Wear OS 5.1 Adds ‘Force Global AOD’ Dev Option To Pixel Watch

Most Wear OS apps still don’t support the always-on display, but this week’s 5.1 update for the Pixel Watch introduces an interesting “Force Global AOD Experience” developer option.

Since Wear OS 3, most apps — the big exceptions are Google Maps (navigation), Keep (notes/list), and Spotify (now playing) — lack AOD support. Putting your wrist down with an application open will blur the screen and show the time.

With Wear OS 5.1, Google has introduced a “Force Global AOD Experience” developer option on the Pixel Watch. Upon wrist down, the display dims and text gets blockier but your last screen remains visible and/or active. This matches the behavior of your watch face. 

In the example below, the Stopwatch continues the count instead of reverting to the blurred digital clock.

Regular vs. Global AOD

Similar to on phones, go to Settings > System > About > Versions and tap “Build number” a few times. After confirming your device PIN, “Developer options” will appear at the bottom of the main Settings list. You will find Force Global AOD Experience as the very last item. This is available on the Pixel Watch 2 and should also be on the Pixel Watch 3.

Battery life presumably suffers with this enabled, so you should keep that in mind. It’s unclear whether this will ever become an actual user-facing option. The more battery-efficient approach is to just get developers to update their apps. Google should start by updating all their first-party experiences to support the AOD. 

Thanks Silvijn

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