Doze mode on the way to Android Wear for better battery savings
Motorola first to confirm new energy-saving feature for the Moto 360 2nd Gen
Smartwatch battery life could be in for an improvement when the next Android Wear update arrives, according to Motorola.
Google confirmed a few of the features on the way to Android Wear last week, including gesture controls and speaker support (if your watch has one), but didn’t mention battery at all. There could be more to Marshmallow than first thought, though.
According to the release notes for the Moto 360 2nd gen, the new update will also bring Doze mode to Android wear for the first time.
On Android smartphones, Doze mode cuts power use when you aren’t using it to extend battery life. It means you’ll still have juice in the morning if you don’t charge it overnight.
It should do something similar on the Moto 360, detecting when the watch is idle and automatically going into a deep sleep that cuts all background processes and features.
Screen dimming is on the way too, automatically turning the screen off or putting it in ambient mode if you’re using always-on mode for even more battery savings. It’s also good for privacy, hiding notifications from prying eyes if you haven’t dismissed them.
The other Marshmallow addition is app permissions. You’ll now be able to control which apps have permission to access specific features or information at any time, not just when you install them. That’s all on top of the gesture controls Google mentioned last week.
Motorola’s got a unique addition on the way too; the Moto Body running app will be exclusive to the Moto 360, recording your time, pace, distance and heart rate when working out indoors.
The update should be rolling out over the next few days, so if you’re a Moto 360 owner you should keep an eye out for it and install when the prompt appears.
StuffTV
