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Android Wear’s new interactive watch faces just raised the game

The latest Android Wear update seriously boosts Google’s smartwatch platform, giving you fast access to vital info and keeping you in close contact with your bestie.

Android Wear watch faces can already display useful info like how many calories you’ve supposedly burned by running for the bus, or the next appointment in your calendar (mine appears to read ‘4pm – beer’). But now Google has added support for fully-interactive faces which can bring up extra info with just a quick tap, or even hold shortcuts to your favourite Android Wear apps.

Read next: Android Wear tips n’ tricks

One example, nicknamed ‘Bits’, has a tiny analogue clock face in the middle, surrounded by a number of widget-style bubbles. These show you key stats at a glance, such as today’s temperature and any waiting notifications. Just give them a tap and you’ll see more detailed info – so for instance, you can see that your next appointment is in 50 minutes at a glance, while poking the bubble (or ‘complication’ as Google bizarrely names them) brings up deets such as location.

As well as the obvious fitness implementations, the new watch faces will also allow you to stay closely connected with your bestie or other half. The ‘Together’ face basically turns your watch’s main screen into a sharing space, with photos, activities and other notifications from your chosen human flashing up on-screen.

This fresh Android Wear update will roll out to existing Android Wear watches in ‘the coming weeks’.

Android Wear’s last big update added a ton of great new features, including phone-free notifications, gesture support and the ability to draw your own emojis. Here’s hoping that classic Android Wear watches like the Moto 360 can actually handle this latest update, as the last one caused the 360 a few issues.

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