One of the big benefits of strapping an Android Wear watch to your wrist is customising your timepiece to suit your personality, current mood or sartorial taste. As Google’s wearable platform has grown, we’ve seen more and more Android Wear watch faces show up on Google Play — here are some of our favourites.
1. UsTwo Smart Watch Faces
UsTwo are the developers behind Monument Valley, so you know their watch faces are going to be worth downloading. You actually get four faces here, covering weather, fitness and your busy schedule. [Free]
2. PAC-MAN Watch Face
It’s PAC-MAN on your watch — what else is there really to say? You can’t actually play the game, but the characters chomp and float around your Android Wear timepiece to mark the passing seconds. [$1.19]
3. Bouncing Isaac
You’re unlikely to get bored with Bouncing Isaac adorning your Android Wear watch with the colours and shapes changing based on feedback from the sensors inside your device. The more you move, the more variety there is. [Free]
4. Weather Watch Face
Plenty of faces show the weather, temperature, and battery life of your phone, but few do with such minimal elegance like Weather Watch Face. Get all the meteorological information you need with at a glance. [Free]
5. MUJI to Relax
A beautifully minimal choice that will ease your stress levels and put you into a peaceful frame of mind every time you look at it. It’s actually a full relaxation app with a selection of nicely designed watch faces. [Free]
6. Moods Of Norway
Norwegian fashion brand Moods Of Norway has its own collection of Android Wear watch faces you can try out, too. They change on a daily basis, bringing a new and distinctive look to your timepiece every 24 hours. [Free]
7. Space And Time Watch Face
The animated Space And Time Watch Face doesn’t actually do much, but it’s cartoony style looks fantastic on both square and round wearables. The discreet ambient mode is worth the download on its own. [Free]
8. Rotating Watch Face
This face may not be much to look at — though we do like its clean and simple lines, as well as the red and grey colour scheme — but its main trick is that the face rotates so you can wear your watch on the inside of your wrist. [Free]
9. LCARS Android Wear Watch Face
Calling all Trekkies! Get a piece of the Star Trek universe on your wrist with this authentic-looking LCARS watch face. It sticks to the basics as far as on-screen information goes, but this one’s all about its scifi looks. [Free]
10. Orbit – Watch Face
Installing Orbit on your Android Wear device feels like taking a step into the future. Every last pixel has been carefully designed, and the accompanying customisation app lets you tweak the data shown on the display. [$1.71]
11. Weather Timeline – Forecast
Weather Timeline is one of the best weather apps you’ll come across on Android, and it has a distinctive-yet-simple Android Wear watch face bundled along with it, showing both current conditions and forecasts. [$0.99]
12. Watch Face – Minimal & Elegant
This oddly named option packs a whole host of information into the display but manages to look uncluttered at the same time. Control your apps and options like your phone’s flashlight as well as checking the time. [$1.31]
13. Mysterious Forest Watchface
Occasionally surprising and beautifully rendered, Mysterious Forest looks more like an interactive storybook than an Android Wear skin. One for those who would rather have artwork than data dials showing on their wrist. [Free]
14. Newton: Interstellar WatchFace
Take an interstellar trip right from your Android Wear device. Enter the speed you want to travel, and the watch face lets you know how far you’ve gone and which celestial objects you’re approaching. And it looks great, too. [Free]
15. Pujie Black Watch Face
Not only does the Pujie Black face look streamlined and stylish, it also comes with a bunch of fully customisable indicators to choose from — everything from watch and phone battery level to the current weather forecast. [$2.20]
16. Wear Time Circuit – Watch Face
One of the paid-for entries in our round-up, but still. This guy has animated, flowing electrons right on your Android Wear watch face. In the center, there’s a dot matrix clock that’s also kind to your smartwatch’s battery life. [$1.84]
17. Ranger Military Watch Face
One of those watch faces that makes your Android Wear timepiece look a lot more expensive than it (probably) is. You can choose the data that appears in the watch dials, and there’s a special night mode included. [$1.49]
18. Kevin Tong Watch Face
American illustrator Kevin Tong is the man behind this distinctive set of watch faces. Why not have an animated android on your Android Wear watch? Seems fitting. The faces also change and evolve with the time of day. [Free]
19. Watch Face – Minimus360
Clean lines, bold colours and quick access to voice controls — there’s a lot to like about the Minimus360 watch face. If you value looks over a plethora of dials and dashboards then put this on your shortlist. [$1.09]
20. InstaWeather for Android Wear
Another watch face that shows the weather forecast, but this one’s worth a mention because of the many different styles of watch faces you can choose from — pay an in-app fee and get an additional weather radar option. [Free]
21. Street Art Watch Face
Google’s very own Street Art Watch Face comes with a host of different faces to pick from, designed especially for Android Wear by a long list of designers and artists. Even if you have the most nuanced art tastes, Street Art most likely has something to love. [Free]