Google said in a new blog post that it will now allow third-party developers to create custom blocks for Wear OS. She introduced Tiles for the first time in 2019, widgets that users could view and slide to get weather information, calendar notifications or statistics like heart rate. All the blocks used to be directly from Google or the device manufacturer.
Your Jetpack Tiles library for third-party developers is now in alpha. Google notes in the blog post:
The blocks can be designed for many use cases, such as tracking the progress of the user’s daily activity, starting a workout quickly, starting a recently played song, or sending a message to a favorite contact. While applications can be immersive, blocks load quickly and focus on the user’s immediate needs. If the user wants more information, he can tap Tiles to open a related app on his watch or phone for a deeper experience.
Wear OS has been in limbo for a while, with minor updates arriving here and there, but without a clear path to its future. In the latest blog post, the company says the new custom blocks “will be available to users later this spring, when we release the corresponding Wear OS platform update.”