Material design for Wear OS helps you design engaging app experiences.
Understand use cases
Watches allow users to get information at a glance, such as seeing
progress towards health and fitness goals, and to act quickly, like responding
to an instant message. Focus on use cases like these when designing apps for
smartwatches.
The watch interface presents unique opportunities that are not available
on traditional mobile devices, including:
- Input enabled by a physical body connection (through sensors and motion
detection).
- Quick access to glanceable information and actions, such as complications,
notifications, and Tiles.
The watch also comes with limitations:
- Smaller screen space
- Lower information density
- Limited battery life
Consider both the capabilities and limitations of the platform when designing
apps for watches.
check_circle
Do
Design experiences where tasks can be accomplished easily using the watch interface.
cancel
Don't
Don't create complex, detailed apps that include items like spreadsheets, as this is difficult to edit and view on a watch.
Test designs
The majority of Wear OS devices have round displays, which have 22% less UI
space than square displays. Round displays also need larger margins for text to
be easily readable.
Design for round screens
Design for round screens and make sure your layout works within the smaller
size constraints.
check_circle
Do
Design for round displays.
Take your designs for a spin
People wearing watches are regularly in motion, whether they are standing,
gesturing, or running to catch a bus.
check_circle
Do
Test your designs in situations that involve user movement to make sure the design is usable at a glance.
App examples
Material Design for Wear OS helps you design engaging app experiences. The
following screenshots show a few illustrated examples of Wear OS apps that
follow the principles described in this guide.
Figure 1.
An example of a media app.
Figure 2.
An example of a task management app.
Figure 3.
An example of an instant messaging app.
Figure 4.
An example of a stopwatch app.
Figure 5.
An example of a dialer app.
Figure 6.
An example of a calculator app.