Google Reminds Us that Wear OS Still Exists

With its Fitbit acquisition held up by EU antitrust regulators, Google this week announced plans for minor improvements to Wear OS, its current wearables platform.

“Wearable technologies help people lead healthier lives and connect with important, timely information,” a new post to the Android Developers Blog explains. “Today, we’re sharing our areas of investment focusing on the fundamentals, bringing even more helpful experiences to more watches, and giving users more choice in a device ecosystem.”

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This fall, Google will release an over-the-air (OTA) update that will improve Wear OS performance.

“[We’re] making it faster to access your info and start your apps,” Google says. “We’re simplifying the pairing process to make onboarding easier. You’ll see improvements to our SysUI for more intuitive controls for managing different watch modes and workouts. And with CPU core improvements, you’ll also see up to a 20 percent speed improvement in app startup time.”

Additionally, Google will later add other new features to Wear OS, including a new weather experience. Google also promises to add support for LTE networking and the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 and 4100+ platforms in the months ahead, though neither will benefit existing users.

Not much, in other words.

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Conversation 6 comments

  • bluesman57

    13 August, 2020 - 10:29 am

    <p>I've been using Wear OS since the Moto 360, I'm now using a Fossil Carlyle. I use it all day, every day. This would be the only reason I would even consider getting a Duo, because I look at all my notifications on my wrist. (Just assuming it's compatible)</p>

    • wolters

      Premium Member
      14 August, 2020 - 9:23 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#561194">In reply to Bluesman57:</a></em></blockquote><p>WearOS is far from the turkey people make it out to be…that said, it is time to get on par with Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch. </p>

      • Paul Thurrott

        Premium Member
        14 August, 2020 - 9:46 am

        Well. It’s been held back by a number of things, maybe the key one being hardware/perf/efficiency. That new wave of Qualcomm chipsets supposedly fixed that bit at least.

  • gg51

    13 August, 2020 - 11:22 am

    <p>A couple of years ago I wanted to buy a smart watch. I did not want to go the Apple route, so I though that &lt;<em>insert the name google use at that time</em>&gt; would be a good solution. Well I was shocked: Samsung use it's own OS (tizen), Garmin and Fitbit have also their own OS. Finally, the Google OS watch were with 1 exception of lower quality and used a 3 year old Qualcomm processor. Of course TAG use &lt;google OS&gt; with an Intel processor (??) , but the watch is over $2,500 -canadian, but still </p><p>I went with FitBit, happy about it, worried that Google has/will acquire FitBit.</p><p><br></p><p>GG</p>

  • Thretosix

    13 August, 2020 - 12:51 pm

    <p>I owned a smart watch when they first came out. Spent over $400, it was supported for only a couple years and now is pretty much a brick. I've since gone back to a standard watch that lasts much longer. Technology has to be supported or it becomes useless. For the cost it just doesn't make much sense for most consumers.</p>

  • SvenJ

    13 August, 2020 - 4:46 pm

    <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"This fall, Google will release an over-the-air (OTA) update that will improve Wear OS performance." Since there isn't a Pixel Watch, hopefully the watch OEMs support this update better than they do the phone OS.</span></p>

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