Glass Update XE 22.0 Adds Android Wear Notifications

It is time for a new Google Glass firmware update. We covered previous firmware updates for Google Glass, and in August this year we informed you about the meaty XE 20.1 firmware update that added many new features, most of them being related to to the contacts section (after the update Google Glass users being able to access twenty of their most recent and starred contacts by voice) while the rest could be accessed with a simple swipe. The XE 20.1 update also included a new head nudge card that lets users turn the feature on or off, plus an update to both the iOS and the Android version of the MyGlass companion app and a lot of new voice actions.

Shortly after the XE 20.1 firmware update, Google released came the a new update, the XE 21.0 update. Initially, the XE 21.0 update seemed to only include Waze notifications for accidents (that would help users avoid intense traffic when looking up routes to their destination), quicker updates for flights and sports via Google Now (“a few seconds to see updates to flight information and sports scores”). However, there was more to the XE 21.0 update than met the eye, as most of the changes were aimed at developers since they were related to the visual enhancement API.

Not long after the XE 21.0 update (which was small for users but meaty for developers, replacing the Card Class from the visual enhancement API with the CardBuilder class, which includes 9 layouts with captions, author info, auto text sizing, etc), Google rolled out the XE 21.3 update at the end of September. Another small update, XE 21.3 only included the Photo Sharing feature on the iOS version of MyGlass. The iOS MyGlass app (v. 0.8.0) syncs your pictures to the camera roll, where you can share them later on other apps. Other than the Photo Sharing feature for the iOS MyGlass, there is no other new feature included in the XE 21.3 update (with the exception of bug fixes that were not listed in the official release notes).

It is now mid October and as we mentioned in the opening paragraph of this article, it is time for a new Google Glass firmware update. As expected, the new update is XE 22.0 and in its official release notes there are only two features mentioned: “Notification sync” and “Alternate routes in Navigation“. According to the official release notes, “The latest version of MyGlass (v.3.3.0) lets you see your Android phone’s notifications on Glass. When viewing a phone notification on Glass, unlock your phone and you’ll be taken automatically to the app that sent the notification. Easy as that.” Android Wear notifications coming to Google Glass is a big thing and we will cover this news in great detail in a future article.

The other feature included in the new XE 22.0 update, “Alternate routes in Navigation” allows you to “Choose from a number of different routes to your destination. Traffic and incident markers will display over the route when available.” The feature’s description is self explanatory and it is a nice addition, though the star of the new update is without a doubt represented by Android Wear notifications coming to Google Glass. The XE 22.0 firmware update may include other features, unlisted in the official release notes, as was the case with the XE 21.0 update that was aimed at developers.

For now however, the above mentioned two features are all the we know is included in the XE 22.0 firmware update for Google Glass. If we find out anything new about the recently released update, we will be the first to tell you so keep an eye on Google Glass Geeks. If you own a Glass device, you will likely receive the XE 22.0 update very soon (if you hadn’t already received it). If you want to see the official release notes for the XE 22.0 software update for Google Glass, . If you already received the XE 22.0 software update, please tell us what you think about it; use the dedicated section below to leave a comment.