I'm considering Wear OS development

11/14/2019

Christmas is rapidly approaching! This year, the exciting new gadget that I'm asking for is a Fossil Gen 5 smartwatch. The Gen 5 isn't perfect, especially in the realm of battery life. However it's sleeker than the Apple Watch in my opinion, and it costs significantly less. I know that Apple limits smartwatches from other brands when paired to an iPhone, but it's a compromise I'm willing to make for a watch that excites me much more than Apple's offerings.

Why not an Apple Watch?

Due to the fact that most of the people reading this are fairly tech-savvy, I think I need to clearly present my motives for not pairing an Apple Watch with my iPhone 8. Here's a list of reasons why I like the Fossil Gen 5 better than the Apple Watch Series 4 and 5.

Google Assistant: Wear OS has Google Assistant, whereas watchOS has the disappointing Siri. Yuck.
Round design: When you are going to be wearing a device all the time in public, you want it to look nice. I don't care for the boxy design of the Apple Watch. I prefer a more traditional looking timepiece.
The little things: There are a lot of little things that I like about the Gen 5. First, having custom shortcut buttons is awesome. Second, the rotating crown is a great feature to have. Finally, the custom battery modes are super cool. I love the idea of being able to disable features I don't use or care about.
Ecosystem lock: Perhaps the biggest reason why I don't want to buy an Apple Watch is the ecosystem lock. I want to be able to switch to Android in a couple years. However, having a smartwatch that only works with iOS complicates things. As a result, I can't justify buying such an expensive item that will only last me a couple years.

If you don't agree with these reasons, I understand. However, after briefly using an Apple Watch on display at Target, I can't say I'm particularly interested in buying one.

With that being said, the Apple Watch is still a great device. In fact, it's amazing! It's just not for me.

What does this have to do with Tectra?

Alright, I know. I haven't actually talked about the main purpose of this post. Due to the fact that I am going to be getting a Wear OS watch soon, I think it would be cool if I made some Wear OS apps and published them on Google Play. Do you think this is a good idea? You can tell me in the poll below!

Should I start writing Wear OS apps?

(Poll Removed)

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