Wear OS is unsurprisingly going all-in on the Watch Face Format introduced two years ago, with support for all other “legacy” types going away in early 2026.
The Watch Face Format is a declarative XML format that means there’s no executable or embedded code. Developers don’t have to deal with battery performance or code optimizations. One downside, however, is the lack of certain functionality, though WFF continues to add new features.
Last year, Google said new Wear OS 5 watches only support the Watch Face Format. As of January 2025, all new watch faces published to the Play Store must use the Watch Face Format, though existing ones can still be updated.
On January 14, 2026, legacy Wear OS watch faces built using AndroidX or Wearable Support Library (WSL) can no longer be installed on any watch from Google Play. Faces that have already been installed will continue to work, but developers will no longer be able to release updates.
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Additionally, one-off watch face purchases, in-app purchases, and subscriptions for these legacy offerings will no longer be possible. Developers have to:
- To prepare for these changes and to continue publishing watch faces to the Play Store, developers using AndroidX or WSL to build watch faces must migrate their watch faces to the Watch Face Format and resubmit to the Play Store by January 14, 2026.
- Developers using Watch Face Studio to build watch faces will need to resubmit their watch faces to the Play Store using Watch Face Studio version 1.8.7 or above
At I/O 2025, Google previewed version 4 of the Watch Face Format for Wear OS 6 with photos support, “transitions when exiting and entering ambient mode,” improvements to color, and text autosizing.
There’s also Watch Face Push to allow developers, like Facer and Pujie, to create watch face marketplaces.
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