IssueTracker

There doesn't seem to be a way to disable battery optimization on WearOS. According to the documentation the only way "startForeground" can be called from the background is if the user disables battery optimizations:

https://developer.android.com/guide/components/foreground-services#background-start-restriction-exemptions

For a WearOS media app, startForeground is needed for playback from the background.

Here is a sample project that shows the status of the battery optimization:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ESNIIs4otcXc8Yb0aONUVJfPBVUGHprM/view?usp=sharing

Tested on a Ticwatch Pro 5 running Android 3.5 and a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 running Android 4.0.