Wear OS 5 is based on Android 14 and brings numerous bug fixes, performance improvements and new features such as:
• A new Privacy dashboard under Settings > Apps & Notifications, which offers users a centralized view of how each app accesses data like location and microphone.
• New Watch Face Format, which adds preset configurations called Flavors, weather conditions, a heart rate system data source, and two new types of complications: Goal progress and Weighted Elements (Useful for displaying discrete subsets of data).
• Option to enable grid app menu.
• Ability to select a media output device directly from the watch.
• Apps will be able to detect when a user takes a screenshot (part of Android 14).
You also get more detailed running metrics with the Health Services update:
• Ground contact time: The amount of time, during a single step, that a runner's foot is in contact with the ground.
• Stride length: The distance covered by a single step.
• Vertical oscillation: The distance that a user's center of mass moves up and down with each step.
• Vertical ratio: Vertical oscillation divided by stride length.
• Debounced goals: improves the user experience for people who want to maintain a specific threshold or range—such as heart rate—throughout their workout.
You'll also get improved camera controls (Google Camera app update) and the ability to install the new Pixel Recorder app for Wear OS, which is only available for v.5.0.
To speed up getting the update, put the watch on charge, open the Settings/System/System Update page, and tap the watch icon at the top several times in a row.
Build number: AW2A.240903.005