Wear OS 5.1

Explore the latest version of Wear OS, available in the official emulator in Android Studio. Check that your app runs as expected after you update your target SDK version.

Wear OS 5.1 is based on Android 15 (API level 35), which requires you to test your apps that already target API level 34 for Wear OS 5.

Prepare the emulator for testing

To run Wear OS 5.1 in the official emulator, you must first download and install the system image that runs on the emulator. You must then create a virtual device that runs this system image.

Download and install the system image

To download and install the correct system image, complete the following steps:

  1. Download and install the latest release of Android Studio Meerkat if you haven't done so already.
  2. In Android Studio, click Tools > SDK Manager.

  3. In the SDK Platforms tab, expand the Android 15.0 ("VanillaIceCream") section and select either Wear OS 5.1 - Preview ARM 64 v8a System Image or Wear OS 5.1 - Preview Intel x86_64 Atom System Image:

    "The emulator build images appear within the group of build images for Android API 35"

  4. Click OK. When the Confirm Change window appears, click OK again.

  5. Wait for Android Studio to download and install the system image, and then click Finish.

Create a virtual device

To create a virtual device that runs this system image in the official emulator, complete these steps:

  1. In Android Studio, open the Device Manager by selecting Tools > Device Manager. The Device Manager pane appears.
  2. In the toolbar within the Device Manager pane, click Add a new device > Create Virtual Device.
  3. In the Form Factor pane, select Wear OS and choose a hardware profile. Click Next.
  4. Select a Wear OS 5.1 system image to use. The system image should have an API Level of 35.
  5. Click Next, and then click Finish.

Test your app on the emulator

To test your app on this virtual device that you've created, complete the following steps:

  1. Go to the Android Studio toolbar and select the virtual device.
  2. Click Run .
  3. Install your app on the virtual device and navigate through the different user-facing workflows that your app uses.

Changes that affect all apps

As you test your app on Wear OS 5.1, check to see how your app handles the system behavior changes that affect all apps in Android 15, which uses the same API level as Wear OS 5.1.

Several behavior changes don't take effect in Wear OS 5.1:

Update your app's target SDK version

You can improve your app's compatibility with Wear OS 5.1 by updating your app's target SDK version to API level 35. (This is the same API level that Android 15 uses.)

To do so, open your module-level build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file, and update them with values for Wear OS 5.1.

How you format the values in your build file depends on the version of the Android Gradle plugin (AGP) that you are using.

AGP 7.0.0 or higher

If you are using AGP 7.0.0 or higher, update your app's build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file with the following values for Wear OS 5.1:

Groovy

android {
    compileSdk 35
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        targetSdk 35
    }
}

Kotlin

android {
    compileSdk = 35
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        targetSdk = 35
    }
}

AGP 4.2.0 or lower

If you are using AGP 4.2.0 or lower, update your app's build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file with the following values for Wear OS 5.1:

Groovy

android {
    compileSdkVersion "35"
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        targetSdkVersion "35"
    }
}

Kotlin

android {
    compileSdkVersion = "35"
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        targetSdkVersion = "35"
    }
}

Changes that only affect apps targeting API level 35

After you update your target SDK version to API level 35, handle the changes for apps that target Android 15, which uses the same API level as Wear OS 5.1.

Explore new features

Wear OS 5.1 introduces several features to help enhance your Wear OS app experience.

Notable features to explore include the following:

  • Credential manager support: The Credential Manager API provides a unified authentication solution, supporting sign-in flows using passwords, passkeys, and federated identity (such as Sign In with Google). A user's credentials are stored in a credential provider, which syncs account information across devices.
  • Watch speaker playback: On devices that support media playback through the watch speaker, users can select this speaker as their preferred media output option if your app integrates with the Wear Output Switcher.

Release notes

The system image that's available on the Wear OS 5.1 emulator has the following characteristics:

  • Release date: November 19, 2024
  • Build ID: AP4A.241205.004.F1

Known issues

The system image that contains Wear OS 5.1 has the following known issues:

  • The emulator doesn't always allow the user to add an account during the setup flow following a device reset.
  • When tapping on a notification, the app that sent the notification doesn't open until the user scrolls the screen.
  • Wear Health Services sometimes fails to start an exercise.
  • If you access the androidx.wear.tiles or androidx.wear:wear-phone-interactions libraries within an app that targets API level 35, a SecurityException might occur. To resolve this issue, upgrade to the latest version of each library.