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Apple's Pride-themed watch face is blocked in Russia
Russia's not made any secret of its stance on the LGBTQ+ community. It's banned comics, gotten rid of statues and has taken issue with gay emojis, all in the name of its "gay propaganda" law, passed in 2013. Now, companies that want to operate in the country and are otherwise advocates for LGTBQ+ rights are being forced to fall in line. As iOS developer Guilherme Rambo recently discovered, Apple's Pride-themed Apple Watch face has been "hardcoded to not show up if the paired iPhone is using the Russian locale."
Wear OS watches get (slightly) useful interactive faces
Look at all that space on your smartwatch's face. You could be doing so much more with it. In addition to simply displaying the time, date, current weather and your fitness progress, your watch's canvas could also do things like launch apps, switch modes or even let you play mini games. That is, if you're using an Android Wear, sorry, Wear OS, device. You'll have to install the Facer app and make sure you have the latest version (4.6.0) to get the new interactive faces, which launched today.
Android's social watch face closes down in September
With the looming update to Android Wear 2.0, legacy apps (and devices) are going the way of the buffalo. In this case, it's the Together watch face that included one-to-one communications like doodles and photos with another person using Google's wearable platform. Android Police reports that the reason why is that app's latest update warns that the watch face's social features are going to be baked into the next version of Android Wear. Y'know, similar to how they have been with Apple Watch. When's the funeral? Apparently, the end of next month: September 30th.
Microsoft Outlook has an Android Wear watch face
Microsoft Outlook made its debut on current wearables with an Apple Watch app last year, before launching an Android Wear app in April. Now Microsoft has gone a step further, by updating its app with an Android Wear watchface. Outlook users with a Wear device get details on their day's schedule, next upcoming meeting or unread messages right on their initial screen, without needing to dive into an app or wait for a notification. If your work setup is centered around Outlook instead of Gmail, it should make dealing with scheduling and messages far easier -- grab the latest update from the Play Store and sync apps on your Android watch to get the latest version.
Google debuts designer watch faces for Android Wear
With companies like TAG Heuer and Fossil now investing in Android Wear, Google knows how important it is to keep smartwatches looking stylish. As such, the company has revealed a set of fashion-centric watch faces for Android Wear devices, as part of a partnership with nine different brands. This includes designs from Asics, Harajuku Kawaii!, Mango, Melissa Joy Manning, Nicole Miller, Ted Baker, Vivienne Tam, Y-3 and Zoe Jordan.
Apple doesn't want you making Watch apps that only tell the time
The Apple Watch may come with gobs of customizable watch faces out of the box, but that doesn't mean that you can install any face you like. Apple has updated its App Store developer guidelines to expressly forbid Watch apps that are primarily designed to tell the time -- it can be a feature, but shouldn't be the focus. You'll have to make do with the existing choices for now.
Contest-winning Moto 360 watch face blends classic looks with modern tech
Motorola has been running a watch face design contest to spark interest in developing for its upcoming Moto 360 wristwear, and it looks like the company's efforts have hit the jackpot. The winning design from David Pascual is a clever blend between a traditional timekeeper and the at-a-glance alerts you'd expect from Android Wear. On top of basic status info, the watch face also has customizable notification widgets; you'll know right away if you have new Gmail or a low battery. Pascual's effort is just eye candy right now, but that may change soon. Winning the competition could get his design featured on the Moto 360, so you may have a chance to check it out first-hand before long.
Honeywell thermostat lets you set the temperature using your Pebble smartwatch
Honeywell may now be looking to take on Nest with a new sleek and stylish thermostat, but it's still making sure that users of its other connected systems enjoy updates too. In a bid to make things a little easier for owners of it evohome smart zoning thermostat, the company has extended support to the Pebble smartwatch, offering up room-by-room heating control from the comfort of your wrist. Honeywell's new smart bundle allows you to set the temperature of in each zone (or room) in your home and turn the heating on or off with the push of a button. The app can also immediately enable or disable any of the preset evohome quick actions, which is especially helpful if you've forgotten to shut off the heating before you fly off on holiday. If you've installed Honeywell's zoning thermostat and also own a Pebble, you can grab the new app and watchface from Pebble's app store using either your iOS or Android device.
