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Moto 360 Android 5.0.1 Update Rolling Out Today

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Earlier this month Google debuted Android 5.0.1 Lollipop for an array of Android devices as a quick software bug fixing update to the initial Android 5.0 Lollipop release, and last week they confirmed all Android Wear smartwatches would receive it next.

As expected, last week Android 5.0.1 Lollipop started arriving for Android Wear, but we’re still hearing most owners of many popular watches like the Moto 360 have yet to receive the new treat full of watch faces and new features.

Read: Android 5.0.1 for Android Wear: What to Expect

This weekend Motorola took a few moments to confirm for all Moto 360 owners that the update to Android Wear and the Moto 360 to Android 5.0 Lollipop was coming soon, and in fact, confirmed the update should hit all Moto 360 owners starting today, December 15th.

Moto 360 Review - 11

Since last week Android Wear owners have been tapping the check for updates button anxiously awaiting the Android 5.0 update to hit their watches, but sadly it never arrived for many. This is good news however, as Motorola’s essentially confirmed that today most should get it, if not all, and it will continue to roll out to Moto 360 and other Android Wear watches all week long.

According to Motorola 10-50% of Moto 360 owners should have received the update to Android 5.0.1 for Android Wear this weekend, and all users should see it arrive by today. Stating that it will be 100% complete on the 15th. We’ve yet to get it on our own Moto 360, but it should be here by the end of the day.

So what’s new with Android 5.0.1 on Android Wear and the Moto 360? Lots of things. This is just the changelog from Motorola, so the release and new features may be slightly different for other watches, but here’s the details according to Motorola.

Android Wear Enhancements

  • Android L: Updates Android Wear to the latest platform for consistency across Android devices for both consumers and developers. (Android 5.0.1 Lollipop)
  • Watch Faces: Choose from a variety of public watch faces available through the Google Play Store.  Watch faces can be selected and configured through the Android Wear app on your phone or directly on your Moto 360.  Developers can leverage application programming interfaces (APIs) to create a watch face and retrieve calendar and notification data.
  • Undo Cards: When a card is swiped away it will remain available to undo for a short time after dismissal.
  • Quick Settings: Swiping down from the top brings new settings that include Theatre mode, Sunlight mode (temporarily maximize brightness), managing interruptions, and easier access to deeper Settings.   Interruptions choices made on your Moto 360  automatically change the Interruptions setting on your Lollipop-based phone.
  • Theater Mode: Screen remains off unless turned on by a press of the side button.
  • Battery & Storage Stats: The Android Wear application will now allow you to obtain more information about Moto 360 battery performance including a projection of time left and a breakdown of usage by applications.  You can also see how much storage space remains – which is helpful when planning offline music.

As you can see from the outline above Google and Motorola have introduced a few new features that should bring a lot to Android Wear and the Moto 360. Being able to undo card dismisses is huge, theater mode is nice, and official support for 3rd party watch faces is a welcomed addition.

gold-moto-360

Not only are more 3rd party watch faces available, but a new API has been released that will make it easier for developers to create wonderful watch faces and apps for Android Wear in the near future. This is the first major update to Android Wear, a platform that is still in its infancy, and we can expect more new features and changes to arrive soon.

Again, the Moto 360 Android 5.0.1 Lollipop update should be rolling out to all smartwatch owners by the end of the day, and most likely other Android Wear watch owners can expect a similar update to hit your device as well. We’re hearing battery life problems arrived with Android 5.0.1, so drop a comment below if you’re experiencing some issues after getting Android 5.0.1 on your watch.

10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Brisbane

    12/20/2014 at 4:24 pm

    I just got my 360 on Thursday (2014-12-18) and the battery life is atrocious! I thought I was supposed to get 2 days out of this thing and (2 updates in a row to 5.0.1) I’m getting down into the single-digit percentage points of power within 8 hours very conservative usage.

  2. Fabian

    12/20/2014 at 5:09 pm

    I am also seeing serious battery life issues since the update. I used to be able to make it through a full work day and evening with considerable battery life left. Now I am in the single digits after a full 8-hour work day

    • Brisbane

      12/21/2014 at 7:02 am

      I sure hope they get that sorted out soon. This is almost as bad as what I’ve read about the pre-patch1 days.

  3. Robin Helene Hébert

    12/23/2014 at 9:54 am

    same here. As soon as I took it off the charger it started going down to 95%!

  4. Reggie

    12/26/2014 at 4:41 am

    Same i have the lg g watch. It got it since yesterday. But this is not normal i have screen off tilt to turn screen on “off” and it lost 20% batteru is 3hours. Thats not normal with screen off…
    I use watch facer. But still screen off. I guess 5.0.1 is the problem… Not cool. It says it will die at 21h and i toke it of the charger a 9h30 this morning. Thats juste 12h… Im not happy.

  5. Ken Cavanaugh

    12/29/2014 at 12:00 pm

    I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one. My wife got me a moto 360 for Christmas and I was so disappointed. I was planning to return it for an LG G Watch R but maybe I’ll stick it out for the next software update. If they fixed the battery life before they should be able to do it again.

  6. Hugh

    01/02/2015 at 7:51 am

    Got problems with Battery only with facer installed. But with stock faces it is much much better. Try running battery completely then charged to 100%

  7. Jérôme

    01/03/2015 at 1:56 pm

    Hello there, i’m also seeing my battery life draining more than the previous release. Tested today with a stock watch face, I’m at 17% on a non working day. WiFi on phone is disabled while standby, so no notifications every time I’m having a mail or something else. I was used to finish with almost 50-30% during the weekend before sleeping, and it’s a real problem.

  8. pdeane3

    01/07/2015 at 4:14 pm

    Same. After the patch on kit kat I was great. Full use every day and get home with 30 percent to spare. Update is killing me. I just took it off the charger and in less that 40 mins I’m at 70 percent.

    Need a patch now!

  9. rohnieb

    02/24/2015 at 11:09 pm

    How to fix android lollipop issues?….. Get an iPhone.

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