In the domain of smart watchesApple and Samsung have long vied for the top spot, with their flagship devices running watchOS and Tizen respectively.
However, the year 2021 marks a notable change, as Samsung is teaming up with Google to rework the oft-maligned older smartphone operating system. portable of the latter and, incidentally, adopts it as his own.
With such a significant change in the potential future of the landscape of portableThis article breaks down everything Google’s new iteration of Wear OS brings to the table and what devices it might influence.
These are the best smartwatches of 2021.
What is Wear OS 3?
Google has introduced its own operating system to portable -Android Wear- in 2014, with smart watches from LG and Motorola which served as the first hardware for the launch.
In 2018, Google renamed Android Wear to Wear OS, releasing version 2.0 a few months after the name change; bringing with it a polished user interface and new features.
During Google I/O 2021, the company announced that it has entered into a new partnership with Samsung, with the aim of implementing the next big evolution of the Wear OS platform, leveraging the experience and of the success of the South Korean technology giant.
As part of the announcement, Samsung also confirmed that its upcoming smart watches (then unannounced, but later revealed to be the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic) would be the first watches to feature this newly revitalized wearable OS (thus replacing Samsung’s old Tizen OS).
A year later, at Google I/O 2022, Google officially teased its own Pixel Watch, which will arrive alongside the Google Watch series. smart phones Pixel 7 at the end of the year, probably in the fall (planned for October).
What features does Wear OS 3 offer?
While hardware manufacturers can tweak the type of features offered by their Wear OS watches, Wear OS itself comes with a base set of features that can be expanded, depending on factors like price or target audience. .
Basic features are notification synchronization with a connected smartphone, clock, timer and alarm functionality, fitness tracking (with support for multiple activities, as well as heart rate tracking and directions, with GPS support), contactless payments (via NFC) using Google Pay, Google Assistant queries, making and receiving calls on the wrist, audio playback and phone support. support third-party apps and watch faces, through the Google Play Store.
Wear OS 3 specifically brings another UI overhaul, aimed at making interaction easier and faster, with the ability to switch between recent apps by double tapping the side button on the watch .
At its I/O 2021 developer conference, Google also promised that Wear OS 3 would deliver up to 30% reduction in app load times compared to the current iteration of Wear OS, along with enhancements that improve also energy efficiency.
“A service of aptitude Fitbit’s first-in-class,” which Google bought in early 2021, is also part of the equation, with activity tracking, goal celebrations, and motivational reminders.
Tiles (essentially widgets to the right of your main watch face) are an existing part of Wear OS that, having been introduced in 2019, was only recently opened up to third parties. An updated Tiles API also makes it easier for developers to take advantage of the feature, so expect a much wider range than anything you’ve seen in Wear OS before as version 3 matures.
New features in existing third-party experiences, such as offline playback in Spotify, are also something we’ll likely continue to see as Google works to strengthen the platform.
When will Wear OS 3 be released?
Google and Samsung first mentioned their “unified platform” (a marriage of Google’s current incarnation of Wear OS and Samsung’s Tizen experience on smartwatches) at I/O 2021, but no didn’t reveal an official launch date at the time, but instead just teased its debut in what eventually became the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 family.
As of this writing, the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic are the only wearables currently enjoying the pleasures of this latest and greatest iteration of Wear OS. For everyone else, it looks like we’ll have to wait.
Companies like Fossil, a longtime supporter of Wear OS, promise to update their latest smart watches Gen 6, but not before the second half of 2022.
Which watches are compatible with Wear OS 3?
If you like the features on offer, you probably want to know what smart watches are in fact compatible with the renewed platform for portable devices.
Despite Qualcomm’s initial claims that Wear OS 3 could work on any smartwatch running the Snapdragon Wear 3100 (or newer), Google says the platform won’t work on a watch running anything other than the Snapdragon Wear. 4100.
Here’s the current list of watches that have been confirmed to support Wear OS 3 and when you can expect the update.
Wear OS 3 at launch (currently available):
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic
Promised update to Wear OS 3 in the second half of 2022:
- Fossil Gen 6
- Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw
- Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 GPS
- Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Cellular/LTE
- Mobvoi TicWatch E3
Port OS 3 at launch (rumored):
- Google Pixel Watch
- Fitbit “premium smartwatches”
- Upcoming Mobvoi TicWatch Watches
It’s also worth noting that – according to Google – existing smartwatches on the Wear OS 3 upgrade path may experience unspecified “impacts” in “some limited cases”.
Presumably due to the performance requirements of Wear OS 3 over existing chips such as Wear 4100 and 4100+, current users might find it best to stick with the version of Wear OS 2 they currently get, which is getting a support and new features to better align with Wear OS 3.
Upgrading to Wear OS 3 also requires users to perform a factory reset in order to install it.
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