API 20 · KITKAT_WATCH

Android 4.4W KitKat (Wear)

Android Wear: the first smartwatch platform

released: 2014-06-25
runtime: Dalvik
design: Holo
status: stable

What shipped

Android Wear: the first smartwatch platform
Voice-driven card UI
Always-on low-power display

Platform internals

What changed underneath the APIs. These are the changes this site's architecture modules explain in depth.

First time the platform shipped for a new form factor

What developers had to deal with

Wearable APIs
Notification extensions for wearables

Permissions introduced here

BODY_SENSORSdangerous

Where this sits

Release 20 of 37 API levels, by date

Headline features: 3
Architecture changes: 1
Developer changes: 2
Sources cited: 3

Kernel

This release shipped on Linux kernel versions 3.10. Kernel versions vary by device.