I know, it's I/O day and there are a lot more exciting things going on than OTA updates to Google Glass, but hey, the news is the news, right? The XE18.3 build should be rolling out to explorers now, and it adds a couple changes that make Glass a bit easier to use. First, pairing has been simplified with a walkthrough for the setup process. Second, Glass now has a user-accessible recovery mode. Turn off Glass, hold the camera button, and then tap the power button, and keep holding the camera button for 10 seconds. A master reset is among the options you'll see in the recovery menu, in case your Glass is seriously shattered (not physically, obviously). Here are the full details:
Simplified pairing
Follow us! Glass now walks you through the process of connecting to your phone via Bluetooth. Simply tap the Bluetooth card, select Android or iPhone, and follow the new step-by-step instructions. See? Quick and easy.
Recovery Mode
If Glass—perish the thought—crashes or gets stuck on the boot screen, you can now access the Recovery Mode. Simply turn off Glass, hold the camera button, then press the power button once. Continue to hold the camera button for about 10 seconds and Glass will go into Recovery Mode. With the camera button, you can navigate and select different debugging options, including one to reset your device into a good state. Learn more about Recovery mode.
The big feature, though, is the addition of a viewfinder. Just say "show the viewfinder" and Glass will show you what the camera currently sees, so you can frame a video or photo before you actually shoot it. I'm guessing this one was very, very high on the user feature request list.