Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
Watch Face Designer offers several options for seeing your watch face creation
come to life on a physical watch or using the Android emulator.
Google Play
Google Play publishes files that use the .aab (Android App Bundle)
format. Watch Face Designer handles everything about packaging your watch face
into a bundle for you.
Android Studio export saves a ZIP file that you can extract and use as an
Android Studio project directory. It comes preconfigured with Gradle scripts and
all the necessary resources to directly edit your generated watch face as code.
By editing your watch face in Android Studio, you can implement more advanced
features of the Watch Face Format, including ones that aren't supported in
Watch Face Designer.
Other methods
Watch Face Designer supports several other exporting methods, as well.
One-click deploy
To export using one-click deploy, complete the following steps:
Connect your Wear OS device to your computer over USB.
On Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3 devices, you can do this using the
included charging cable.
This export option saves your watch face as an uncompiled Android package, with
an AndroidManifest.xml and res/ folder containing your watch face's code and
resources.
You can use this package with a tool like AAPT2 to customize how APKs and
AABs are generated. This is useful if you need more fine-grained tuning options
around features like signing keys and certificates.
Content and code samples on this page are subject to the licenses described in the Content License. Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-26 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complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-26 UTC."],[],[],null,["Watch Face Designer offers several options for seeing your watch face creation\ncome to life on a physical watch or using the [Android emulator](/studio/run/emulator).\n\nGoogle Play **Note:** This is the recommended exporting method for designers who create watch faces on Wear OS.\n\nGoogle Play publishes files that use the `.aab` ([Android App Bundle](/guide/app-bundle))\nformat. Watch Face Designer handles everything about packaging your watch face\ninto a bundle for you.\n\nTo publish to Play, follow [Google Play publishing instructions](/training/wearables/watch-face-designer/publish).\n\nAndroid Studio **Note:** This is the recommended exporting method for developers who create watch faces on Wear OS.\n\nAndroid Studio export saves a ZIP file that you can extract and use as an\nAndroid Studio project directory. It comes preconfigured with Gradle scripts and\nall the necessary resources to directly edit your generated watch face as code.\nBy editing your watch face in Android Studio, you can implement [more advanced\nfeatures of the Watch Face Format](/reference/wear-os/wff/watch-face), including ones that aren't supported in\nWatch Face Designer.\n\nOther methods\n\nWatch Face Designer supports several other exporting methods, as well.\n\nOne-click deploy **Note:** This option is available only on macOS development machines. If you're developing on a Windows, Linux, or ChromeOS machine, use [APK exports](#apk) instead.\n\nTo export using one-click deploy, complete the following steps:\n\n1. Connect your Wear OS device to your computer over USB.\n\n On Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3 devices, you can do this using the\n included charging cable.\n\n For devices that don't support direct USB connections, such as\n Pixel Watch (1), see [Wirelessly debugging a Wear OS app](/training/wearables/get-started/debugging#wifi-debugging).\n\n See the manufacturer's advice for other watches.\n2. Press **Export** in Watch Face Designer, then select **One-click deploy**,\n which prompts you to save a file.\n\n3. Double-click on that file to open it, and select the **Play** button:\n\n **Figure 1**: The deployed file open, ready for exporting\n\n The watch face is deployed to the watch and set as the current watch face\n favorite.\n | **Note:** You may need to accept a permissions dialog. If you press **Always Allow**, you don't have to do this again in future.\n\nAPK\n\nAn APK is an installable Android package. Watch Face Designer handles everything\nabout packaging and preparing your APK for you.\n\nTo deploy your APK, do the following:\n\n1. Install [ADB](/tools/adb).\n2. Connect your watch over USB or [over Wi-Fi](/training/wearables/get-started/debugging#wifi-pair).\n3. Use the [`adb install`](/tools/adb#move) command.\n\nRaw resources\n\nThis export option saves your watch face as an uncompiled Android package, with\nan `AndroidManifest.xml` and `res/` folder containing your watch face's code and\nresources.\n\nYou can use this package with a tool like [AAPT2](/tools/aapt2) to customize how APKs and\nAABs are generated. This is useful if you need more fine-grained tuning options\naround features like signing keys and certificates.\n\nWatch Face Studio (experimental)\n\nThis option creates a project for use in [Watch Face Studio](https://developer.samsung.com/watch-face-studio/overview.html).\n| **Note:** Some features from Figma might not appear as expected in Watch Face Studio."]]
