Google breathes new life into Wear OS smartwatches with the update today

Today, Google will launch a software update for Wear OS smartwatches. I've only been using this new version for about a week, and although it's not nearly as advanced or as fast as an Apple Watch, it's a big improvement over what we had before .

As I wrote last month when Google announced for the first time that the software update was going to take place, Google changes what happens when you slide on the main dial. The new interface represents a more focused and focused view of the smartwatch goal: tracking simple physical fitness and responding to notifications. Google also lets you experiment with new features without interfering with the essential features that interest you.

This is a set of objectives much less ambitious than that of Apple for Apple Watch Series 4, which is quite appropriate. Wear OS has long faced a hardware problem: the partners who created the Wear OS smartwatches tended to produce fairly good but technically inadequate devices. Thus, Wear OS must have simpler objectives, achievable on the obsolete processor that it usually runs.

I've tested two different smartwatches produced by Fossil: the Skagen Falster 1 and the new Fossil Gen 4 Q Explorist HR. In either case, I think the new software seems more responsive than before. But it is just as likely (if not more) that new animations and gestures feel better.

However, you should know that recently launched Wear OS watches, like this one, still use the same outdated Qualcomm 2100 processor that caused so much consternation. The new watches with the new generation Qualcomm processor are still waiting, but the main improvement is increased autonomy thanks to a co-processor. The processor of the main application is the same as before.

So, Wear OS still does not feel quick, especially when loading applications. It took up to five seconds for Google Maps to start filling the map – it's loading time, without waiting for the data.

Here is what the new interaction behavior will be after the update is done:

• Swipe to the right: Google "Proactive Wizard"
• Swipe left: Google Fit
• Swipe up: notifications
• Drag Down: Quick Settings Shortcuts

These four scans will take you to an improved screen compared to what was available before. Google Fit, for example, has recently been updated with a new set of integrity tracking rings that describe your step count and your heart rate in two different ringtones. I prefer the new rings, but those who want more detailed information on fitness may think it's a little too simplistic. Neither Wear OS nor Fit smartwatches can do as much as Apple's ecosystem, but Google's system is a better basis for building than we had before.

The recurring theme of this update is the creation of a better foundation. The same thing applies to notifications. Instead of going through them one by one, you can now seamlessly navigate them in a single panel that better reflects what you see on your phone. You can always develop them, use the quick responses created by Google AI to send messages and drag them.

Quick settings also have a set of more useful buttons – six of them – including one to switch to Google Pay. I particularly like the fact that when you play multimedia content, this panel has a play button that displays your current song and a pause button.

The reason I think this update is an interesting base for future updates is that Google has transferred the "ambient" information to the left of the screen in what is now known as the "Proactive Wizard". ". personalized information such as weather, upcoming calendar events, flights, etc.

This type of information used to be part of your notifications and put it aside in one place makes a lot more sense. It also means that if (or, let's be more realistic, when) Google wants to experiment what his AI will show you, he can do it there, instead of being more intrusive about it.

Wear OS 2.1 is a very nice update for existing users, and I understand that it should be available via a relatively simple update for almost all. However, this is not the kind of update that, in my opinion, should change your calculations regarding the purchase of a New watch. He manages the basics much better than before. But I think for most Android users, it will be worth waiting for a new generation of watches before spending your money. And while Wear OS watches work with iPhones, you'll need really like round watches to choose one on an Apple watch.

This update is a small reset of the platform, a better basis for future upgrades. It's enough to take me back to using a Wear OS watch without biting my teeth, but it's not enough to make me want to have a new one.