Google’s new Sun and Favorite contacts Tiles roll out on Pixel Watch

Abner Li | Dec 7 2022 - 12:40 am PT

Following last week’s announcement and mention during the Pixel’s December Feature Drop, Google has started rolling out two new Tiles for watches that quickly show when the sun will rise/set and your favorite contacts.

The Sun Tile is part of the Weather app. “Sunrise at” or “Sunset at” in the first line is followed by a countdown to that time. During the day, you also get a sun icon to note progress, while the arc is empty at night. This makes for a very glanceable indicator.

Tapping opens the Wear OS 3 Weather app to a new section at the bottom below the five-day forecast that mimics the Tile. You also get Night/Day Length and when the Next Sunrise/Sunset will occur.

We’re seeing this Sun Tile after easily updating our Pixel Watch to the December 2022 patch, but it should have been enabled via a server-side update. Close the app from the watch’s Recents menu by long-pressing on the app name. It’s not appearing on a Galaxy Watch 4 running the latest version of the Weather app. (That release curiously added the word “Weather” to longer complication spots.)

Meanwhile, Google has also released the “Favorite contacts” Tile. We’re seeing it on Pixel Watch wearables running both the current and July 1, 2022, release. Star status syncs with the Google Contacts app on your phone, and up to five people can appear.

You can add directly on the Pixel Watch by navigating to any tile, long-pressing, and tapping the yellow plus button, or by using the companion app.

Following this rollout, we’re waiting for the updated Google Keep app and its richer notes feed. It’s scheduled to arrive “later this month.”