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Google’s Wear operating system is often referred to as overlooked and honestly that’s an apt description when you hear stories like this. Over the past few months, the “Hey Google” keyword on Wear OS has been discontinued.
Reports on Reddit and Google Issue Tracker show that the “OK Google” and “Hey Google” keywords to trigger the Assistant don’t work on Wear OS smartwatches. The issue apparently first surfaced around November 2020 and has gone largely unnoticed since, aside from the occasional Reddit thread. People at Droid-Life found reports dating as far back as June, which is well worth a “yikes”.
The Assistant is one of the main selling points of Wear OS smartwatches, as the only other wearable devices that officially support Google Assistant are from Fitbit, which is now owned by Google.
This issue doesn’t affect the ability to actually use Google Assistant on Wear OS, thankfully, but it does make it a bit more difficult to access. Without keyword support, you’ll have to long-press the power button on your watch to immediately trigger the Assistant, or use the touchscreen to trigger it from the left-most stream.
Update 2/25: After this story was released, Google spoke to The edge to clear things up. Apparently, the company is “aware of the issues some users are having” and will be working on a fix with Wear OS partners. It’s still unclear how long it will take before a fix is deployed to those affected.
Really, it does nothing more than instill confidence in Google’s support for Wear OS, and the fact that it took so long for anyone to notice it really makes matters worse. The company said its purchase of Fitbit was, in part, to bolster Wear OS as a platform, but neglecting a relatively essential feature of your operating system for a good chunk of a year is not a problem. good sign. At least Google Assistant works great on Fitbit.
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