A couple weeks ago, Google introduced a new update to Android Wear called Interactive Watch Faces. In turn, this update ended up starting a revolution of new Watch Faces to start showing in the Play Store, some of which we will cover today. Before covering a few of the top Watch Faces for Android Wear, let’s answer the question of what makes Interactive Watch Faces special.
The simple answer to that is the obvious one. These new watch faces allow you to actually interact with your watch face, and give you different pieces of information. Before, you wouldn’t be able to interact with the watch face in any capacity other than with your eyes. If you wanted more information, you would have to find another watch face, or create your own with something like Facer.
As we will showcase today, Android Wear 1.3 brings a feature to your wrist, that should have been there from day one. Now, since it’s only been a couple of weeks since the introduction of Android 1.3, we can expect more and more of these watch faces to crop up.
As for the one’s that are already in the Play Store, prepare to be amazed at what you can do. I can already see the introduction of Interactive Watch Faces being used as a tipping point for those on the fence about getting an Android Wear device.
Without further adieu, let’s get started.
Bits Watch Face
First up on today’s list of top Android 1.3 Interactive Watch Faces is Bits. Bits Watch Face from the folks at ustwo, is a pretty simplistic watch face for your Android Wear device. However, Bits also features a ton of information at the tap of a screen. There are a total of 11 different options that you can select from. Bits allows you to display seven different pieces of information at once.
While you can’t rearrange which option is where, Bits still gives you everything you need at a tap and a glance. For example, in the screenshots above, you can see what your watch face looks like when tapping on the Battery or Weather “Bit”. Within the Android Wear application, you can also configure the style of Bits. There are thirty different color and background options for you to pick and choose from.
If Bits tickles your fancy, grab it from the widget below on the Play Store for FREE!
[pb-app-box pname=’com.ustwo.watchfaces.bits’ name=’Bits Watch Face’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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InstaWeather for Android Wear
InstaWeather for Android Wear is the watch face that offers the most options. Meaning, that there are 11 different watch faces for you to pick from. While the primary focus behind this is Weather, the developers still wanted to provide both a traditional and unique approach to your Android Wear device.
There are basic watch faces as you see above, that just have the time, date, and weather forecast, however, there are more in-depth watch faces like one that shows the weather radar for your location. In terms of that watch face, the radar shows any precipitation that may be in your area, and when you tap the screen, you are given a ‘+’ and a ‘-‘ which allow you to zoom in or out on your location.
As I mentioned above, there are a slew of watch faces with InstaWeather for Android Wear, and each of them bring something unique and different to your wrists. Hit the widget below and grab this so you can give it a shot and see if it’s for you. Don’t worry, it’s free.
[pb-app-box pname=’mobi.byss.instaweather.watchface’ name=’InstaWeather for Android Wear’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Moonlander watchface by Materi
Moonlander watchface doesn’t really do much other than show the time. However, what makes this one interactive, is that when you tap the screen, the moon phase changes, just to show off what it really can do. This piqued my interest due to the fact that I have a large interest in astronomy, and Moonlander fit the bill pretty well.
As for the watch face itself, the hour indicator is a satellite, while the minute indicator is a rocket ship. There is also a section on the right hand side that shows you the date, month, 12-hour, 24-hour, or second. This feature can be changed from within the Android Wear app or from right on your wrist.
Moonlander leans towards those space enthusiasts out there, but is still pretty awesome nonetheless. Grab it for free from the Play Store widget below.
[pb-app-box pname=’dd.watchdesigner.moonlander’ name=’Moonlander watchface by Materi’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Under Armour Record
This next watch face is for those athletic individuals out there. Well it’s actually pretty useful for anyone who wants to be conscious about how much they walk or run in a day. Under Armour(UA) Record is a fitness tracking application that includes an Android Wear watch face. Even though Under Armour partnered with HTC to deliver an unreleased fitness tracker, UA has thought about everyone in the mean time by offering this functionality.
What makes the UA watch face cool is that every time you tap your Android Wear device’s screen, you see a different piece of information. In addition to that, there is also a bar that wraps around the circumference of the watch face and shows your progress compared to what you have entered in the main application.
If you want the most accurate results, be sure to login to the main application and get all your information put into the system. That way you can start tracking everything you want with both the app and the watch face. Obviously as you can tell from the screenshots above, I didn’t do much walking while using the watch face.
You can grab Under Armour Record for free via the widget below.
[pb-app-box pname=’com.ua.record’ name=’Under Armour Record’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Odyssey Watch Face
Odyssey Watch Face is one of my favorite Android Wear watch face choices due to how beautiful it looks. Odyssey has been out for some time, and recently received the update to include Interactive Watch Face functionality. The face itself features an analog clock, the date, weather information for your location of choice, and battery life indicators for both your Android Wear device and the device it’s connected to.
In terms of the Interactive Watch Face update, Odyssey now includes two options for you to play around with. The default option is that every time you tap the display, the watch face changes colors. The other option for you to select is to open an application with the tap of your finger. You can configure these settings within the Watch Face settings in the Android Wear Application. There are nine different color options to choose from, and if you choose to open an application from your Android Wear device, you must select from the options available on your wrist.
You can head over to the Play Store and pick up Odyssey Watch Face for less than a buck at $0.99.
[pb-app-box pname=’co.smartwatchface.odyssey.watch.face’ name=’Odyssey Watch Face’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Dynamic Watch Face
The final Interactive Watch Face that we are going to take a look at today is Dynamic Watch Face. This watch face is another of my favorites, due to the amount of detail that is included in the Watch Face itself. You are presented with the Analog Clock, Date, Weather information, battery information, and missed notifications for Calls and Texts. Additionally, where the fun begins is when you tap one of those sections.
If you have a missed text, and want to see who it’s from, you can tap the bottom, and you are presented with a screen similar to what you see above. From here, you can interact further with your notification by replying using your Android Wear device and you will never have to take your phone out of your pocket. Another cool feature of Dynamic Watch Face is all the customization options. There are over 15 different features within Dynamic Watch Face and you can change or customize just about everything, including Background Textures, Watch Hands, the animations, and more.
Head over to the Play Store via the widget below, and grab Dynamic Watch Face for only $1.23 and get all your information that you need at a glance.
[pb-app-box pname=’com.watch.richface.dynamic’ name=’Dynamic Watch Face’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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These are just a few of the Interactive Watch Faces that have been updated to work with Android Wear 1.3. You can check out the other options that have Interactive Watch Faces via the link here. In the mean time, drop us a line and let us know some of your favorite Android Wear watch faces, even they aren’t as awesome as the Interactive ones.