Android Wear UI explained and detailed

Google announced their Android Wear platform earlier today, and thanks to the Android Developer site, we're getting a look at how the interface on Wear devices will look. Google has split up the interface into two distinctive pieces; the context stream and the cue card.

The context stream piece of the interface functions very similarly to Google Now on Android phones and tablets. A vertical list is populated with “cards” that display information to users, with different cards functioning like notifications would on a phone. Each card can be swiped left to see more information about a particular app, revealing more cards or interact-able buttons.

Google has released some guidelines for app developers as to how they should implement these notification cards to keep users from getting information overload on their wrists. Also, only important notifications are going to actually make sounds and vibrations, like Hangouts or emails. You won't have to worry about every little thing vibrating your watch.

The second part of the interface is the cue card, and this part of the interface is where you'll actually do most of the controlling of the watch. Saying “Okay, Google” or tapping the microphone icon on the screen will activate the Google search tool that lets you either say what you want to do, or scroll through a list of actions. You'll be able to set reminders, send messages, start playing music, ask for directions, etc. Essentially, all of the things that you can use Google Now for already, plus a few more. Developers will be able to hook their apps to those commands to take advantage of Android's default app selector, as well.

The interface for Android Wear looks like it's going to work extremely well with Google Now, which is a nice touch. Hopefully we'll get to play with an Android Wear device in person sooner rather than later.

source: Android Developers