Watches are all about personalization — yes, even the hardware buttons.

Android Wear 2.0 opens up new hardware possibilities for wearable makers, including the inclusion of extra hardware shortcut buttons on the case. These buttons typically land above and below the power button on the side of the watch, and can be customized to launch any app that you have installed.

So if you have a watch with extra buttons running Android Wear 2.0 — like the LG Watch Sport — know that you don't have to stick with their default configuration. Here's how you can customize those hardware shortcut buttons.

Customize Android Wear 2.0 hardware buttons

  1. Swipe down on your watch face and tap the settings gear.
  2. Scroll down and tap Personalization.
  3. Scroll down and tap Customize hardware buttons.
  4. Choose the hardware button you want to change the function of.
  5. Scroll through the list and tap the app you wish to launch with the button.

That's all it takes to swap out the default functions of these buttons for something new!

You may also notice that some apps provide more than one option for the button. For example, you can configure it to launch the main Google Fit app, or you can set it to launch directly into the workout picker instead. Play around and see which actions make sense for the buttons.

Android Wear