Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Put on OS provides a number of knowledge connectivity choices, together with mobile, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
- System updates could be very massive, presenting a bottleneck on slower Bluetooth connections.
- A brand new change will see Put on OS prioritize Wi-Fi and mobile over Bluetooth for downloading updates.
Retaining your Android machine up to date might be the one most vital factor you are able to do to get probably the most out of it, making certain you’ve acquired entry to not simply all the recent new options, but in addition essential safety patches. On our telephones, installing updates is fairly straightforward, and we’ve acquired no scarcity of nice choices for getting new software program on them, from mobile or Wi-Fi OTA, to a wired USB connection. The state of affairs’s been a bit extra difficult once we’re smartwatches, however a latest tweak sounds prefer it could possibly be altering issues for the higher.
Wear OS smartwatches usually assist Wi-Fi, and plenty of fashions additionally provide the choice for mobile connectivity, however to date it’s actually been Bluetooth doing lots of the heavy lifting in the case of getting knowledge on and off our watches. And whereas Bluetooth is actually nice at lots of issues, it’s not precisely the quickest strategy to switch an entire lot of information. With trendy Put on OS updates pushing into the gigabyte vary, you’re in all probability going to need one thing speedier than Bluetooth to ship them to your watch.
Fortunately, a latest replace to Google Play Services is doing one thing about that downside (through 9to5Google). Going ahead, your smartwatch ought to be capable to seize its updates as shortly as doable, because of a change in how obtainable community choices are prioritized. Google explains:
Whenever you replace your wearable machine, Wi-Fi and mobile networks will now be prioritized over Bluetooth for quicker downloads. If Wi-Fi isn’t obtainable, you possibly can select your most well-liked community as a substitute.
To this point, if you happen to’ve needed to pressure an replace to come back down over a kind of higher-speed connections, you’d should manually disable the Bluetooth hyperlink to your cellphone — not probably the most swish resolution on this planet. Prioritizing Wi-Fi and mobile for all of your watch’s knowledge wants is perhaps overkill — and never nice to your battery life — however by singling out what’s in all probability the one largest knowledge hog for a lot of smartwatch customers, this focused strategy feels like a sensible compromise.
Tell us within the feedback if you happen to’ve noticed this variation going dwell to your personal Put on OS smartwatch.
