Wear OS

Google told developers that it would deprecate the legacy method for installing Wear OS apps in March. Existing users of the Android-based wearable platform have yet to be impacted, but those setting up new watches or repairing are getting hit by this change.

It was a bit of a surprise to see that the OnePlus Watch would skip over Google’s Wear OS platform. Despite its flaws, it still has a large app ecosystem and pairs well with Android phones. In a Q&A this week, OnePlus has answered why the OnePlus Watch doesn’t use Wear OS as well as some other top community questions.

After introducing its new version earlier this year in the US, the original Google Pay app will, for the most part, be shut down next week on April 5. That stemmed a since-updated “report” that the app’s death would also shutter support for Google Pay on Wear OS, but that’s simply not the case.

As Samsung gears up for its next big launch, rumors and reports are giving us a picture of what to expect. Now, an updated version of the Galaxy Wearable companion app has provided more evidence that the next Galaxy Watch will switch to Wear OS as well as revealing a new pair of earbuds, “Galaxy Buds 2.”

Wear OS has stagnated a bit in recent years, with little in the way of noticeable changes, but Google still manages to bring new tweaks and quality of life upgrades from time to time. The latest tweak adds a “Manage” button to the Wear OS notification panel.

There’s been a fair bit of back and forth for the past few months regarding whether or not the OnePlus Watch would be running Google’s flailing Wear OS platform. Now, CEO Pete Lau has officially confirmed the OnePlus Watch will have its own operating system.

Starting in 2019, swiping left on Wear OS clock faces would show you “Tiles” for weather, news headlines, and more. Only first-party Google apps have ever been able to offer these glanceable pieces of information. That’s finally changing with Google now letting third-party developers create custom Wear OS Tiles.

Google’s Wear OS is often called neglected, and honestly, it’s an apt description when you hear stories like this. For the past few months, the “Hey Google” hotword on Wear OS has been broken.

While the platform itself hasn’t changed much, the hardware powering Wear OS smartwatches has improved a fair bit over the past couple of years. Most notably, that includes the Snapdragon 4100 series of chips, which makes a huge difference and offers a worthy upgrade, too. That’s why the TicWatch Pro S is incredibly confusing.

At the tail end of last year, the Fossil Group started rolling out the latest system for Google’s wearable platform. It’s been a slow process, with H MR2 currently paused for Fossil Gen 5 Wear OS watches to address unspecified issues.

After a short stint using a forked Android build as well as Google’s own Android Wear platform, Samsung settled on its Tizen platform for smartwatches, and it’s proven very successful. That’s why rumors of the company going back to Android are so odd, and now it’s only getting more confusing. New evidence points to a Samsung Galaxy Watch running Wear OS with the codename “Merlot.”

It emerged last week that more Moto-branded smartwatches are coming this year. An investor presentation showed three upcoming Wear OS devices from Moto, but a fourth that looks to use the Snapdragon Wear 4100 was also subtly shown off.

In early 2020, a new Moto 360 was released by a Canadian company called eBuyNow following a licensing deal with Motorola. That arrangement is expanding later this year as new Moto-branded Wear OS devices are on the way.

Following a small tweak to the notification experience last week, Google’s next feature for Wear OS looks to be a Screen Recording tool. Similar in implementation to screenshots, evidence of this functionality appears in an update to the Wear OS Android companion app today. 

The underlying experience of using Wear OS saw small changes late last year in the form of new Tiles and a revamped Fit workout UI, while the H-MR2 update continues rolling out. An even smaller tweak today sees Google change up the “No notifications” message that Wear OS users frequently see throughout the day.

Wear OS is no stranger to luxury edition options, but the Hublot Big Bang e Premier League might be among the most decadent to date.

In the early days of Google’s wearable platform, smartwatch apps were bundled with their phone counterparts. Android Wear 2.0 moved to a standalone app model as part of introducing the on-device Play Store. Google now plans to deprecate that legacy approach to Wear OS apps next month.

Montblanc debuted its first smartwatch in 2017 and followed with the Summit 2 a year later. At the start of 2020, the luxury brand announced a “+” version, while rumors of something more affordable emerged in November. The Montblanc Summit Lite was announced just under a month ago with so little fanfare that we did not become aware of this Wear OS device until today.

After being announced earlier this month at CES, Verizon has just put the new Fossil Gen 5 LTE up for sale in the United States, though it does come with one caveat.