Explore the latest version of Wear OS, available on select devices and in the official emulator in Android Studio. Wear OS 6.1 is based on a Quarterly Platform Release (QPR) of Android 16 (API level 36.1).
Prepare the emulator for testing
To run Wear OS 6.1 in the official emulator, complete these steps:
- Update to the latest version of the emulator.
- Download and install the Wear OS 6.1 system image that runs on the emulator.
- Create a virtual device that runs this system image.
Update to the latest version of the emulator
To download and install the latest version of the emulator, complete the following steps:
- Download the latest preview release of Android Studio.
- Open Android Studio. If an existing project opens, click Tools > SDK Manager. Otherwise, on the welcome screen, click either the overflow menu in the top-right corner or on More actions, and then click SDK Manager.
- In the SDK Manager, navigate to the SDK Tools tab. Select the latest version of Android Emulator if it isn't already installed. Click Apply, then OK to install the latest version. When the installation process is complete, click Finish.
Download and install the system image
To download and install the correct system image, complete the following steps:
- If you haven't already, download the latest preview release of Android Studio.
- Open Android Studio. If an existing project opens, click Tools > SDK Manager. Otherwise, on the welcome screen, click either the overflow menu in the top-right corner or on More actions, and then click SDK Manager. The SDK Manager opens to the SDK Platforms tab.
- Expand the first entry that has the name Android 16.0 ("Baklava"). Then, depending on your machine's architecture, select either Wear OS 6.1 ARM 64 v8a System Image (signed) or Wear OS 6.1 Intel x86_64 Atom System Image (signed). Click Apply, then OK to install the emulator image. When the installation process is complete, click Finish.
Create a virtual device
To create a virtual device that runs this system image in the official emulator, complete these steps:
- If you haven't already, download the latest preview release of Android Studio.
Open Android Studio.
- If an existing project opens, click Tools > Device Manager. The
Device Manager pane appears. In the toolbar within the
Device Manager pane, click Add a new device
> Create Virtual Device. - Otherwise, on the welcome screen, click either the
overflow menu in the top-right corner or on More actions, and then click
Virtual Device Manager.
The Device Manager window appears. In the toolbar within the
Device Manager window, click Add a new device
.
- If an existing project opens, click Tools > Device Manager. The
Device Manager pane appears. In the toolbar within the
Device Manager pane, click Add a new device
In the Form Factor pane, select Wear OS and choose a hardware profile. Click Next.
Select a Wear OS 6.1 system image to use. The system image should have an API of API 36.1 "Baklava"; Android 16.0.
Click Finish.
Test your app on the emulator
To test your app on this virtual device that you've created, complete the following steps:
- Go to the Android Studio toolbar and select the virtual device.
- Tap Run
. - Install your app on the virtual device and navigate through the different user-facing workflows that your app uses.
Explore new features
Wear OS 6.1 introduces several features to help enhance your Wear OS app experience.
Location-based time zone detection
Devices running Wear OS 6.1 and higher can now automatically set their time zone based on their physical location. This helps the device's time stay accurate as users travel between regions, even on devices without a network connection.
Users can control this feature in Settings > Date & Time > Use location.
Refined kids' experiences
Wear OS 6.1 includes several improvements for supervised accounts and kids' standalone watches:
- Kids graduation: When a user with a supervised account reaches the age of consent, they can "graduate" to a non-supervised account. This transitions the device to a standard Wear OS experience, removing parental controls and giving the user full access to device settings.
- Improved reauthentication support: If users' credentials become invalidated, they can now re-validate their Google Account directly on their watch or through the companion app. This capability eliminates the need for a factory reset if the user changes their password or otherwise changes their account details after completing initial device setup.
Release notes
The system image for Wear OS 6.1, which is available on supported devices and on the emulator, has the following characteristics:
| Build ID (emulator) | BP4A.250916.026.E2 |
| Emulator support | x86 (64-bit), ARM (v8-A) |