Enlarge / Android Wear 2.0. (credit: Google)

Android Wear 2.0 is in a bit of a troubled development period. The big update was delayed from “Fall 2016” to 2017, ostensibly because testers reacted poorly to the new OS. Now Google is back with another Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview, and this one is #4.

The first thing on deck for developer preview 4 is the removal of a big Wear 2.0 change: how “back” works. Earlier developer previews changed “back” on Android Wear from a swipe gesture to the watch’s hardware button. Using the screen for every navigation control except back was strange. The new developer preview reverts this change. The hardware button now maps to “power” like it did in Wear 1.0. All apps now automatically support swipe-to-dismiss, too.

There are also lots of watch-to-phone communication additions. A new OAuth API lets watch apps open an authentication screen on the phone, allowing standalone apps to easily sign in. Preview 3 added an on-watch Play Store, and new “cross-device promotion” APIs allow watch apps to point a user to download a connected phone app.