New Widget API Lets You Create Clocks and Widgets for the Sony SmartWatch 2

2014 is certainly shaping up to be the year of the wearables. And as we saw at CES this past year, there are several fantastic smartwatch options on the horizon. But while many Android fans are eagerly awaiting Android Wear, many more have already entered the smartwatch world by way of existing devices like the Sony SmartWatch 2.

About a month ago, Sony added the ability for end users to customize the watch face on their Sony SmartWatch 2. This is done using the SmartConnect app on a connected Android device. From there, users select from various clock types and widgets, and arrange them across the screen. But while this added significant flexibility to the end user, this was essentially a closed system, whereby only Sony-created watch faces and widgets were accessible. Now, however, Sony has opened up the SmartWatch Widget API to allow third party app developers to create their own custom clocks and widgets that reside among the first party Sony offerings. This new Widget API comes as a subset of the Control API, which is a part of Sony’s Smart Extension APIs, and all of this is available through Sony’s Add-On SDK.

So how do third party app developers get in on this and create their own clock faces and widgets that can run on the SmartWatch 2? The folks at Sony wrote a handy tutorial that covers all of the basics, including sample code, and common considerations. The guide can be found over at Sony Developer World.

This new API may prove quite helpful to the SmartWatch 2 software ecosystem, and in turn greatly benefit both developers and end-users. Are you a third party developer interested in creating for the SmartWatch 2, or are you an end-user looking forward to new clock faces and widgets enabled by the Widget API? Let us know in the comments below!

source: xdadevelopers