Swipeable widgets called Tiles are coming to Google’s smartwatch OS

Wear OS, Google’s five-year-old smartwatch operating system, is finally getting some notable new feature love.

Swipeable widgets called Tiles will be added to the interface, letting users drag their finger left across the screen to access a number of quick, info-spewing widgets. Just five are available at launch, including “Goals, Next event, Forecast (weather), Heart rate, Headlines and Timer”.

Dragging your finger left across the screen opens a number of quick, info-spewing widgets

“With a swipe left, you’ll be greeted by these Tiles and can check your progress towards your fitness goals or start a workout, know where you need to be next, plan ahead with the latest forecast, check your heart rate, follow the latest breaking headlines and set a timer,” Google penned in a blog post.

If this looks all too familiar, you’ve probably seen Samsung’s Tizen OS-toting smartwatches, which have a similar swiping-widget system.

Interestingly, swiping left on Wear OS’s homescreen would previously open Google Fit, but it seems that this data has been added to Tiles.

Tiles is a nifty addition to Wear OS, giving users more immediate access to info that was previously buried behind a menu screen and a series of taps, button presses and swipes.

It’s not clear if Google will allow users to adjust which Tiles they need or want displayed, or if it will allow third parties to create their own. Either way, it’s a change you’ll see sliding into your smartwatch screen in the coming month.

Feature image: Google