Android Wear

Nishant Srivastava

Android Dev/Interaction Designer

Organizer@GDG New Delhi

Information that moves with you

So what is Android Wear ?

Android Wear organizes your information, suggests what you need, and shows it to you before you even ask. Get messages from your friends, meeting notifications, and weather updates at a glance....

Android Wear is a customised android version for wearable devices such as smart watches

OK, so what can it do for me ?

Whaaaa..what did you just say ..?

Notification, most useful information in a managed manner.
Voice Search, straight answers to questions
Sensors, monitors Health & Fitness
Next Multi-Screen Technology

How it Works

Requires android(>=4.3) phone/tablet (referred to as handheld)
Requires "Android Wear" app to be installed on the handheld
Handheld and Wearable communicate each other via Bluetooth
(wearable does not connect to internet on its own)

Application Packaging and Publishing

When publishing to user, package a wearable app inside a handheld app
Wearable app will be installed on user's wearable automatically when user install handheld app from Google Play Store
Package name is mandatory to be same for handheld and wearable app both

What you can DO with it ?

Receive Notifications and react to them on the wearable
Control apps on the handheld via the wearable
Run wearable specific apps ( i.e Compass, Heart Rate Monitor,etc )
Voice Search and Voice Actions...and many more...

Lets Get Started !

http://developer.android.com/wear

Prerequisites:

Java 6 or higher
Android Studio/ Eclipse (or ADT)
Android SDK Tools with the following packages

Android 4.4W (API Level 20)
Extras: Android Support Repository, Android Support Library, Google Play services

http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/index.html?pkg=tools

Get Started!

If not using a device get the emulator image from the Android SDK Manager - again for API Level 20!(Intel image requires HAXM Installer in Extras)
Don’t forget to download samples for API Level 20!
[android-sdk]/samples/android-20/wearable
Download the Android Wear App on your device
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.wearable.app&hl=en

...we have a problem
Eclipse.

Working on eclipse for developing apps for Android Wear is a very tricky job (period).

For those of you who like to play with FIRE , and plunge into the pit of Hell ...well , good news you can still build Android Wear apps on Eclipse. Follow the below blog to setup and build Android Wear Apps :
https://medium.com/@tangtungai/how-to-develop-and-package-android-wear-app-using-eclipse-ef1b34126a5d

Basic Setup

Install Android Studio
Install Android Wear support packages and system image using the Android SDK Manager
-Android 5.0 (API 21)
-Android 4.4W (API 20)
-Android SDK Tools rev23 or later
-Android Wear ARM/Intel system image
-Android Support Library (20 or later)
-Android Support Repository (6 or later)
Setup and Android Wear emulator using the Android AVD Manager
Start the emulator
Download, install and start the Android Wear companion app
Enable USB Debugging on your handheld device
...continued...

Basic Setup ( Contd..)

Connect your handheld device to computer via the USB cable.
Open TCP port 5601 on your computer.The Android Wear Emulator uses this port to communicate with the handheld device.
./adb -d forward tcp:5601 tcp:5601
On the handheld device launch the Android Wear companion app
on first launch, enable Android Wear app as the notification listener , by following the onscreen instructions.
Now connect your emulator with the handheld device, by selecting the watch icon in the Action bar

Notifications

Notifications are one of the two major design principles of Android Wear: Suggest and Demand

Suggest : Context Stream

Context stream, which is a vertical list of cards, much like Google Now
Interact with the cards by swiping them vertically
Only one card will be displayed at a time.
Add cards to the context stream by creating and delivering notifications. Use NotificationCompat.Builder to create basic notifications
To use Android Wear specific features like pages or actions, or to customize the look of cards on the context stream, use WearableNotifications.Builder.

Suggest : Context Stream

int notificationId = 001;

// Build intent for notification content
Intent viewIntent = new Intent(this, ViewEventActivity.class);
viewIntent.putExtra(EXTRA_EVENT_ID, eventId);
PendingIntent viewPendingIntent =
        PendingIntent.getActivity(this, 0, viewIntent, 0);

NotificationCompat.Builder notificationBuilder =
        new NotificationCompat.Builder(this)
        .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_event)
        .setContentTitle(eventTitle)
        .setContentText(eventLocation)
        .setContentIntent(viewPendingIntent);

// Get an instance of the NotificationManager service
NotificationManagerCompat notificationManager =
        NotificationManagerCompat.from(this);

// Build the notification and issues it with notification manager.
notificationManager.notify(notificationId, notificationBuilder.build());

Here is a short snippet that shows how to create a notification:

Demand : Cue Cards

Users can initiate an interaction with their device by using the cue card
Swiping up on the cue card will reveal a number of actions that can be executed by tapping them or speaking them