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An app is one of the primary surfaces on Wear OS. Apps are different from complications or tiles, which are glanceable representations of app content. Apps display more information and support richer interactivity. The user often enters an app from another surface, such as the launcher, recents, a notification, complication, tile, or voice action.
Principles
Focused
Focus on critical tasks to help people get things done within seconds.
Shallow and linear
Avoid creating hierarchies deeper than two levels. Aim to display content and navigation inline when possible.
Scrolling
Apps can scroll. This is a natural gesture for users to see more content on the watch.
Content container types
Use content containers in your app to group related content and differentiate from distinct content or content groupings.
Fixed height containers
Variable height containers
Height and width greater than viewport
Paginated container
Full screen takeovers
Sign in states
Tell the user that they need to update their settings or preferences, log into their account, or create an account either from their watch or mobile app from the tile.
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Last updated 2025-05-20 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-05-20 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Overview\n\nAn app is one of the primary surfaces on Wear OS. Apps are different from complications or tiles, which are glanceable representations of app content. Apps display more information and support richer interactivity. The user often enters an app from another surface, such as the launcher, recents, a notification, complication, tile, or voice action.\n\nPrinciples\n----------\n\n\n**Focused**\nFocus on critical tasks to help people get things done within seconds. \n\n**Shallow and linear**\nAvoid creating hierarchies deeper than two levels. Aim to display content and navigation inline when possible. \n\n**Scrolling**\nApps can scroll. This is a natural gesture for users to see more content on the watch.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nContent container types\n-----------------------\n\nUse content containers in your app to group related content and differentiate from distinct content or content groupings.\n\n\n**Fixed height containers** \n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\n**Variable height containers** \n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\n**Height and width greater than viewport** \n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\n**Paginated container** \n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nFull screen takeovers\n---------------------\n\n\n**Sign in states**\n\nTell the user that they need to update their settings or preferences, log into their account, or create an account either from their watch or mobile app from the tile.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e"]]
