14 DAY TRIAL // One of the main selling points of the Motorola Moto 360 Smartwatch was the round face. The second and arguably equally important selling point was the wide selection of watch faces available.
Google has recognized the importance of watch faces, so it has set about enabling every buyer of Android Wear smartwatches to choose how their device looks.
Until now, device makers (Sony, Motorola, Samsung, LG, etc.) had to fiddle with the software themselves in order to set a watch face and other options.
From here on, though, there will be a specific application programming interface, API for short, that will allow developers to provide broader choices.
What the API means for consumers
Essentially, it means that you will have multiple watch face options for any smartwatch running the Android Wear operating system.
You won't be able to create one yourself, but developers now have a common foundation on which to base their different configurations.
More importantly, you will be able to download watch faces from Google Play, just like you would download a normal app.
Of course, unless you have one of those rare, full-featured watches that can work independently, you'll have to use your phone or tablet to do the download and transfer. Google Play should also start hosting more Android Wear devices.
Watch faces aren't the same as backgrounds
Changing a background color or image is easy, but a watch face is more than that. Besides the background image, it can include the timer, various widgets (calendar, message alerts, call lists) and app shortcuts. Alternatively, a “smart” background could integrate some of those functions.
Perhaps in the future it will be possible to customize the user interface as easily as on a smartphone, but that's unlikely. There simply isn't enough room on a smartwatch screen for that sort of versatility, though some workarounds should be possible.
In any event, the floodgates have been opened, so you should be able to find a watch face tailored to your mood and mindset easily enough. If not now, then a week or a month from now.
Here are some of the ones already available: a Despicable Me theme (with minions!), X-ray artistry, mandalas, Santa Claus, and many more.
You can even get one that will make the watch look like a mechanical masterpiece, the face mimicking the sheen of gold or platinum. Bound to cause a few raised eyebrows if, say, you opt for a metallic belt on the Moto 360.
