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Wear OS UV Index info wants to save you from the sun

By JC Torres/

The weather is starting to heat up and summer will be coming up soon. In addition to being cooped up inside most of the time due to the pandemic, that will most likely be an invitation and temptation for some people to go out and about, sometimes going to beaches even. During those times, another enemy of health rears its ugly head but Google is pushing out a new Wear OS update that will at least warn you about those harmful ultraviolet rays even before you step out the door.

It's good to get some sunlight every day but, depending on the time and intensity, the sun can burn your skin instead. Worse, ultraviolet rays or UV radiation in extreme amounts can also cause certain forms of cancer. A little prevention, like wearing the right clothing or putting on sunblock, goes a long way but only if you're actually aware of the UV index in your location.

That's exactly what Google's small feature update for Wear OS does. With the new feature, smartwatches running Android's wearable form will soon see a complication that contains the UV Index for your area. That index, which ranges from 0 to 11+, is part of an international standard for denoting the level of harmful UV rays at a given time.

Google says that the Weather app update that brings this UV index indicator is starting to roll out. It doesn't give any timeline or any other detail about its availability. Just like with most software updates from Google, it'll just show up when the conditions are right.

This minor but critical feature does, however, once again raise the usual complaints about Wear OS. Although small updates like this aren't exactly rare, some still feel that Wear OS development doesn't happen as fast or as consistently as its rivals, both Apple's watchOS or even Samsung's Tizen-based custom OS.

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