Facer support on Wear OS 5 is basically non-existent at the moment, but it isn’t going to stay that way forever. If you’re not familiar with Facer, it’s an app for Wear OS devices that was launched all the way back in 2014 with Google’s first version of the smartwatch operating system. It contains a whole ecosystem of watch faces made by tons of creators. There are some pretty exciting options in there too.
It’s more or less a haven for those who like customization. The only issue is that it doesn’t work with Wear OS 5. That means anyone using a Google Pixel Watch 3, Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, or Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, can’t use the watch faces the app provides. This is because of Google’s Watch Face Format protocol. There are some genuinely good options that come out of the box on all of those watches.
However, the selection variety is lackluster. It also locks out any previous downloads (purchased watch faces included) that people may have picked up with an older Wear OS watch. The good news, is that Facer will eventually gain support for Wear OS 5.
Facer confirms that support for Wear OS 5 is coming
Facer has confirmed in a blog post today that support for Wear OS 5 is coming. It says that it’s working hard with Google to make that happen. The blog post was spotted by Android Authority on the Facer Help Center forums (via 9To5Google), and it looks like it was posted about two weeks ago. So it’s likely that even a little progress has been made since then. Unfortunately, Facer doesn’t mention any sort of timeline for when Facer watch faces will work with Wear OS 5.
Just that it’s currently working with Google to make the watch faces compatible with Watch Face Format. If you’re using a smartwatch that should be getting the Wear OS 5 update, you may want to hold off on updating. That is if you want to continue using Facer.
Facer has been in discussion with Google since last year
While no definitive timeline has been given about the fix, Facer does mention that it has been in discussion with Google about this change since Google announced the Watch Face Format last year. The company also notes that unfortunately, the change was rolled out before it reached a resolution. The silver lining here is probably that talks have been happening for quite some time. So it is likely that Facer and Google have been working on stuff for a while.
That could mean that a resolution is closer than we think. For now, Facer fans on Wear OS 5 smartwatches will need to stay tuned for any support changes. Facer does recommend that users reach out to Google to make their voices heard.
