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Wear OS

1,462 'Wear OS' stories March 2014 - February 2022
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Wear OS is Google's wearable platform which is designed to run on watches. It's based on a modified version of Android, designed by Google, and used on many third-party smartwatches.

Wear OS is Google’s wearable platform which is designed to run on watches. It’s based on a modified version of Android, designed by Google, and used on smartwatches such as Pixel Watch, Galaxy Watch, and more.

The platform was first introduced in 2014 as “Android Wear,” before being modified until it became “Wear OS” in 2018.

As you’d expect, Wear OS is designed to be an extension of your smartphone. Notifications are mirrored to your wrist while condensed apps can be installed, both with their own independent functionality or as an extension of the smartphone app.

Where Wear OS was once found across a variety of smartwatch brands, the market has condensed in recent years. Names such as Fossil, Mobvoi, and others faded away in favor of first-party smartwatches from Google and Samsung, as other names in Android such as OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi, and more.

A few key Wear OS smartwatches include:

Google’s Pixel Watch is the poster child of Wear OS, with a heavy focus on Fitbit features and Gemini integration.

Pixel Watch 4
Galaxy Watch 8 Classic

You can read the latest news about the platform and its apps below.

Samsung’s latest major Galaxy Watch 4 update rolling out widely, adds left/right wrist setting

Avatar for Ben Schoon Feb 10 2022 - 2:01 pm PT
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Earlier this week Samsung revealed a new update coming to the Galaxy Watch 4 series that would deliver sleep coaching, custom interval training, and more features. Now, that major February update for the Galaxy Watch 4 is rolling out widely, and it comes with a more detailed changelog that reveals the ability to set the orientation for the left or right wrist.

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Galaxy Watch 4 long term review: Still Wear OS’s current pacesetter [Video]

Avatar for Damien Wilde Jan 24 2022 - 10:14 am PT
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Smartwatches can be a very mixed bag, and Wear OS hasn’t quite hit the heights most of us would have hoped. We’ll likely see a resurgence over the coming years as Google and Samsung really invest in the platform. The first sign of that increased investment is the Galaxy Watch 4, which we’ve lived with for an extended period to better understand where it sits.

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Skagen Falster Gen 6 Review: An elegant design makes the best of Wear OS’ bad situation

Avatar for Ben Schoon Jan 7 2022 - 11:40 am PT
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skagen falster gen 6

Wear OS is in a tough spot right now. On the one hand, the future looks brighter than ever, and Samsung is showing how good things can be. On the other hand, everything except the Galaxy Watch 4 is tough to recommend. Enter the Skagen Falster Gen 6, an upgraded version of one of my favorite smartwatch designs that is making the best of this difficult situation.

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Alleged Google-made renders of ‘Pixel Watch’ surface, may be slightly out of date

Avatar for Ben Schoon Dec 5 2021 - 4:10 pm PT
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Android 11 Wear OS

A smartwatch in the “Made by Google” family is inevitable, and efforts to make it a reality have been a long time coming. Following the existence of a Google-made smartwatch possibly called the “Pixel Watch” being corroborated by two reliable sources this past week, some allegedly “official” renders of the device have surfaced.

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