Android Wear 2.0 inspired by Swipify!
Back in July 2014 when I was doing my research work for the scholarly publication of my Computer Systems Engineering graduation, I got intrigued by Android Wear watches. I remember watching the Google IO in which they showed off the upcoming watches and the cool new ways we could interact with our phones. At the time of Google IO I didn't pay much attention to Android wear and focused completely on my research. However at the launch of Android wear, I saw LG G watch and Moto 360, the later was planned to be released a few months later. I was fascinated by the cool design of Moto 360 and got interested in wear development.
I looked at the workings of Wear OS & to my surprise, Google didn't include a handy application launcher considering Android Wear was all about enhancing user experience and keeping us away from our phones when necessary. The only way one could launch an app was via voice, otherwise you had to dig deep into the system to get to list of installed apps.
This was an opportunity for me to improve the UX of Android wear. That's how Swipify came into being. Swipify is an application launcher, multi-tasker and automaton that could be accessed from anywhere in the Wear system with just a simple gesture or floating icon.
For writing Android Wear applications you had to have a phone running Jelly Bean 4.3 and a wear watch. I neither had a phone running Android 4.3 nor did I have a wear watch. Though one could test the app on the bundled emulators but the emulators were so buggy that they couldn't identify if they were round watch emulators or square watch emulators, which ultimately means developing without a wear watch and Android 4.3 phone was an utter nightmare.
I started writing Swipify anyway besides not having the required resources. I was done writing the first release of Swipify in the first week of the launch and decided to publish it on Google Play. When I sat down to make developer account with a debit card, Google wouldn't let me. Later I found out Google didn't allow transactions from a debit card for creating a developer's account in my country. Being a broke student, I couldn't afford a credit card, so I borrowed the account of one my friends and published it on his developer's account.
Soon after the release, Swipify took the internet by storm. The likes of Android Police and Android Community were featuring it and writing reviews about the app. I was astonished because I wasn't even sure if the app would run properly or get pushed to Wear watch from the phone since I couldn't test it on real world devices.
Radial Design & Android Wear 2.0:
Swipify has 3 launchers, Grid Launcher, Floating Launcher and Radial Launcher. Radial launcher being the most prominent and wear friendly one.
Many Moto 360 or circular watch users made Radial launcher their default launcher because it was so natural to use an interface that was designed & crafted for the circular watches.
Since then several 3rd party app developers copied the idea of Radial Launcher and included in their apps.
Two nights ago when I was watching Google IO, they announced Android Wear 2.0. My excitement led me to look for the improvements and UI changes. Surprisingly, Google has included the Radial Launcher inspired interface in the Wear notification area.
I am honored and at the same time have this mixed feeling, why didn't Google include this interface in the early days of Wear? Why didn't Google feature Swipify's radial inspired app launcher in Wear OS?
Though the development of Swipify is halted at the moment, however I am planning to resume Swipify's development, when I buy the Android Wear watch (or better yet if Google sends me one). Hopefully I will be able bring out more innovative interface and UX ideas that Google will incorporate in their Wear OS in the near future, Or may be in not too distant future, I will be sitting in Google's head quarters at Mountain View and working on the new release of Android Wear.
I looked at the workings of Wear OS & to my surprise, Google didn't include a handy application launcher considering Android Wear was all about enhancing user experience and keeping us away from our phones when necessary. The only way one could launch an app was via voice, otherwise you had to dig deep into the system to get to list of installed apps.
This was an opportunity for me to improve the UX of Android wear. That's how Swipify came into being. Swipify is an application launcher, multi-tasker and automaton that could be accessed from anywhere in the Wear system with just a simple gesture or floating icon.
For writing Android Wear applications you had to have a phone running Jelly Bean 4.3 and a wear watch. I neither had a phone running Android 4.3 nor did I have a wear watch. Though one could test the app on the bundled emulators but the emulators were so buggy that they couldn't identify if they were round watch emulators or square watch emulators, which ultimately means developing without a wear watch and Android 4.3 phone was an utter nightmare.
I started writing Swipify anyway besides not having the required resources. I was done writing the first release of Swipify in the first week of the launch and decided to publish it on Google Play. When I sat down to make developer account with a debit card, Google wouldn't let me. Later I found out Google didn't allow transactions from a debit card for creating a developer's account in my country. Being a broke student, I couldn't afford a credit card, so I borrowed the account of one my friends and published it on his developer's account.
Soon after the release, Swipify took the internet by storm. The likes of Android Police and Android Community were featuring it and writing reviews about the app. I was astonished because I wasn't even sure if the app would run properly or get pushed to Wear watch from the phone since I couldn't test it on real world devices.
Radial Design & Android Wear 2.0:
Swipify has 3 launchers, Grid Launcher, Floating Launcher and Radial Launcher. Radial launcher being the most prominent and wear friendly one.
Many Moto 360 or circular watch users made Radial launcher their default launcher because it was so natural to use an interface that was designed & crafted for the circular watches.
Since then several 3rd party app developers copied the idea of Radial Launcher and included in their apps.
Two nights ago when I was watching Google IO, they announced Android Wear 2.0. My excitement led me to look for the improvements and UI changes. Surprisingly, Google has included the Radial Launcher inspired interface in the Wear notification area.
I am honored and at the same time have this mixed feeling, why didn't Google include this interface in the early days of Wear? Why didn't Google feature Swipify's radial inspired app launcher in Wear OS?
Though the development of Swipify is halted at the moment, however I am planning to resume Swipify's development, when I buy the Android Wear watch (or better yet if Google sends me one). Hopefully I will be able bring out more innovative interface and UX ideas that Google will incorporate in their Wear OS in the near future, Or may be in not too distant future, I will be sitting in Google's head quarters at Mountain View and working on the new release of Android Wear.
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