Posted by John Zoeller – Developer Relations Engineer, and Caroline Vander Wilt – Group Product Supervisor
New Put on OS options allow ‘standalone’ watches for teenagers, unlocking new prospects for Put on OS app builders
In collaboration with Samsung, Put on OS is introducing Galaxy Look ahead to Children, a brand new children expertise enabling children to discover whereas staying linked with their households from their smartwatch, no cellphone essential. This launch unlocks new alternatives for Put on OS builders to achieve youthful audiences.
Galaxy Look ahead to Children is rolling out to Galaxy Watch7 LTE fashions , with options together with:
- No cellphone possession required: This expertise allows the watch and its related apps to function on a completely standalone foundation utilizing LTE, and when out there, Wifi connectivity. This contains calling, texting, video games, and extra.
- Number of kid-friendly apps: From gaming to well being, children can browse and request installs of Instructor Authorized apps and watch faces onGoogle Play. Along with approving and blocking apps, mother and father may also monitor app utilization from Google Household Hyperlink.
- Keep in contact with parent-managed contacts: Dad and mom can guarantee safer communications by limiting textual content and calling to authorised contacts.
- Location sharing: Provides peace of thoughts with location sharing and geofencing notifications when children go away or arrive at designated areas.
- College time: Limits watch performance throughout scheduled hours of the day, so children can focus whereas at school or finding out.
Constructing children experiences with standalone performance allows you to attain each standalone and tethered watches for teenagers. Apps like Math Tango have already created nice Put on OS experiences for teenagers. Try the video beneath to find out how they constructed a wealthy and fascinating Put on OS app.
Our new kids-focused design and content material rules and developer steerage are additionally out there at the moment. Try a few of the highlights within the subsequent part.
New rules and tips for improvement
We have created new design rules and tips to assist builders reap the benefits of this chance to construct and enhance apps and watch faces for teenagers.
Design precept: Lively and enjoyable
Construct participating wholesome experiences for youngsters by together with activity-based options.
An important instance of that is the Odd Squad Time Unit app from PBS KIDS that encourages kids to rise up and be bodily lively. Through the use of the on-device sensors and power-efficient platform APIs, the app is ready to present a enjoyable expertise all day and nonetheless preserve battery lifetime of the watch from wakeup to mattress time.
Be aware that whereas experiences ought to be catered to children, they have to additionally observe the Put on OS high quality necessities associated to the visible expertise of your app, particularly when crafting contact targets and font sizes.
Content material precept: Thoughtfully crafted
Think about adjusting your content material to make it not solely applicable, but in addition consumable and intuitive for youthful children (together with these as younger as 6). This contains each audio and visible app parts.
Tinkercast’s Two Whats?! And a Wow! app makes use of age-appropriate vocabulary and enjoyable characters to help of their instructing. It’s an ideal instance of how a developer ought to account for studying comprehension.
Growth tips
New Put on OS children apps should adhere to the Put on OS app high quality tips, the rules for standalone apps, and the brand new Children improvement information.
Reduce influence on system battery
Reduce occasions that have an effect on battery life over the course of 1 session. Children use watches that present essential security options for his or her mother and father or guardians, which rely upon the system having sufficient battery life. Beneath are greatest practices for lowering battery influence.
✅ DO design for offline use circumstances so that youngsters can play with out incurring network-related battery prices
Select a improvement atmosphere
To develop kid-friendly apps and video games you need to use Compose for Put on OS, our advisable method for constructing UI for Put on OS, in addition to Unity for Android.
We advocate Unity for growing video games on Put on OS should you’re acquainted and cozy with its workflows and capabilities. Nevertheless, for video games with only some animations, Compose Animation ought to be adequate and is best supported throughout the Android atmosphere.
Make sure you think about that some Put on OS high quality necessities could require customized Unity implementations, similar to assist for Rotary Enter.
Originator’s MathTango showcases the pliability and richness of growing with Unity:
Creating Watch Faces
Growing watch faces for teenagers requires using Watch Face Format. Watch faces ought to adhere to our content material and design rules talked about above, in addition to our high quality requirements, together with our ambient mode requirement.
The next examples reveal our Content material Precept: Interesting. The content material is related, participating, and enjoyable for teenagers, sparking their curiosity and creativeness.
The Crayola Pets Watch Face comes with an ideal number of customization choices, and demonstrates an informative and nice watch face:
The Marvel Watch Faces (Captain America proven) present a enjoyable and helpful step monitoring characteristic:
Children expertise publishing necessities
Builders seeking to get began on a brand new children expertise might want to preserve a number of issues in thoughts when publishing on the Play Retailer.
- Age and Content material Score: Children apps ought to be configured within the Play Retailer to fulfill the age and content material necessities applicable to their performance
- Utilizing Watch Face Format: Solely watch faces that are constructed with Watch Face Format shall be made out there for teenagers
Increase your attain with Put on OS
Prepare to achieve a brand new era of Put on OS customers! We have created all-new tips that will help you construct participating experiences for teenagers. Right here’s a fast recap:
- Concentrate on enrichment and age-tailoring
- Ensure it really works with Standalone, and control the battery
With the Put on for Children expertise, builders can attain a wholly new viewers of customers and be a part of the subsequent era of studying and enrichment on Put on OS.
Try the entire new experiences on the Play Retailer!
