Google has released the fifth and final developer preview for Android Wear 2.0 as we approach its rumored February 9th launch. The big new addition in the latest build is full iOS support, which means developers will be able to create standalone apps that iPhone users can download from the smartwatch's onboard Play Store. Previously, Android Wear watches connected to iOS could only access watch faces and apps that were distributed by Google through the Android Wear iOS app.
Apps are now able to work natively without being tethered to a smartphone and the new update also optimizes the available network bandwidth for standalone apps, in an effort to save battery life.
Also included is a new navigation drawer feature, which lets you "flip a flag to toggle to the single-page, icon-only action drawer," providing faster navigation to different views inside apps, as well as support for NFC Host Card Emulation to open up Android Pay support on supported watches.
Google is set to launch the new OS with two watches in early February developed in collaboration with LG and possibly unveiled at Mobile World Congress. The watches will be called the "LG Watch Sport" and the "LG Watch Style". The Sport version will be 14.2mm thick with a 1.38-inch 480x480 round plastic OLED display, while the smaller Style will be 10.8mm thick and carry a 1.2-inch 360x360 display.
The Sport will also come packing 768MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, a 420mAh battery, and an IP-68 rating, whereas the Style is slightly less equipped with 512MB of RAM, a 240mAh battery, and IP-67 rating. Both models will have standard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but the Sport also comes with NFC, GPS, a heart rate monitor, and cellular connectivity with 3G and LTE. Both watches will have a "digital crown" like the Apple Watch to help with navigation, according to recent reports.