Google first announced the Android Wear 2.0 update back in May of last year at Google I/O 2016. Shortly after, the company released the first developer preview for the wearable update, and they've been working hard on it ever since. Since then though, the big update to Android Wear has had a rough development cycle, and over all things haven't looked that great for the wearable platform as a whole.
Android Wear 2.0 has had a handful of developer previews since it was announced, with each one slowly introducing new features and new mechanics for both users and developers alike. A big one that many are anxiously waiting for is the ability to manually install applications directly on the smartwatch itself. This is different to how things are now, where companion versions of apps are forced to be installed on the watch if the parent application is on the device it's paired to.
Google was rumored to have Android Wear 2.0 ready for launch sometime in Q1 of this year. This led to many thinking the company would wait until the last minute to release it, especially since Google has confirmed they're launching two smartwatches to coincide with the big new update. These two devices will not carry the Pixel branding though, and instead will follow the traditional Nexus template and will be manufactured by OEMs.
Yesterday, Google started sending out emails to various Android Wear developers, telling them to get their app update published to the Play Store. If the developer has any issues with their current app, a brief summary is outlined in the email, which is nice, but they're also telling developers that "Android Wear 2.0 is launching in early February." So if you own a device that is slated to receive the update, you should only have to wait a few more weeks to get bumped up to Android Wear 2.0.
Have you had a chance to try out any of the developer previews, or are you waiting for the official update to be rolled out?
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