Android Wear 1.4 Update Adds 'Wrist Gestures' Control Feature
The latest Android Wear 1.4 update has added new wrist gestures that would serve as new control features for smartwatches using the new OS.
Android Wear 1.4's new wrist gestures include commands for swiping to the left or to the right, selecting an option, and reverting to the watch face. The new feature is very useful for individuals who want to use just one hand to access programs in their smartwatch, according to Financial Spots (FS).
"As long as your watch and phone are connected to a cellular network, you'll be able to use your watch to send and receive messages, track fitness, get answers from Google, and run your favorite apps," FS quotes Android Wear's statement on its official blog.
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It is worth noting that the addition of wrist gestures will eat up more of the smartwatch's battery life. For this reason, users have the option to either enable or disable the feature. However, the performance of the device will not be affected by the addition of wrist gestures, Bidness ETC reports.
To view more details on a certain action, a user needs to hold his arm in front, quickly push down, and bring the arm back to the original position. To select the first action, the user needs to push down a second time. To open the apps menu, the same gesture can be made on the watch face screen, the report details.
Google claims that the wrist gestures have already been tried and tested to give users stellar experience when using the feature. The Settings of the smartwatch provides a complete tutorial on how to use the gestures and set various commands, the report adds.
Aside from wrist gestures, other changes brought about by the Android Wear 1.4 update is the support for cellular connectivity. This allows smartwatches to automatically connect to cellular data when the device moves beyond the range of Bluetooth or WiFi.
