Wear OS adds a “system tray” to apps, Wear OS 7.1 is coming

Earlier this week, Google revealed that a “later version of the Wear OS platform” was adding a “system tray.”

On October 26, Google released a Canary Wear OS emulator in Android Studio to allow developers to “test upcoming platform features and UI changes before they are available in a consumer platform release on physical devices.”

The upcoming feature in question is a “persistent system tray on Wear OS app windows at the top position of the circular display.” It will display “current time and system status indicators”, similar to Android on phones and tablets.

Additionally: “These indicators use standardized clock typography, placement, and backplate across the platform and different apps, including your app. » Apps that require a full-screen experience will be able to hide the status bar.

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From this preview, “the system status bar displays a star icon instead of the final system status indicators.”

• Automatic coordination in Jetpack Compose for Wear OS: When your app targets API level 35 or higher and compiles with Compose for Wear OS version 1.8.0-alpha02 or higher, AppScaffold And ScreenScaffold Automatically register your application in the system tray.
• The time text is managed by the system: AppScaffold delete its in-app TimeText clock so that only the time in the system tray appears. ScreenScaffold applies a padding to the top status bar window inset and the scaffold hides the status bar while users scroll through the list contents. After approximately 2 seconds of user inactivity, the time text reappears.
• Full-screen dialogs and immersive mode: Full-screen interactive components in Wear Compose Material 3, including AlertDialog, Dialog, Stepper, TimePickerAnd DatePicker: Automatically hides the system status bar when it is displayed. For displays that require an immersive full-screen experience, use StatusBarSuppression.

This emulator is released as Wear OS 7.1 (API level 37.2-beta1, based on Android 17 “CinnamonBun”) with a build ID CP41.260831.001.E8. This reveals that Wear OS 7.1 is coming, but it looks like the status bar will launch in a later release: “The system tray is included exclusively in this Canary emulator to support early testing and feedback. It will not be included in the upcoming Wear OS 7.1 stable emulator.”