#wearos

I made a Bluey-themed watch face for WearOS! https://judacris.itch.io/sleepy-dogs

Having recently procured a WearOS smartwatch to monitor my heart rate, I realised that these new-fangled gizmos have custom watch faces anyone can create. Inspired by the Limited Edition Bluey OST on vinyl, I recreated their designs into soul-cleansing watch faces.

WEEKLY STATUS REPORT: NEW POTIONS & A NEW WAY TO CHECK YOUR TASKS!

This week saw the return of Moonglow Magic Hatching Potions to the Market, to make your pets and mounts all glowy. Brand-new Porcelain Potions are also in the Market. Buy them before they’re gone at the end of this month!

The signs were all there. OnePlus had announced they were going to make a smartwatch. They were working with Google to improve WearOS. It seemed like these two things had to go together, but they don’t. At least not yet.

We’ve been getting a pretty steady stream of rumors about the soon to be revealed OnePlus watch, however for some time now one thing has remained up in the air. What operating system is it going to run? Yesterday we got confirmation on that from the Co-Founder and CEO of OnePlus himself, Pete Lau.

In a statement on March 17th, Lau said that the new watch would be running their own “RTOS” or “Real Time Operating System.”

This comes with some advantages and some disadvantages.

Because OnePlus makes the watch and controls the operating system, they have full control over how the watch looks and feels, as well as what software can run on it. It’s also at least in part likely how they’re getting that phenomenal seven days of battery life! Along with the large 46mm size likely allowing for a pretty big battery by smartwatch standards.

The watch will also have full compatibility with OnePlus Phones, and if you live somewhere they’re sold, OnePlus TVs.

On the other hand, it also means that the app ecosystem for the OnePlus watch could be pretty sparse, especially if the watch doesn’t end up having much of a broad appeal.

Samsung got away with going to their own proprietary OS, Tizen, only after making WearOS watches for years and building up a large, reliable user base. That allowed them to use their scale to bring app developers and customers along. OnePlus has neither of these advantages right now. They make great devices, but are a relatively small player compared to juggernauts like Samsung and Apple.

OnePlus may however be fully aware of this. They’re leaning hard on the fitness aspects of the new watch which could indicate they’re really trying to compete more with devices like the FitBit Sense and Versa rather than other full on smartwatches.

OnePlus is also still working with Google on improving WearOS,. So it’s still entirely possible that we could see them release a WearOS watch at a later date. We’ll all have to wait and see if there are any surprises on the 23rd when the official announcement for the OnePlus watch happens.

For right now though, if you’re into fitness, or the OnePlus ecosystem, this might be a great watch for you. But if you’re looking for the full smartwatch experience you may want to look elsewhere, or wait and see if OnePlus does release a WearOS watch in the future.

Pros

Long battery life

Workout, sleep, heart rate, and o2 tracking

Swimproof

7 days of battery life on a full charge, and 20 minute charge time to 80%

Cons

Proprietary OS may have few 3rd party apps

Compatibility beyond OnePlus devices may not be great