docs/html/wear/preview/program.jd

page.title=Android Wear Preview Program Overview
meta.keywords="wear-preview"
page.tags="wear-preview"
page.image=images/cards/card-n-sdk_2x.png

@jd:body

    <p>
      Welcome to the Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview! This program gives you
      everything you need to get started with the next version of Android Wear.
      It’s free, and you can get started right away by downloading the
      Developer Preview resources.
    </p>

    <h3 id="program_highlights">
      Program Highlights
    </h3>

    <div style="background-color:#eceff1;padding:1em;">
      <div class="wrap">
        <div class="cols">
          <div class="col-4of12">
            <h5>
              Hardware and emulator images
            </h5>

            <p>
              Run and test your apps on a range of devices or on an emulator.
            </p>
          </div>

          <div class="col-4of12">
            <h5>
              Latest platform code
            </h5>

            <p>
              We’ll provide monthly updates during the preview, so you'll be
              testing against the latest platform changes.
            </p>
          </div>

          <div class="col-4of12">
            <h5>
              Priority for developer issues
            </h5>

            <p>
              During the first several weeks, we'll give priority to
              developer-reported issues, so test and give feedback as soon as
              possible.
            </p>
          </div>
        </div>

        <div class="cols">
          <div class="col-4of12">
            <h5>
              New behaviors and capabilities
            </h5>

            <p>
              Start work early to support new platform behaviors such as
              complications and Material Design for Wear.
            </p>
          </div>

          <div class="col-4of12">
            <h5>
              Feedback and support
            </h5>

            <p>
              Report issues and give us feedback using our issue tracker.
              Connect with other developers in the Wear Developer Community.
            </p>
          </div>

          <div class="col-4of12">
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <h2 id="timeline_and_updates">
      Timeline and Updates
    </h2>

    <p>
      The Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview runs from 18 May 2016 until the
      final Android Wear public release to OEMs, planned for Q4 2016.
    </p>

    <p>
      At key development milestones, we'll deliver updates for your development
      and testing environment. In general you can expect updates in
      approximately 6-week intervals. The release milestones are:
    </p>

    <ul>
      <li>Milestone 1 (initial release, alpha)
      </li>

      <li>Milestone 2 (incremental update, beta)
      </li>

      <li>Milestone 3 (incremental update, beta)
      </li>

      <li>Milestone 4 (final APIs and official SDK, Play publishing)
      </li>

      <li>Near-final system image
      </li>

      <li>Final release to OEMs
      </li>
    </ul>

    <p>
      Each update includes an updated support library, preview system images,
      emulator, reference documentation, and API diffs.
    </p>

    <p>
      The first three milestones provide an early test and development
      environment to helps you identify compatibility issues in your current
      apps and plan migration or feature work needed to target the new
      platform. This is the priority period in which to give us your feedback
      on features and APIs and file compatibility issues — for all of these,
      please use the issue tracker. You can expect some API changes across
      these updates.
    </p>

    <p>
      At milestones 4 and 5 you'll have access to the final Android Wear 2.0
      APIs and SDK to develop with, as well as near-final system images to test
      system behaviors and features. Android Wear 2.0 will use the Android N
      API level at this time. You can begin final compatibility testing of your
      legacy apps and refine any new code that is using the Android Wear 2.0
      APIs or features.
    </p>

    <p>
      As you test and develop on Android Wear 2.0, we strongly recommend
      keeping your development environment up-to-date as updates are released.
      Updated preview images will be available that you can download and flash
      manually.
    </p>

    <p>
      We'll notify you when updates are available via the Android Developers
      Blog, as well as via this site and the <a href=
      "http://g.co/androidweardev">Android Wear Developer Community on G+</a>.
    </p>

    <h2 id="what's_in_the_android_wear_2_0_developer_preview">
      What's in the Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview
    </h2>

    <p>
      The preview includes everything you need to test your existing apps on a
      variety of hardware configurations.
    </p>

    <h3 id="developer_resources">
      Developer resources
    </h3>

    <p>
      You can download these components through the SDK Manager in <a href=
      "{@docRoot}sdk/installing/adding-packages.html">Android Studio</a>. For
      more information, see <a href=
      "{@docRoot}wear/preview/downloads.html">Download and Test with a
      Device</a>.
    </p>

    <ul>
      <li>Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview <strong>SDK/support
      library</strong>
      </li>

      <li>Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview <strong>emulator system
      image</strong>
      </li>
    </ul>

    <p>
      We'll provide updates to these development tools at each milestone as
      needed.
    </p>

    <h3 id="hardware_system_images">
      Hardware system images
    </h3>

    <p>
      You can download these hardware system images for Nexus devices from the
      Downloads page:
    </p>

    <ul>
      <li>LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition “nemo”
      </li>

      <li>Huawei Watch “sturgeon”
      </li>
    </ul>

    <h3 id="documentation_and_sample_code">
      Documentation and sample code
    </h3>

    <p>
      These documentation resources help you learn about the preview:
    </p>

    <ul>
      <li>[comment placeholder] Get Started has step-by-step instructions for
      setting up the SDK.
      </li>

      <li>Documentation of new APIs, including an API Overview, downloadable
      API Reference, and developer guides on key features such as
      complications, design patterns for Wear, and building standalone Android
      Wear apps.
      </li>

      <li>Sample code that demonstrates how to implement [comment placeholder]
      complications and other new features.
      </li>
    </ul>

    <h3 id="support_resources">
      Support Resources
    </h3>

    <p>
      Use these support resources as you test and develop on the Android Wear
      2.0 Developer Preview:
    </p>

    <ul>
      <li>Wear Developer Preview Issue Tracker is your primary feedback
      channel. You can report bugs, performance issues, and general feedback
      through the issue tracker. You can also check for known issues and find
      workaround steps.
      </li>

      <li>The <a href="http://g.co/androidweardev">Wear Developer Community</a>
      is a Google+ community where you can connect with other developers
      working with Android Wear. You can share observations or ideas or find
      answers to questions about Android Wear.
      </li>
    </ul>