What is low bit ambient mode in watch?

Question

I am creating watch-face, every where term low bit ambient mode included in document, I am not 100% sure what it is and how to visualize it.

What is anti aliasing with that ? how to visualize this property and use in watch face ?

Answer 1

The best explanation I've seen is from the Reduced color space section of this page:

Some displays use a reduced color space in ambient mode to save power.

One reduced color space power saving method is to use a "low-bit" mode. In low-bit mode, the available colors are limited to black, white, blue, red, magenta, green, cyan, and yellow... You should also disable antialiasing in your paint styles for this mode. Make sure to test your design on devices with low-bit ambient mode.

To assist with the last point (testing), there's a setting in Developer options, under Wear developer options, called Force low-bit ambient. Turn that on, and your watch (or emulator) will use low-bit ambient mode, simulating what the display will look like on a watch that always uses this mode (like a Sony SW3 or Asus ZenWatch).