Creating Custom UIs for Wear Devices

User interfaces for watch apps differ significantly from user interfaces for phone apps. Watch apps should follow the guidelines on the Android Wear design site and implement the UI patterns on that site, which ensure the following:

• A consistent user experience across apps
• An experience that is optimized for watches

This lesson provides information about creating attractive, custom UIs, including custom notifications for your watch apps.

Note: We recommend using Android Studio for Android Wear development, as it provides project setup, library inclusion, and packaging conveniences. This training assumes you are using Android Studio.

The Wearable Support Library, which is part of the Google Repository in the Android SDK, provides classes that help you implement UI patterns and create layouts that work on round and square Android Wear devices.

Note that the following classes in the Wear support library are deprecated in Wear 2.0:

• ActionChooserView. Use the AlertDialog class instead.
• CrossfadeDrawable. Use the AnimationSet class instead.
• DismissOverlayView. Long pressing to dismiss an app is no longer suggested for immersive activities (such as Google Maps).
• GridViewPager. To implement a vertical paging pattern, consider using the PagerSnapHelper and a RecyclerView instead.
• ProgressSpinner. Use the ProgressBar class instead.
• WatchViewStub and WearableFrameLayout. Provide alternative resources for specific device configurations as described in the Providing Resources guide.
• WearableListView. Use the following classes instead:
  • For centering and snapping your list items, use the WearableRecyclerView class supported by a SnapHelper or a LinearSnapHelper class.
  • For scaling and otherwise modifying the list items based on their location on the screen, use the WearableRecyclerView.OffsettingHelper class.

Lessons

Defining Layouts

Learn how to create layouts that look good on round and square Android Wear devices.

Creating Lists

Learn how to create lists that are optimized for wearable devices.

Showing Confirmations

Learn how to display confirmation animations when users complete actions.

Exiting Full-Screen Activities

Learn how to implement the long-press-to-dismiss UI pattern to exit full-screen activities.

Using the Wear UI Library

Learn how to use the Wear UI Library in your user interfaces.

Wear Navigation and Actions

Learn how to add interactive drawers to your Wear app.

Multi-function Buttons

Learn how to retrieve available multi-function buttons on a device.

Rotary Input

Learn how to add rotary input support to your app's scrollable views.

Creating Input Method Editors

Learn how to support input methods beyond voice.

Using Wrist Gestures

Learn how to enable user interaction with wrist gestures.