Looks like Samsung’s return to Wear OS is inevitable

Rumors that Samsung may ditch its proprietary Smartwatch operating system for Google’s neglected Wear OS platform are not new. However, it seems more and more likely that Tizen OS will not be long for this world.

Earlier this week, Android Police found a code hidden in the Galaxy Wearable app that referred to a new pair of Samsung headphones dubbed the Galaxy Buds 2. Tech writer Max Weinbach, who spotted the reference, tweeted that the code also revealed some interesting information about the upcoming Galaxy watches.

Specifically, the code refers to a new plugin called “water”, which Weinbach apply is a “Samsung wearable / Wear OS compatibility layer”. It also appears to be referring to a new chipset called “merlot” for two watches codenamed “sage” and “fresh”. But the real kicker is that Weinbach found a reference that explicitly says “newos”.

It is likely that both watches refer to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Active 4. (No, you haven’t missed the Galaxy Watch Active 3, Samsung sometimes decides to skip numbers. had no Galaxy Watch 2, for example.) However, the “merlot” chipset is remarkable. The last two iterations of Samsung Galaxy watches relied on the same Exynos chip. This is not a bad thing! The watches are quite vivid compared to Wear OS watches powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 and 3100 platforms. However, a New SoC might signal that we might see some advanced features.

If “water” is really a layer of compatibility, it’s also possible that Samsung is taking a similar approach to Wear OS that the Oppo Watch did. While the Oppo watch is technically a Wear OS watch, it runs a fork of the operating system that takes the best of Oppo’s ColorOS and mixes it with the parts of Wear OS that people actually love. Also unlike most Wear OS watches, the Oppo watch uses a non Qualcomm coprocessor paired with the Snapdragon Wear 3100. The result is frankly one of the best Wear OS watches out there.

It could mean that Samsung has found a way to “personalize” Wear OS in a way that is beneficial to itself and to Google. As in, Samsung could go for its own more powerful processor that enables all of the advancements it has made in recent years in advanced health features, such as FDA approved ECG, SpO2 sensors, etc.—Which are noticeably absent from Wear OS watches. It could also completely dominate the Android smartwatch market by giving people a choice between Bixby / Google Assistant. and Samsung Pay / Google Pay – nNot to mention offering a more robust third-party app store.

When this rumor went around it seemed a very bad idea for Samsung. This latest round of leaks makes the potential switch to Wear OS less painful, but the main reason it might not work is still unresolved. Simply put, Google has yet to show any signs that Wear OS is a priority. Over the past year, Google has prioritized building smartwatch apps for Apple first, deployed disappointing updates, And that’s about it. More embarrassingly, the “Hey Google” command on Wear OS has been broken for months. In some cases, Tizen-based apps are also better than their Wear OS counterparts. Spotify is the best example of this. On Tizen, Spotify allows offline playlists. On Wear OS, it’s a glorified remote control.

It could be a classic chicken and egg scenario. Maybe Google doesn’t see the point of investing in Wear OS until it has a “flagship” worthy of the name. But of course, there can’t be a great Wear OS flagship watch until Google invests in the platform. Except, you know, Samsung had to throw a bone at Google – and that’s what these rumors seem to allude to.

We will have to wait and see. Samsung tends to launch its new wearable devices in August, but some leakers suggested we could see it. much earlier this year. In any case, Samsung has probably already made its choice. At this point all we can hope for because that’s it Android users don’t get screwed and for Samsung to please, please keep the bezel rotating.