One week before its annual developer conference, Google is announcing a software update to its wearable operating system.

The company has revealed new "Tiles" are coming to Wear OS. Technically, in 2018, Google introduced a similar widget-like function that previewed Google Fit on the Wear OS watchface. Now, in addition to that, there will be six new so-called Tiles. To access them, swipe left on your Wear OS watchface. This previously took you to the Google Fit widget. You'll still see Fit data - alongside all the new Tiles that have been added.

The new Tiles are called: Goals, Next event, Forecast, Heart Rate, Headlines, and Timer. These should help make Wear OS smartwatches much more user friendly, by allowing you to customise your device based on your interests or whatever else you'd like to know at a glance. You can select which order you want the tiles to appear by using the Wear OS by Google app on your iOS or Android smartphone.

Wear OS image 1
Google

For instance, you can set your preferences based on whether you’re the kind of person who’s always looking ahead to the next workout, or if want to see the top headlines a swipe faster. Most of us have different interests on different days. We might not want to always see our gym goals when were sitting behind a desk at work, even though it’s nice to see that information in the midst of a workout.

That’s what makes it so useful to be able to easily change the order of Tiles. Google said Tiles can further be rearranged to your liking with a tap and hold on the watch, if you don't want to adjust the layout with the Wear OS mobile app. Certain features may change depending on the device, too. If your watch doesn't have a heart rate sensor, you’re not going to see the Heart Rate Tile, obviously.

Google plans to add more Tiles -- some of which will launch in the next month. We expect to hear more at Google I/O in a few days.