Debug a Wear OS app

Debugging on Wear OS uses the same standard tools and processes as debugging on other Android-powered form factors.

This page contains instructions and links to help you debug your Wear OS apps.

Debug targets

You can debug your Wear OS app using either the Android Emulator or a physical device.

Android emulator

The Android Emulator lets you test your app on various virtual watch configurations directly from Android Studio.

  1. Set up an emulator: If you haven't already, follow the steps to configure an emulator.
  2. Select the emulator: In the Android Studio toolbar, choose the Wear OS virtual device you want to run your app on from the target device drop-down menu.
  3. Run your app: Click Run Run icon. Android Studio installs the app on the emulator and starts it.

For more details on emulator features specific to Wear OS, see The Wear OS Emulator.

Physical watch

Debugging on a physical watch helps evaluate the real-world user experience and test hardware-specific features like sensors.

Connect over Wi-Fi

Wear OS supports wireless debugging, which lets you debug your app over a Wi-Fi network. To use wireless debugging, enable developer options and wireless debugging on the watch, pair your development computer using a pairing code, and then connect to the watch.

For detailed, step-by-step instructions, see Debug Wear OS over Wi-Fi.

Connect over USB

On supported watches that have a USB connection, such as a charging cradle that supports data transfer, you can connect using a physical USB cable.

To connect over USB, follow the detailed instructions in Run apps on a hardware device.

Additional debugging and setup

While most debugging tools work the same as on other Android devices, some aspects are specific to Wear OS.

Install a specific OS version

If your testing requires a specific version of Wear OS, you can flash a software image directly onto watches that support a USB data connection. For example, you can flash a factory image or a full OTA image onto a Google Pixel Watch.

Test watch–phone connections

If your app's functionality spans both a watch and a phone, and you are testing on an emulated watch, you can use Android Studio's Wear OS pairing assistant to pair your test device with a physical or virtual phone.

Capture screenshots and videos

Capturing screenshots and videos using the Android Studio interface works the same for Wear OS as it does for other devices. However, if you use adb from the command line, the process can differ, as you may need to specify particular codecs. For more information, see Capture Wear OS screenshots.