By now, some of you will have bought into the Android Wear ecosystem and are rocking one of these beautiful devices on your wrist. Many critics say Android Wear hasn’t really hit its stride yet functionality-wise, and they’re probably right, but there’s still quite a lot you can do with it, which is why I’ve put together my ‘Top 5 Android Wear apps’ which I’ve been using to make my first Android Wear experience more enjoyable.
Flashlight for Android Wear – Free
It’s hard to find Android Wear apps that essentially operate as a standalone app, but Flashlight for Android Wear is as close as it gets. As the app name suggests, Flashlight for Android Wear makes your smartwatch into a temporary lightbulb on your wrist which is kind of useful if you’re rummaging around in the dark for something i.e. your phone.
You can access it through the Android Wear menu manually, but you can also activate it simply by saying “Ok Google… start flashlight”, which triggers your smartwatch to transition to an all-white screen and turns up the brightness. I wouldn’t suggest using it as a torch for too long as it will drain your already precious battery life, but it’s a nifty thing to have installed.
Watch Face – Minimal & Elegant – $0.99
And here come the watch face apps. It’s hard not to want different watch faces on your Android Wear device, despite the fact manufacturers have piled on some pretty impressive stock offerings. One of the watch faces that have caught my eye since getting my Moto 360 is the Watch Face – Minimal & Elegant app which does cost a dollar, but in my books is totally worth it. As the name of the app suggests, the watch face here is very minimal and very elegant (subjective judgement here). There are quite a few customizations available too, controlled from the app on your phone, which allows you to change the colour of the text and background on the watch face, visual effects, and even the text that appears under the time. Definitely one of my favourite watch faces.
Mural Watchface – Free with in-app purchases
Are you the type of person that admires images posted on 500px for hours on end everyday? Then Mural Watchface is the app for you. Another watch face app, Mural Watchface allows you to show 500px images, as well as any custom image, beneath some transparent bubbles that display time, date, weather, and battery life.
More about showing beautiful images than it is about showing the time itself, Mural Watchface has quite a few customization options available some of which, like greyscale and adult content, require the $1.99 pro version to be purchased.
Wear Facelift – $1.99
Can’t choose between all the beautiful watch faces you already have on your Android Wear smartwatch? Have no fear for Wear Facelift is here. Simply put, Wear Facelift allows you to rotate between all the watchfaces that are selectable through your watch face selector and changes them at regular intervals. All this can be customized from the watch itself – start the app from the Android Wear menu, select which watch faces you want in your ‘playlist’, select the time interval between changes, as well as toggle whether you want the watch face order to be shuffled or not. Overall a really neat way to vary your watch faces if you can’t make up your mind, or just like changing it up daily, like me.
Facer – $1.00
Yes, another watch face app, but easily my favourite one of them all. Like its fully fledge mobile counterpart, Android Wear is all about customization, not only of apps, but designs as well, specifically watch face designs. If you visit facerepo.com/app/ you will find a cacophony of custom designed (and some inspired) watch faces for both round and square screened smartwatches, and there are some real gems hidden in there.
These watch faces can downloaded to your device, loaded through Facer, and can be viewed on your device once synced. It’s a beautiful arrangement, and is a sure way to make sure your watch face is just that little bit more unique than someone else’s. Facer will set you back a lone dollar, but in my books is absolutely worth it if you want those customized watch faces.
So there you face it – my top 5 Android Wear apps for you to check out and use. If you have another other apps that you love to use, feel free to tell us what they are in the comments below.
