESB");
request.getDataMap().putString("gate", "G22");
request.getDataMap().putString("barcode", barcodeData);
Wearable.DataApi.putDataItem(googleApiClient, request.asPutDataRequest())
.setResultCallback(new ResultCallback<DataApi.DataItemResult>() {
@Override
public void onResult(DataApi.DataItemResult dataItemResult) {
if (!dataItemResult.getStatus().isSuccess()) {
// handle error
}
}
});
}
Sending and Syncing Data : Handheld

67. private void sendFlightInfo() {
final PutDataMapRequest request = PutDataMapRequest.create("/add-airlines/flight");
request.getDataMap().putString("from", "SAW");
request.getDataMap().putString("to", "ESB");
request.getDataMap().putString("gate", "G22");
request.getDataMap().putString("barcode", barcodeData);
Wearable.DataApi.putDataItem(googleApiClient, request.asPutDataRequest())
.setResultCallback(new ResultCallback<DataApi.DataItemResult>() {
@Override
public void onResult(DataApi.DataItemResult dataItemResult) {
if (!dataItemResult.getStatus().isSuccess()) {
// handle error
}
}
});
}
Sending and Syncing Data : Handheld

68. Sending and Syncing Data : Wearable
<service android:name=".datalayerapi.DataLayerListenerService">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="com.google.android.gms.wearable.BIND_LISTENER" />
</intent-filter>
</service>
public class DataLayerListenerService extends WearableListenerService {
@Override
public void onDataChanged(DataEventBuffer dataEvents) {
for (DataEvent event : dataEvents) {
final DataItem item = event.getDataItem();
if (item.getUri().getPath().compareTo("/add-airlines/flight") == 0) {
DataMap dataMap = DataMapItem.fromDataItem(item).getDataMap();
//raiseLocalBoardingPassNotification(dataMap);
startBoardingPassActivity(dataMap);
}
}
}
...
}

69. Sending and Syncing Data : Wearable
<service android:name=".datalayerapi.DataLayerListenerService">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="com.google.android.gms.wearable.BIND_LISTENER" />
</intent-filter>
</service>
public class DataLayerListenerService extends WearableListenerService {
@Override
public void onDataChanged(DataEventBuffer dataEvents) {
for (DataEvent event : dataEvents) {
final DataItem item = event.getDataItem();
if (item.getUri().getPath().compareTo("/add-airlines/flight") == 0) {
DataMap dataMap = DataMapItem.fromDataItem(item).getDataMap();
//raiseLocalBoardingPassNotification(dataMap);
startBoardingPassActivity(dataMap);
}
}
}
...
}

70. Sending and Syncing Data : Wearable
<service android:name=".datalayerapi.DataLayerListenerService">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="com.google.android.gms.wearable.BIND_LISTENER" />
</intent-filter>
</service>
public class DataLayerListenerService extends WearableListenerService {
@Override
public void onDataChanged(DataEventBuffer dataEvents) {
for (DataEvent event : dataEvents) {
final DataItem item = event.getDataItem();
if (item.getUri().getPath().compareTo("/add-airlines/flight") == 0) {
DataMap dataMap = DataMapItem.fromDataItem(item).getDataMap();
//raiseLocalBoardingPassNotification(dataMap);
startBoardingPassActivity(dataMap);
}
}
}
...
}

71. What’s Next and What to Expect?
New Google Play Services 7.3 features; Channel API and
Capability API
WatchFace API
More to check on Data Layer APIs and UI library
Android Wear 5.1 Update; Wi-Fi support, always-on screen,
emojis, gesture controls, new app picker and rapid
contacts
Google IO 15 Sessions
Smarter and personalized device authentication with Smart Lock
Simplifying app development using the wearable support library
Android Wear: Your app and the always-on screen

72. Resources
https://developer.android.com/training/building-wearables.html
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWz5rJ2EKKc-kIrPiq098QH9dOle-fLef
Building Apps for Wearables
DevBytes: Android Wear

73. Thank You!
@can_elmas
speakerdeck.com/canelmas
github.com/canelmas